The Greatest Love, The Highest Sacrifice

Chapter 2 -- Charlie Weasley, Hogwarts Professor

The next few hours passed by in a blur as a flurry of students disembarked the Hogwarts Express and made their way into the Great Hall. The Sorting was over in the blink of an eye, and Professor Dumbledore had welcomed the new students and introduced the professors -- including Charlie, who looked almost surprised that he was sitting at the High Table, and not with the Gryffindors.

Prefects were announced; Elsie, Harry and Ron were thrilled when Ginny's name was called, and appalled that Colin Creevey's succeeded it. And then it was time for the announcement of the Head Boy and Head Girl. Hermione sat between Harry and Ron, her eyes shining, and the Gryffindor table erupted with cheers and whistles as Professor Dumbledore called out her name. It was one of Gryffindor's finest moments.

Which was a good thing, because the name that followed caused the entire table to fall silent with disbelief. "And as Head Boy," continued Professor Dumbeldore, his eyebrows drawn together in an unusually serious expression, "I am pleased to name...Draco Malfoy."

The Slytherins more than made up for the lack of support from the other houses, and Draco did not seem bothered by the fact that Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw looked less than impressed. If anything, he was satisfied with their reactions, and he looked over to where Hermione sat, smiling in a superior manner, and flashing his own badge from where it had been hidden under his robes. His smile widened as Ron flushed scarlet with anger -- and what he shrewdly identified as jealousy.

Looking further down the Gryffindor table, Draco's smug expression faltered when he saw Elsie and Ginny sitting side by side. Elsie was looking at him with a pleased expression on her face, and softly applauding. Ginny's reaction was also a surprise. While she was clearly not happy with the result, she looked at him appraisingly for a few moments, nodded in apparent satisfaction, and then turned back to Elsie and continued their conversation. Draco was quite nonplussed by this, but soon became distracted by the excitement of his own house, and thought little more of the two girls for some time.

Ron, however, had followed his gazed, and his face became positively thunderous when he saw Elsie still clapping.

"Norri," he whispered fiercely. "What in heaven's name possessed you to actually applaud for that git?"

Elsie looked at him calmly. "I figured that he deserved it -- at least academically." She ignored Ron's glare at this, and continued, "Besides, I've got a little experiment brewing. And Draco Malfoy is my main ingredient."

Ron's glare turned to a look of curiosity, but Elsie merely smiled mysteriously, and waved his attention back to Harry and Hermione. When Ginny asked her exactly what she meant, however, she turned and whispered something to her -- something that made her best friend start, and then blush, and then laugh in an embarrassed but not displeased manner.

Before they knew it, the feast was over, and they were all trooping back to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione walked up to the portrait of the Fat Lady with a smile on her face. "Hello, dears, did you enjoy your holidays?" the portrait asked, and Hermione quickly filled the Fat Lady in on what she had done over the holidays. But Ron was eager to get into the common room, and he interrupted them with the new password.

"Prodigenous!" he cried, and the Fat Lady protested as the portrait door swung opened and she disappeared from sight.

"Ron!" yelled Hermione exasperated at having her conversation cut short.

He only grinned at her, and said slyly, "You're more than welcome to stand out here all night gas-bagging if you want, but don't complain when you come in and all my Weasley Wonders are gone." She gave a squeal of indignation, but entered the common room nonetheless. Since Fred and George had opened Weasleys' Weirds and Wonders the year after their graduation from Hogwarts, their sweets and tricks had been the new craze of every young witch and wizard in Britain. And Hermione, academically focused though she was, loved sweets as much as the next person.

There was excited conversation raging from group to group scattered all over the common room. Harry was waiting patiently for Ron and Hermione to enter, and not far from where he sat, close to the fireplace, Ginny and Elsie were perched together, deep in conversation. Everyone crowded round for Ron's handouts, and all too soon it was time for them to head off to their dorms.

"What do we have first?" Ron asked in the middle of a huge yawn as he headed up the stairs.

"Potions," groaned Hermione, who was not looking forward to a reunion with Professor Snape.

Ron and Harry moaned dramatically. "Please tell me that we don't have it with the Slytherins?" asked Ron hopefully.

"Sorry, guys," was the reply. "I guess we have to live through Snape and Slytherins together even in our last year."

"Really?" asked Ginny interestedly, and sent a significant look to Elsie, who blushed, mumbled something about needing an early night's sleep, and hurried up the stairs to the girls' dorms.

"What was all that about, Ginn?" asked Harry, but Ginny merely shrugged, and followed in the same direction, as did Hermione, who appeared unaware of anything unusual having happened.

Ron and Harry were left standing at the bottom of the stairs. They looked at each other, and declared in perfect unison "Girls!" before turning and going up their own stairs, entering their dorm room, and collapsing into bed.

All too soon the next morning arrived, and early morning saw all the seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins waiting in the Potions dungeon for Professor Snape to appear. When he did, it was apparent that the holidays had done nothing to improve his temper.

"Brown -- yes, Crabbe -- yes, Goyle -- yes....Malfoy -- productive holidays, Draco?" to which Draco had answered with the usual fawning style he reserved for Snape alone. "McDougal -- yes...Norr -- yes". Snape paused, and looked at Elsie with what she considered was unusual intensity. "See me at the end of class, please, Miss Norr." Ron and Harry looked up at this, indignant that Elsie appeared to be getting in trouble before their first lesson even started. But she sent them a warning glance and, though a few mutters escaped them, they said nothing.

"Parkinson -- yes, Potter -- I'm looking forward to this year, Potter," Snape said, and Harry started up in surprise. "It's the last I have to spend with you."

Draco sniggered, though he stopped when Elsie looked at him, fingering her wand lightly. Snape finished the rest of the roll, not even bothering to wait for Ron's acknowledgement that his name had been called, and then launched straight into an enormous workload he planned to cover with them before the year was up.

"As those of you who have done your homework will know, there is a prize offered to the seventh year student, or group of students, who submit the best paper on new adaptations of Potions. You are expected to develop a variation on an existing potion, or to develop something completely original. I want you to organise yourselves in groups by the end of the week, and I expect a drafted plan of your work within a month." He ignored the collective groans that echoed from both sides of the class.

"For today, I want you to prove that you have not become totally incompetent over the break, and to make a Memory Potion. You are to work in pairs," he continued, and there was a sudden jumble as everyone leapt to secure the partner of their choice, "and I expect the potion to be ready for testing fifteen minutes before the end of class. Begin now."

For some reason, it appeared that there was a certain imbalance in the class that morning. Elsie could not quite work it out. The Gryffindors had always had eleven in their year since Elsie had arrived at the beginning of fifth year. But the Slytherins normally had even numbers, and she either worked with Harry and Ron, Hermione and Neville, or on her own. Today, however, it seemed someone was missing from the Slytherins too, because everyone had started working, and there was one person still without a partner. Elsie drew in a breath as she recognised the malicious grin -- Draco.

Draco smiled languidly at her and raised his hand to catch Snape's attention.

"Professor," he called, and Snape turned to him. "Professor Snape, there are uneven numbers on both sides of the class, and I was wondering sir -- do I have to work with Norr?"

Snape looked at him speculatively, and then turned to focus on Elsie, who swallowed and minisculy shook her head. His mouth stretched into what might have been a smile, and he nodded curtly.

"Yes, Malfoy, you will have to work with Miss Norr, at least for today." Elsie muffled a groan, and began dragging her things towards where Draco stood, nodding as Ron and Harry murmured their condolences. She straightened up, blushing red, when she heard Snape's next words. "I wouldn't take it too hard, though, Malfoy. You've got the best head in the class working with you, even if she is a Gryffindor."

There was a murmur throughout the whole class at this, and Snape clapped his hands for silence. He did not even seem ruffled by the reaction his declaration had caused, and he looked at Elsie with what might just have been understanding in his eyes, before he went to berate Neville for combining mandrake roots with scarabs outside the cauldron instead of in it.

Elsie finished lugging her cauldron and ingredients towards Draco, and began setting up. She froze as she felt him right behind her, and wondered what insult he was going to produce to make up for his House Master's lunatic compliment. But she was stunned by what came out. "He forgot to mention that you were also the best-looking," Draco murmured, almost inaudibly, and then he laughed out loud as she turned to glare at him.

"I expect you all to work in silence," Snape announced from his desk at the head of the class. "This is a complex potion, and I am taking marks off any of you who fail to complete it within the allotted time space." He moved to sit at his desk, but then turned slightly. "Oh, and Mr. Malfoy," he said coolly, as Draco's head shot up to look at him, "I didn't forget to mention it, I merely refrained." And with that, he sat at his desk and began marking papers, perfectly oblivious to the explosion he had just caused.

Draco and Elsie were staring at each other, each in a state of shock. Draco recovered before Elsie did, and his face broke out in a lazy grin that for once lacked his usual malevolence. "Well at least that proves I wasn't joking," he said. "But don't worry," he added, leaning towards Elsie until she was forced to back up against her cauldron, "you're not my type".

"Thank the stars for that!" Elsie said fervently, and quickly turned to begin cutting her mandrake roots, her head in a whirl. She had never been rude to Draco Malfoy -- it had started as determination to not lower herself to his standard, and ended being an act of pity -- but she could not understand this seeming sincerity that had sprung from apparently nowhere.

He said nothing after that, for which she was grateful, and the two worked in what was uncannily like amicable silence for the rest of the lesson. Elsie concentrated wholly on the memory potion, her natural flair for the subject coming to the fore. Draco also excelled at Potions, and as a result, theirs was ready some time before anyone else's. When it came to testing them, it was perfect. "Ten points to Gryffindor and Slytherin," Snape said, earning a smile from Elsie.

Outside Potions, Ron and Harry were beaming. "That's one of the few lessons where we've actually gained points," Harry said excitedly. Hermione nodded eagerly, obviously already thinking of the competition between houses.

"Maybe you should work with Draco more often," added Ron. "If you can handle it, that is".

"What do you mean by that, Weasley?" said Draco from behind him. He came up between the foursome, and put an arm around Elsie. "I think we make the perfect couple".

As Elsie attempted to disengage her person, she noticed that Draco was concentrating more on Harry's reaction than on her own. She looked to Harry, and noted with widened eyes that he was absolutely livid. Something had to be done about this, and Elsie thought that prevention -- in both cases -- would be better than cure. So she tried for the unexpected. And succeeded perfectly.

"Why Draco," she cooed at him, and curled into his embrace, "Do you really think so?" Elsie ignored the stunned looks she was receiving from Draco, Harry and Ron. Instead she caught Hermione's eye, and the two girls grinned as Hermione realised exactly what Elsie was up to.

"Seriously, Draco," she continued sweetly, "I'm flattered." She took a step back and appeared to size him up. "But you just don't fit the requirements. I need someone with sophistication, poise, class -- an older man." She broke off, and sighed dramatically.

Hermione was in convulsions by this stage, and although Elsie tried not to look at her, when her friend doubled over and started gasping for breath, she couldn't stop herself, and she too started laughing.

Draco looked from one girl to the other, annoyance marring his otherwise handsome face. He reacted in the only way he knew -- outright insult. "So, Elsie, does that mean you won't accept your Potions partner because he's not your type? Or is it that you prefer the Potions Master instead?"

When Elsie's head shot back to Draco, her face white as chalk and her eyes incandescent with horror and rage, Draco knew that -- somehow -- his shaft had shot home. His ego was still smarting from her rejection, even though a small voice inside him was telling him how he would never care for her that way anyway, and in spite of himself, he continued:

"And is the feeling mutual, Norr? Is that why you get compliments in Potions, and why Snape has never taken marks from Gryffindor because of you? You've put some sort of spell on him, given him a dose of one of his own potions. That's the only way an intelligent man like Snape could ever show any semblance of liking for someone like you -- a Mudblood and an orphan to boot."

Harry and Ron both lunged towards Draco at this, but Hermione had a good hold on both their robes, and one blazing glance from Elsie quelled their efforts. She turned back to Draco, and the mingled hurt and rage were evident as her eyes filled. But she was too angry to give into tears.

"How dare you," she hissed at him, her tone barely above a whisper, but perfectly audible to anyone in the corridor outside the Potions dungeon. "Who gave you the right to judge people, assess people, criticise people? You could ruin people's lives with statements like that! And do you care? Not at all, as long as your ego is still intact."

Draco could not help wondering wildly to himself exactly which aspect of his accusation had hit Elsie so hard. He had never seen her this angry before -- and from the expressions Ron, Harry and Hermione were wearing, neither had they. He could not help feeling a pang of regret that he had reduced this girl, who had always been civil to him, and accepting of him, to such a state, and almost despite himself, he decided to do the unthinkable: apologise. But just as he opened his mouth to make some kind of apology, Elsie pointed her wand at him and stated coldly,

"Petrificus totalis!"

Draco froze, unable to move even his little finger. He could still hear and see, and he noted with surprise that Harry, Ron and Hermione had all tried to stop Elsie before she cast her spell, although they had clearly been unsuccessful. Elsie came up to him, drawing nearer and nearer until her face was only millimetres away from his. He could see the tears start to fall now, as she whispered softly to him, "Now, you can stand here and see what you've done. Apart from blackening your own House Master's good name, you've offended several people in this class. Since when does being an orphan classify you as worthless? I would rather have no parents than your father."

Draco was rather inclined to agree with her, although he was unable to express this. But even as he watched, her facial expression altered, and a wave of remorse replaced the anger that had been so strong.

"Oh Draco," she said, and there were worlds of sorrow in those two words. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to insult your father, and I didn't mean to freeze you. I always swore I'd never do it again, unless I had to. But its just that you made me so angry when you suggested that..."

Her words faded as she stared at something behind Draco, blank shock and the beginnings of fear crying out from every line of her face. Draco could not turn around to see what had caused her silence, but he could hear steady footsteps, footsteps that were very, very familiar, and his heart sank.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Professor Snape, and his voice cracked like lightning in the corridor.

"I put the Petrifcus Totalis on Draco, Professor," Elsie said quietly but firmly, not looking up at her Potions Master.

"You?!" Snape asked, and the surprise was evident in his voice.

Elsie nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"Miss Norr," Snape said, and his words were as cold as polar winds, "you are well aware of the restrictions against practicing curses on fellow students outside the confines of the classroom, are you not?"

Elsie nodded again, the barest acknowledgement. Draco, who was still fixed by her spell, could see the tears trickling silently down her face. If Snape saw them, he took no heed.

"Do you have any explanation for your appalling behaviour?" Elsie looked up at Draco, moving her head only the tiniest fraction. She knew what would happen if Snape found out what she had cursed Draco for, and there was no way she was telling him. Even if the embarrassment to herself was removed, Draco could tell she would never get him in that much trouble. She remained silent.

"No?" Snape asked. "Forty points from Gryffindor, then, and detention tonight. Meet me at the Potions dungeon after dinner." With that, he turned and left, waving his wand at Draco and murmuring "Finite incantatem," quickly as he did so. Draco fell forward, unused to the weight of his own body, but no one moved to support him.

As the sound of Snape's retreating footsteps echoed down the corridor, Draco looked at Elsie, wishing he had apologised before she cursed him. Gryffindor or not, he had not wanted to hurt her like this. He knew how much Snape's esteem meant to her, and how proud she had been that she had never lost points from her House before. And now...

Before he could say anything to her, she had stepped back, openly crying now, turned and run in the opposite direction to Snape, passing her friends without stopping, sobbing as if her heart would break.

It took the others some time to find Elsie, and when they did she obviously didn't want to talk about what had happened. Harry was muttering to himself about Snape, but she turned and told him to be quiet. "I got what I deserved, and that's all there is to it. I don't want to talk about it any more." She knew that Harry thought it was also because she didn't want to hear him criticising Snape, but she didn't care.

Before they knew it, it was Care of Magical Creatures. Ron was fidgeting with excitement -- he'd always loved dragons, but Charlie had never brought one home from Romania, and he'd never been able to visit. Harry was also excited, but rather pale. 'Probably remembering his encounter with the Ridgeback,' Elsie thought to herself, remembering the first challenge of the Triwizard Tournament three years earlier.

Hermione was also fidgeting, but her expression was not that of excitement at all. Looking back, she caught Elsie's eye, and waited for the other girl to catch up with her.

"Oh, Norri," she breathed in a half-whisper, clutching Elsie's arm as they hurried down yet another flight of stairs towards the grounds, "I don't want Harry and Ron to know -- they're so excited and all -- but I'm absolutely terrified! I've been scared stiff of dragons since I had to watch Harry and the others in that crazy Tournament. And I don't want to take this class at all, but I'd hate to hurt Charlie's feelings, and besides, the only other alternative is Divination, and I know you understand how I feel about Professor Trewlawney, and....oh goodness!"

She broke off quickly, out of breath from her ranting and the sudden realisation of exactly who she was speaking with. Elsie was still walking quickly beside her, seeming disturbingly unperturbed at the prospect of working with dragons, and appeared more sympathetic to her friend's scruples than she was aware of her own.

"Oh Norri, I'm sorry! I totally forgot about you, and your family, and...' Hermione's tirade of apology dwindled away as Elsie placed her hand gently but firmly over her friend's mouth.

"Hermione, seriously. It doesn't bother me to work with dragons." She shook her head as Hermione made to speak. "I promise. I've always loved them. And even with what happened with my" -- she broke eye contact with Hermione, staring at the ground for a moment before continuing. "Even with what happened with my family and all, I still love them. They're not all like that, you know."

She grinned suddenly and began walking towards the grounds again, Hermione right beside her. "And besides," she added, "there's no way Charlie would dump a flight of fully-grown dragons on us. A typical crazy Weasley he may be, but he's not as crazy as that."

Elsie stopped as she caught Hermione's questioning eye. Hermione opened her mouth, definitely to ask how the newly-introduced seventh year could know Charlie Weasley so well, but they had reached the rest of the class by this time and Charlie was already addressing them all. Elsie slipped through to where Harry and Ron were standing at the front and Hermione followed, determined to get to the bottom of the issue afterwards.

Looking around, it was clear that Gryffindor was lumped with Slytherin once again. But it appeared that for once every member of the class -- without exception -- was totally enthralled with the lesson. Charlie Weasley might be a Gryffindor and a Muggle lover, but it looked like he would also be the most popular professor at Hogwarts in no time.

As Elsie and Hermione reached the front of the class, Charlie nodded to them, and then continued. "As I was saying, your task this year will be to hatch and raise a nest of dragon kits." An excited murmur rose from the group. Elsie could not help but notice that Draco was leaning forward, an eager look on his face. She grinned and turned back to Charlie. This was going to be interesting.

Charlie smiled at the response his announcement elicited, and continued with a gleam in his eyes. "The dragon eggs I have with me are not set to hatch for several months. This will give you ample time to study up how you are to care for you dragon kit, and also to work on your Fire-Proofing Potion. I have spoken with Professor Snape, and he has agreed to allow you a certain amount of time in class to develop it, but you will have to do additional work."

There were several muffled groans at this, but Charlie paid no attention to them and continued. "You will be working in pairs" -- Elsie studiously avoided Draco's eyes, which had flicked to her in evident amusement -- "at raising the dragon kit. You need to spend time with the egg each day; the more you talk with it before it hatches, the easier it will be for you to raise it." He stopped and looked around him at the class, intent on his every word. Turning around, he lifted a heavy canvas cloth from the ground, revealing an oval pit that had been dug into the earth. It was piled high with dragon eggs.

Gasping with awe, the class moved forward, but he held up a hand. "Get into pairs first and then you can come forward and choose your egg." Everyone began to talk excitedly and the class began to pair off, but Elsie's attention was diverted from those around her. She had heard the sound of beating wings, and the sun had seemed darkened for a few seconds, by something that moved across it. Two barely noticeable phenomena. But they were enough.

Ignorant of Hermione being torn between partnership with herself and the beseeching pleas of Neville, and oblivious to the fact that Draco was consciously refraining from choosing a partner, Elsie stepped away from her classmates and towards the open meadow of the field ahead, her head stretched back as she searched the sky.

"C'mon, old fella, I know you're up there somewhere," she murmured softly, moving further and further into the open. Her eyes scanned the horizons, but she could see nothing. She started clicking softly to herself, a constant rhythmic pattern, and then she heard a loud keening sound behind her.

As she spun around, she heard a warning cry from Charlie. But she did not look over to where the others were; she did not see her new professor sprinting towards her, or the white faces of her classmates as they watched the scene before them, filled with horror. Elsie had eyes for nothing except the thirty-foot dragon hurtling towards her from the sky, swooping with unbelievable speed and spouting sheets of flame as it dived downward. Elsie did not move, except to extend her hand before her. She continued her clicking, and did not stop, even when the dragon screamed to a halt metres away from her, and began to advance to where she stood with amazing agility.

Charlie Weasley was still sprinting towards Elsie. He had experienced passing doubts about allowing Cináed to be present at his first lesson, but his familiar had promised to remain aloft, and he had given in to the dragon's persistence. But even in his wildest nightmares, he had never imagined that his enormous companion would actually attack one of his students.

It was with shock, therefore, that Charlie realised Elsie was not about to die. Cináed had stopped directly in front of her, and was looking down at her, his enormous eyes filled with adoration. He was stunned to hear the same clicking rhythm emanating from both of them, and to see his familiar leaning down to be petted like a puppy by this slip of a seventh year, who looked for all the world like this was something she did every other day.

Elsie looked up from petting Cináed to see Charlie standing several feet away, just out of earshot, with an amazed expression on his face. Quickly, she leaned in and gently butted the dragon's nose.

"Miss me?" she whispered to Cináed, who stopped his clicking and whined softly. "Me too," she replied, and despite herself, her eyes filled with tears. "Listen, he doesn't know, so you'll have to help me out, O.K.?"

Cináed whined again, and it was clear to both Elsie and Charlie, who was now advancing, that he was protesting. But Elsie leant forward and said something that appeared to appease the dragon, and when Charlie reached the pair, she was petting his head and crooning softly to him.

"You had me worried there," he said to her as she raised her head to look at him. His tone was casual, but the tremor was still evident in his voice, and she smiled at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry," she replied quietly. "I'm not exactly sure what happened, only that I felt this incredible urge to go out into the open. I wasn't afraid at all," she added earnestly, and he smiled easily at her, relieved that it was something so simple.

"You're dragonkinde, aren't you?" he asked, and Elsie nodded shyly. "How long have you known?"

"Since I was eleven," she answered, still patting Cináed's head. "My uncle was a dragon worker, and I found out when I spent a summer with him. But I've never really had a chance to develop it..." she trailed off, and Charlie sensed that this was forbidden territory.

"His name's Cináed," he said, looking at his familiar sternly.

"I know," she said, and then looked up guiltily as he started in astonishment.

"You can hear him?" he asked, and she nodded. Charlie whistled. Dragonkinde was something in itself, but to speak dragon..."You're definitely going to be an asset to this class," he said enthusiastically, and she laughed.

At this moment, they both remembered the class that had been in progress before the interruption, and Charlie turned to see the rest of the seventh years still standing immobile by the nest of eggs. "We'd better go back," he said to Elsie, who ducked her head in agreement. "You can stay here," he added reprovingly to Cináed. "I'll have words with you after class".

Elsie laughed at the bashful expression Cináed managed to conjure up on his face. "Don't be too hard on him," she pleaded with Charlie as they headed back towards the class. "I guess he doesn't encounter dragonkinde very often."

Charlie smiled. "You're right, he doesn't. Don't worry, I won't give him detention or anything," and he grinned while Elsie giggled at the idea of the majestic dragon serving detention.

As Elsie reached her classmates, they surged forward in a babble of concern and disbelief. She was wholly swallowed by the wave of conversation, and it wasn't until Charlie called for attention that there was any semblance of quiet.

"What you just saw," Charlie explained to the class, "was the recognition all dragons have for a certain group of witches and wizards. We call them dragonkinde, and they are people who naturally bond with dragons. I am a dragonkinde, and so is Elsie." He did not add that Elsie also spoke dragon, but she did nothing to correct this omission.

"Now," he continued, "let's return to your major task for the year. Are you all in pairs?" There were general murmurs of assent, and Elsie looked around to see whom she would be working with. To her considerable annoyance, she saw that the only one without a partner was Draco Malfoy.

Elsie looked towards Hermione, who had obviously succumbed to the insistence of Neville's pleas. Hermione returned her glance, and shook her head apologetically. It appeared that there was nothing else for it, but to allow fate its way. Shrugging her shoulders eloquently, Elsie rolled her eyes to Hermione and went over to join Draco. The class was lined up to claim their eggs, and Draco had taken a place near the end of the line.

"Looks like I'm fast becoming the anchor in your life," he said to her lazily as she came to a halt beside him. She glared at him, remembering how he was the reason she was serving detention that evening with Snape.

"Some anchor," she retorted, "are you going to pull me down with you?" She decided for mutual survival, a change of topic was in order. "I'm looking forward to getting the egg."

"Yes, we'll make great parents, I'm sure," Draco drawled in response. She breathed in to give him a cutting reply, but he continued before she had a chance. "Impressive that you're dragonkinde," he told her, and the admiration was sincere. "You had quite an effect on Weasley, you know," he added, sotto voce. "Are you planning to make a conquest of Lupin too, just to round things off?"

Elsie spun to face him. She spat her words out of her mouth almost to quickly to be intelligible, she was so frustrated. "You have the most incredible talent for being cruel, do you know that? I said before I was sorry for what I did to you outside Potions, but you make it incredibly difficult for a person to get along with you. I respect all my teachers, and I don't intend to make conquests of any of them, and I don't like being punished for defending their integrity. You're pushing awfully hard, Draco, and you're this close to really being on the wrong side of the line."

Draco endured her outburst in silence. Elsie wondered if he knew why he was baiting her so much. 'Perhaps its because at least this way he makes sure you're noticing him,' a little voice said, but she brushed the possibility away.

"Just be grateful that Potions was a once of," he answered easily, and she could tell he was not affected by her animosity at all. "You're in it for the long haul in this subject, but you could have done worse." His gaze flickered to where Hermione stood, hovering over Neville as he clumsily nursed their dragon egg.

Elsie nodded curtly, still gazing intently at Draco. "Just remember," she warned, "I'm a dragonkinde, so if you want to get along with our protégé, you're going to have to co-operate."

Draco turned back to her, one eyebrow raised quizzically. "My dear girl," he drawled, "whatever makes you think I'm not?"

Elsie stepped back involuntarily, confusion and then dawning understanding on her face. Draco merely stood looking at her impassively, and after a few moments she grinned at him in spite of herself. "Well, then," she quipped, "we'll definitely be getting a lively one, won't we?" And she stepped up to the nest, as the pair in front of them departed with their egg.

There were still several eggs left in the nest. Warm air steamed up from the pit in the earth, and the eggs quivered where they lay. Elsie's attention was drawn to a solitary egg near the edge of the pit. It was rocking gently from side to side, as if waiting for a pair of hands to pick it up. The egg itself was a soft golden colour, with very faint flecks of green, and Elsie was unsure which species it belonged to.

Even as she turned to point it out to Draco, Elsie felt his hand on her arm. Looking up at him, she saw that his gaze was arrested on the egg, with an intensity that looked almost like hunger. She grinned -- this was going to be more interesting than she had anticipated.

"Come on," she said to him, and pulled his arm as she walked around the pit, until they were both just above the egg. "Now," she said softly to Draco, "Can you click?"

He looked at her confusedly, and in explanation, she leant down towards the egg and began clicking. It was not the same rhythm as the sequence she had used with Cináed, but it had just as dramatic an effect. Draco's eyes widened as the egg quickened in its rocking, evidently responding to whatever message Elsie was sending.

She paused, and nudged Draco. "Here, you try it," she said to him, and tentatively he began to replicate her clicking. The egg paused for a moment, and then literally jumped into the air -- straight into Draco's outstretched hands. He turned to Elsie, holding the egg as he would some sacred object. "It would seem," he said to her, and the wonder was audible in his voice, "it would seem that we've found our egg".

Elsie smiled, and placed her hand on the egg, clicking again. The two of them stood like this for some time, only breaking their focus when Charlie came up to them to make sure everything was alright.

"Found the right egg?" he asked, and grinned when the both nodded at him wide-eyed. "You lot all seem to be getting quite clucky," he mused, looking at several other pairs of students also immersed in their eggs to the exclusion of all else around them.

Elsie grinned, as did Draco. "This is going to be amazing," he said, and there was an expression of respect for Charlie on his face that Elsie found quite gratifying. Charlie looked pleased, but he didn't say anything. Instead he clapped Draco on the back, nodded to Elsie, and kept on his rounds through the rest of the class.

"Not a bad professor for a Weasley, eh?" asked Elsie with a grin as Draco turned back to the egg.

Draco's eyes met hers, and she wondered at how paternal a dragon egg could make an eighteen-year-old boy. "No promises," he said, "but being my usual charming self is going to present certain difficulties by the looks of it. In this subject, at least."

"Well, it's something," Elsie replied, and it seemed that an unspoken agreement was formed between the two of them, with the egg in the centre of their pact.

Draco placed the egg gently back in the nest, along with the other eggs that were also being returned. When he looked back at Elsie, his usual smug grin was in place, though tempered somewhat by what they had just shared. "He'll like me more, you know," he declared.

Elsie wasn't bothered by this -- if anything, she looked amused. Crossing her arms, she looked at him and asked, "Possibly. But how do you know it's a he?"

Draco started; clearly this had not occurred to him. At his dismayed expression, Elsie could not help but laugh. "Don't worry," she said consolingly, "it's a he." When Draco looked at her interrogatively, she shrugged. "Don't ask me how I know," she said disparagingly. "I just know."

He grinned, and then appeared to remember again that she was a Gryffindor and a Mudblood, and he was a Malfoy. Drawing himself up, he moved away with his fellow Slytherins, who were already heading back to the castle. "Enjoy your detention tonight," he called as he walked off.

Elsie groaned. She was already exhausted, and she still had to get through Muggle Studies, dinner and detention with Snape before she could tumble into bed. 'But it could be worse,' she reflected to herself as she treaded towards where Ron, Harry and Hermione were waiting for her. 'At least Draco's acting half-human for a change. And we're going to have a lot of fun with this kit.' She looked back to where Charlie was carefully covering the dragon nest, Cináed once again by his side. "Great lesson, Charlie," she whispered to him, knowing there was no way he could hear her. "You'll have them all eating out of the palm of your hand in no time." And she turned back towards the castle, and started chatting animatedly with her friends.