𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒-ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪 ℙ𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣❥

𝐃𝐇 𝟐𝟓

There was no means of steering; the dragon could not see where it was going, and Emily knew that if it turned sharply or rolled in midair they would find it impossible to cling onto its broad back.

Nevertheless, as they climbed higher and higher, London unfurling below them like a gray-and-green map, Emily's  overwhelming feeling was of gratitude for an escape that had seemed impossible.

Crouching low over the beast's neck, she clung tight to the metallic scales, and the cool breeze was soothing on her burned and blistered skin, the dragon's wings beating the air like the sails of a windmill.

Behind her, whether from delight or fear she could not tell, Ron kept swearing at the top of his voice, Harry was silent and Hermione seemed to be sobbing.

After five minutes or so, Emily lost some of her immediate dread that the dragon was going to throw them off, for it seemed intent on nothing but getting as far away from its underground prison as possible; but the question of how and when they were to dismount remained rather frightening.

She had no idea how long dragons could fly without landing, nor how this particular dragon, which could barely see, would locate a good place to put down.

Emily's head was roaring with bad thoughts;
How long would it be before Voldemort knew that they had broken into the Lestranges' vault? How soon would the goblins of Gringotts notify Bellatrix? How quickly would they realize what had been taken? And then, when they discovered that the golden cup was missing? Voldemort would know, at last, that they were hunting Horcruxes. . . .

The dragon seemed to crave cooler and fresher air: It climbed steadily until they were flying through wisps of chilly cloud, and Emily could no longer make out the little colored dots which were cars pouring in and out of the capital.

On and on they flew, over countryside parceled out in patches of green and brown, over roads and rivers winding through the landscape like strips of matte and glossy ribbon.

"What do you reckon it's looking for?" Ron yelled as they flew farther and farther north.

"No idea," Harry bellowed back.

Emily's hands were numb with cold but she did not dare attempt to shift her grip. She had been wondering for some time what they would do if they saw the coast sail beneath them, if the dragon headed for open sea; he was cold and numb, not to mention desperately hungry and thirsty.

When, she wondered, had the beast itself last eaten? Surely it would need sustenance before long? And what if, at that point, it realized it had four highly edible humans sitting on its back?

The sun slipped lower in the sky, which was turning indigo; and still the dragon flew, cities and towns gliding out of sight beneath them, its enormous shadow sliding over the earth like a great dark cloud. Every part of Emily ached with the effort of holding on to the dragon's back.

"Is it my imagination," shouted Ron after a considerable stretch of silence, "or are we losing height?"

Emily looked down and saw deep green mountains and lakes, coppery in the sunset. The landscape seemed to grow larger and more detailed as she squinted over the side of the dragon, and she wondered whether it had divined the presence of fresh water by the flashes of reflected sunlight.

Lower and lower the dragon flew, in great spiraling circles, honing in, it seemed, upon one of the smaller lakes.

"I say we jump when it gets low enough!" Emily called back to the others. "Straight into the water before it realizes we're here!"

They agreed, Hermione a little faintly, and now Emily could see the dragon's wide yellow underbelly rippling in the surface of the water.

"NOW!"