Harry, Ron, Hermione and I sat at breakfast the next morning, talking about what had happened at Hagrid's yesterday. We had gotten more information about the Sorcerer's Stone, and had found out that Hagrid was hiding an illegal dragon egg in his wooden house.
"Lily?" Harry said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Yeah?" I said.
"Where's Ava?" he asked.
"You're missing somebody," I stared him down until he realized who he had forgotten.
"Oh yeah, and Olivia. Where's Ava and Olivia?" Harry asked.
Now I would answer him.
"Who knows? You know how they are. Most likely in trouble or doing something they aren't supposed to," I smiled a bit, rolling my eyes.
Ron snorted.
"Harry, look! Hedwig has a letter for you!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed, pointing up near the ceiling. Sure enough, there was Hedwig, carrying an off-white colored envelope.
The owl landed in between Harry and I, and dropped the letter. Harry immediately started to rip open it open, and Hermione scowled at him.
"Thank you, Hedwig," she said, and gave Hedwig half a piece of toast. Hedwig flew away, satisfied.
"Take a look at this," Harry said, turning around the piece of parchment so that we could see what was written on it.
There were only two words written on it.
It's hatching.
"Who is it from?" I asked Harry, looking up.
Hermione smacked me.
"It's from Hagrid, of course! Even Ronald had that one figured out!"
"I say we skip Herbology and go see Hagrid," Ron said.
"Skipping class? No way, we'll be caught for sure," Hermione said, rather loudly, just as Malfoy walked by our table.
He looked at us suspiciously. I looked him up and down, and apparently the look I gave him was enough for him to keep walking.
"Great job, Hermione. Now he knows, and he's most likely going to tell Professor Sprout on us," Ron said, annoyed, and looking a bit worried.
"It's not my fault he's nosy, Ronald. Besides, we aren't going to do it anyways," Hermione said stubbornly.
"Ron, there's no need to point fingers," I started. "Hermione, we need to go. This is really important to Hagrid."
The whole way to Herbology, we argued about going to see Hagrid.
"If we did, we would be breaking just about a million rules! We're not supposed to be in the forest in the first place, we're not supposed to skip Herbology, not to mention that raising a dragon is COMPLETELY illegal," Hermione said. "Plus, Malfoy knows now, and he's for sure going to rat us out."
"Who cares?" I basically ignored everything she had said.
"I do!" Hermione said, outraged.
"Other than watching the dragon hatch, maybe we can get some more information out of Hagrid about the Stone," Harry said.
I just realized something.
"Guys, we still haven't seen Ava and Olivia, and I can see from here to the greenhouse. They're not there..." I started to get a bit worried, and my stomach did a little flip.
"I'm sure they're fine. The worst that could of happened to them is probably being sent to talk to McGonagall," Ron said, not sounding concerned at all.
"Where are you going?" Hermione asked as Harry, Ron and I started into the forest, quickly, trying not to be seen.
We didn't respond. She knew exactly where we were going. Hermione looked around, and ran after us.
"I'm only coming because we're all in this together. If we weren't, I wouldn't be here," she huffed, crossing her arms.
We slowed down, because we were in the forest now.
As we walked in silence, I was getting really getting anxious about Ava and Olivia.
"Calm down, Lily. They're fine..." Harry assured me, as if he could read my mind. He did sound a bit concerned himself, though. I tried my best to brush it off.
We arrived at Hagrid's. I knocked on the door, and Hagrid flung the door open, looking very excited.
"It's almost out!" he exclaimed.
We rushed inside, and there was the large black egg, sitting in the middle of the table with a few cracks on it. We all sat around the table, waiting. We waited some more, and some more, until the egg made a very loud cracking noise. We all held our breath, and finally, a baby dragon broke out of the egg.
The dragon was black, skinny, had spiny wings that were probably bigger than its body, a long snout with humongous nostrils, and bright orange eyes.
Harry crumpled up his nose, Ron looked very interested, and Hermione just stared at it.
"It's so cute!" I squealed.
"Cute? It's beautiful!" Hagrid teared up. He reached out to pet the dragons head, and it tried to bite off his finger.
"Aw! He knows 'is mama! Who's your mama? 'Agrid is!" Hagrid cooed.
"Hagrid? How fast do Norweigian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?" Hermione asked.
Hagrid opened his mouth to answer, when his face suddenly paled.
"Hagrid?" I said, getting a bit nervous. He seemed to have just froze in place. I looked over to what Hagrid was staring at. It was the window.
"Oh no..." Ron mumbled, seeming to have looked out the window, alike me.
All that I could see was a boy in Slytherin robes, with slicked back blonde hair, running back to the castle.
**********
The whole rest of the week, anytime Harry, Ron, Hermione or I walked past Malfoy, he would stare us down and give us his stupid little smirk. Olivia and Ava got out of it though, as they weren't there. We told them all about it, anyways.
It turned out that they had been sent to McGonagall, because they were caught going through Filch's desk drawer. They got detention with Filch for the rest of the week, meaning that they wouldn't be able to come to Hagrid's to see Norbert any time soon. I swear, they were becoming more like Fred and George by the minute.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I spent most of our time at Hagrid's, trying to convince him to let Norbert go. That was what he named the dragon. He refused every time, though.
"He's too little! He can't survive on 'is own!" Hagrid told us one day.
"If you wait a few more weeks, Norbert is going to be bigger than your house, Hagrid," Hermione said.
"I know, it's jus', I don' wanna let 'im go... I can't dump 'im..." Hagrid sniffled, his eyes full of tears.
"Charlie," Harry said, turning towards Ron.
"I'm Ron. It seems like Hagrid's not the only one losing his-"
"No, I meant that Charlie can take Norbert!" Harry said brightly.
"That's the best idea you've had for a long time, Harry," I said. "Who knew you had some brains in there?"
In the end, we somehow convinced Hagrid to let us send a letter to Charlie, asking if he could take Norbert.
Night began to fall as we walked back to the castle.
"I'm glad that we could convince Hagrid to let Charlie take Norbert. He could get in trouble with the Ministry if he keeps Norbert much longer," I said, sighing.
"Yeah..." Harry said.
"My feet are tired! Give me a piggy back ride," I tried to jump onto Harry's back, but he didn't let me.
"No, Lily. So are mine. I think that Ron just said that he'll give you one," Harry grinned.
"Oh, did he? Thank's for volunteering, Ron," I said, and jumped on Ron's back.
"It's not like she makes any difference, she's light as a feather," Ron said. "My mum would have a fit if she knew."
"Not true!" I snapped.
"We all know it's true, so don't deny it," Ron said. "It's okay, she'll fatten you up the next time she sees you."
"I am not! I am completely normal, thank you," I defended myself. I didn't want anybody worrying about me.
"Actually, Lily, you and I both aren't. We're shrimps," Harry said, making me scowl. "Especially you though, it's ridiculous-"
"Let me see her," Hermione said, talking about me as if I were a baby or something.
"I'm an eleven year old girl, not a baby!" I complained, but it was too late. Next thing I knew, I was being handed over to Hermione, and put on her back.
"You are rather light! This is really concerning," Hermione said, leaning down so that I could jump off of her shoulders. "How much do you weigh?"
"You don't just ask somebody that!" I said, trying to avoid telling her. I honestly didn't care that I was light, I just didn't want her to prove that I was wrong.
"Just answer the question, and I'll give you a piggy back ride the rest of the way to the castle," Hermione said.
"Fine... Sixty-three pounds," I muttered. "Now let me on your back!" I jumped back on her back.
She shook her head in disapproval, and that was the end of that.
**********
The rest of the week dragged on slowly. One Wednesday night, Hermione, Harry, and I were sitting in the common room, late at night, finishing some homework, when everyone had gone to bed. Ava and Olivia were at detention, and Ron was with Hagrid, helping him feed Norbert.
"Hermione, can you help me?" I pleaded.
She sighed.
"Fine. What do you need to know?" She finally gave in, probably because she didn't want to be bothered by me asking anymore.
"What does the Peppurup Potion do, and what are the side effects of it?" I read the question.
"Here. Figure it out," Hermione plopped a big book onto my lap.
I groaned.
"Why do we even have homework? We have enough to deal with already, anyways," I mumbled.
I didn't get a response.
Ron appeared out of nowhere, and chucked the invisibility cloak at Harry, catching us all by surprise.
"The stupid dragon bit me! Take a look at this!" Ron shoved his wrist in our faces, which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief.
"It's not the worst thing that could happen. One time Dudley tried to punch Harry in the face, so I bit him in the face," I shrugged.
Hermione finally looked up from her book.
"You bit him? In the face?" Hermione questioned.
"Yep," I said.
"It was hilarious. She was so mad that her hair turned about ten different shades of red," Harry snorted. "Our uncle blamed it on the lighting-"
Suddenly, there was a pecking noise at the window.
"It's Hedwig! She must be back with Charlie's letter," Harry said. He rushed over to the window, and opened it. He quickly untied the letter from Hedwig's leg, and she flew inside and landed on a nearby coffee table.
We all put our heads together so that we could read the letter.
Dear Ron,
How are you? Thanks for the letter- I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends who are visiting next week. The thing is, they can't be seen carrying an illegal dragon. Could you get the Ridgeback at the tallest tower at midnight, on Saturday? They can take him if it's dark.
Send me your answer as soon as possible,
Love,
Charlie.
We wrote him a response, and soon enough, Hedwig was heading off to Romania.
"It shouldn't be that hard. We have the cloak. Once we get Norbert out of here, we're safe from Malfoy," Harry said.
The next morning, I woke up to the usual pillow to the head.
But this time, it was earlier than usual. A lot earlier.
"Ava?" I asked, squinting.
"Lily!" Ava exclaimed.
"What do you want?" I groaned.
"I wanna go exploring!"
"Why didn't you say that earlier? Let's go!" I whispered, getting up quietly, trying not to awake Hermione and Olivia.
I slipped into the bathroom, and quickly brushed my teeth. I didn't bother to fix my hair or change, I just walked out of the bathroom like a boss, and put on some shoes.
"Ready?" Ava asked.
"Yeah," I said, opening the door. We snuck out our door, then through the Fat Lady's portrait. Luckily, she was sleeping.
"We are officially ninjas," I said as quietly as possible.
"I thought we already were ninjas," Ava whispered.
"True. What time did you wake me up at?" I asked.
"Three-thirty. It's quarter to four, now."
I grinned as we turned down another corridor.
"So, where are we going?" I asked quietly.
"I was thinking to hit the kitchens, then wake up Fred and George, and pull some sort of scheme with them," Ava whispered.
"Don't you usually do this with Olivia?" I asked.
"Yes, but she told me not to wake her up early. She was exhausted from what we had to do for detention. Plus, I need to show you, my child, how fun this is, and why getting detention is worth it," Ava whispered.
"Ah. I see. Let's try and avoid detention," I suggested.
"We always try, of course. Most of of the time it doesn't work," Ava whispered.
"Show yourself!" a raspy voice exclaimed, startling me. I jumped, and Ava froze.
"Run," she whispered, grabbing my wrist, and pulling me along with her. We ran as fast as we could, and for about five minutes, the person who was trying to catch us followed every turn we made down each corridor. Eventually, they gave up, and me and Ava decided to hide in a broom closet for a while.
I noticed that we were in the same hall that I first found out that Harry and Ava liked each other.
"So, does this hall bring back any memories?" I snickered.
"Yes, it does," Ava whispered. "A particularly enjoyable memory."
"Ew!" I said.
There was a few moments of silence.
"Lily?" Ava whispered.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think that this whole Sorcerer's Stone thing could be... dangerous?" Ava asked.
"Well, it could be. We don't know much about the stone itself, so it's hard to tell," I answered.
"I'm not scared," Ava whispered.
"Neither am I," I said.
"You're really brave, you know."
"So are you, Ava. Remember-" I started but was cut off.
"I know I'm brave, but you're really brave, for a first year. You saved all of us- Hermione, Olivia, and me," she said.
"When?" I questioned, eyebrows furrowed.
"In the bathroom. With the troll," Ava said.
"Oh, yeah. Well, it was better me than you," I sighed.
"What makes you say that?" Ava asked, sounding concerned.
"I don't know," I said uncomfortably, avoiding the question. "Wanna go to the kitchens now?"
"Lily, tell me right now," Ava demanded.
"You have a family, I don't," I finally said, looking away. "If something happened to you, people would be upset."
Silence.
"I don't have a family either, you know," Ava said.
"But I'm sure your aunt and uncle would be upset if anything bad happened to you. Harry and I's wouldn't," I mumbled.
"Neither would me and Olivia's," Ava admitted.
"Who's your uncle?" I frowned.
"Malfoy's dad," Ava said, the distaste obvious in her tone.
"I'm sorry, Ava. You don't deserve that," I said, genuinely feeling bad that she had to live with them.
"Neither do you," Ava said.
"Why are we having this conversation in a broom cupboard?" I suddenly realized where we were, and that we couldn't even see each other in the darkness.
She laughed.
"I dunno. Let's go get us some ice cream. Ice cream makes everyone feel better," Ava kicked open the broom closet door like sheriffs did in the movies, linked our arms, and we were on our way to the kitchen.
A little while later, we had snuck our way up to Fred and George's dorm, now holding ice cream.
"Fred! George! Wake up!" I whispered, shaking Fred's arm, then George's. We had stuck to our plan of getting Fred and George to do some pranks with us, after eating our ice cream. It was around four- thirty at the moment, and I was no longer tired at all. Probably because of all the sugar.
"Lily? Ava? What the bloody hell are you doing up here at-" George glanced at the clock next to his bed. "-four-thirty in the morning?"
"Well, long story short, my wonderful Ava here woke me up about an hour ago, because she wanted to go on an adventure. We left our dorm, ran from some professor, actually, correction, what I hope was a professor, we had a very deep conversation about Harry and bravery in a broom closet, got ice cream, and now we're here because we want to do some kind of prank," I explained, nearly all in one breath.
"Sounds like Ava, but where's Olivia?" Fred asked quietly, now sitting on the side of his bed.
"She probably would of cut my head off if I woke her up early. She was tired from late night detention," Ava said.
"Well, let's go then. Can't waste any of our precious time," George whispered, getting out of his bed. Fred did the same thing.
That is where the birth of a wonderful prank started.
**********
It was now seven in the morning, so we all decided to head back to our rooms to get ready for the day. The prank was successful, and I had the time of my life. We ran from Filch, and Snape, almost got caught four times, and another time, I slipped, and slid nearly half way across the corridor, and hit my head on the wall. It was hilarious.
When we got into our room, laughing about something, I noticed that Hermione was missing.
"Where's Hermione?" Ava asked, as if she could read my mind.
"No clue..." I whispered, because Olivia was still asleep.
"Should we check if Harry and Ron are in their room? If they're not, Hermione should be alright..." Ava said.
"Yeah, we probably should," I said.
"I'll go. You stay here," Ava said, opening the door, again.
"Okay," I agreed. Ava left.
I decided that it was time to wake up Olivia, so I went over to her bed, and was about to shake her, when I stopped. I shouldn't be that nice, should I? I mean, she usually threw something at me as my wake-up call.
I decided to get payback by throwing a pillow at her face, like she normally did to me. She stirred, and then shoved her face under her pillow.
"LILY! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!" Olivia raged, sounding and looking a bit like the Hulk.
"I DON'T CARE! GET UP!" I shouted, dragging her out of her bed by the ankle.
"I like the ground," Olivia said stubbornly, smirking.
"I like to pour water over people's heads that like the ground," I said.
She jumped up off the floor.
"I'm awake!" Olivia cried.
That's what I thought.
"Where is everyone?" Olivia asked, as she searched her trunk for a clean pair of robes.
"Ava and I saw that Hermione was gone, so she went to go check if Ron and Harry were gone too," I said, also grabbing some clean robes.
Right when I said that, Ava burst into the room.
"They're gone, too. Either they went on an adventure, or something is wrong, or they are at breakfast," she said breathlessly.
"Most likely the first one..." I mumbled. "I can't believe I was gone for this!"
We got ready, and went down to breakfast. They weren't there. We went to our classes, reluctantly, though. They didn't show up for first period, but Harry and Hermione were at all of our other classes. Ron was missing. When I finally got a chance to talk to them, it was lunch.
"Where were you guys?" I asked.
"Remember how Norbert bit Ron?" Harry said.
I nodded, but Ava and Olivia looked confused.
"Well, he woke up, and it was all swollen and green, so we took him to the hospital wing. He told Madam Pomfrey that it was a dog bite, but she didn't seem to buy it, mostly because Ava's dog is the only dog on school grounds, other than Fang, but I'm pretty sure that she doesn't know about them either," Harry explained.
Malfoy walked by us a few minutes later.
"I know your secret, Potters," he spat.
"Scram, Malfoy. If I look at you another second, I'm pretty sure that I'll croak," I said.
He went away, but gave us a smirk while doing so.
The rest of the day was going pretty well, until while we were walking to Charms class, a second year came up to me and Ava.
"Professor McGonagall told me that she wants to see you," he said, a bit out of breath.
"Why?" Ava asked. "We have to go to class."
"I dunno. She didn't tell me. I reckon she really wants to to talk to you, because she told me that you had to come," the second year said, and walked away.
We exchanged a glance, but still turned around and headed towards McGonagall's office. This couldn't be good.
"She scares me!" I exclaimed on the way there. "I wonder what she's gonna do to us..."
We approached McGonagall's office, and she swung open the door. She didn't say anything, but simply gave us a stern look, and moved so that we could enter.
I noticed Fred and George, and knew exactly what was happening. Ava and I reluctantly sat in the seats beside them, across from McGonagall's desk.
"I've brought you here to ask about something that happened this morning in Mr. Filch's office," McGonagall said, after she sat down. "Do any of you just so happen to know what that is?"
"What happened in Mr. Filch's office, Professor?" I asked innocently, knowing perfectly well what happened in Filch's office.
"Miss Potter, are you implying that you have no idea what happened?" McGonagall questioned with raised eyebrows.
"Er- yes?..." I trailed off.
"She's lying, Professor. That was us," Ava admitted in a completely casual tone. "I'm sorry, Professor. It's better to tell the truth right away with Professor McGonagall," Ava added, glancing at me.
Professor McGonagall took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment.
"What made you think that it was a good idea to throw paint filled water balloons all over the walls?"
"Who wants to explain?" Fred said, trying not to laugh.
"I will!" I said a bit too cheerfully. "Okay, so Ava woke me up at three-thirty in the morning, we went on an adventure, ran from someone with a raspy voice, we had a deep conversation about Harry and bravery in a broom closet, we got ice cream, we woke up Fred and George, then what we are talking about right now happened."
Fred and George nodded in sync, small grins on their faces.
McGonagall frowned.
"You said that you heard a raspy voice?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am..." I said, confused on why she wasn't mad about everything else we did.
She looked a bit concerned, as if she was worrying about something else more.
"Thank you, Miss Potter. Due to unexpected circumstances, I am letting you go with a warning," McGonagall said sternly. "I need to speak with Professor Dumbledore. Your little adventures past curfew need to come to an end. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Professor," we all said.
"I must go speak with the Headmaster now," McGonagall said, standing up. "You are all free to go, but I will be discussing punishments with you later on today."
"Just like that?" George asked, surprised.
"Just like that," McGonagall repeated. "Unless you wish for a detention, in that case-"
"No, we're good, thank you, Professor McGonagall, bye!" I slipped out of the chair and ran out the door. Ava followed me, and then Fred and George.
"That was amazing," I grinned.