Dragonology 101

Chapter 1

Summary: "So what exactly is your plan with this dragon?"

"My plan, such as it is, is to find out what's wrong with its wing and fix it. Or find someone who can fix it."

"That's going to be more difficult than you think."

"Well I didn't think it would be easy."

It's a little past midnight, the fire has almost completely died, and Felix Rosier sits rigidly on the leather sofa in the Slytherin common room. His transfiguration notes are open on his lap but his gaze is fixed on the stone wall opposite, eyes peeled for any small movement as he contemplates potential ways the notorious Slytherin curse-breaker might be planning to escape.

The Shrinking Charm? She did that once her first year, he's heard rumors. Or the Disillusionment Charm? It's far too advanced for her level, she's only a third year, but she could beat him in a duel at age twelve so he knows not to underestimate her. Or perhaps she has an invisibility cloak? Felix wouldn't put it past her. But unless she's found a secret entrance out of the dungeon (and he considers this a legitimate possibility) there is no way she'll be able to leave without him at least seeing the bricks of the wall part to let her pass.

Felix exhales loudly through his nose. The term has barely started and she's already back at her same bad habits, but this time, he's determined to put a stop to it. No more sneaking out, no more cursed vaults. Not this year. Felix steels himself for the impending confrontation, allowing his pent up anger and frustration to rise to the surface. And Merlin knows, he has enough of those emotions to spare at the moment.

Felix's seventh year at Hogwarts did not begin like the other six. That breathtaking mix of freedom and homecoming he usually feels at the start of each new school year has been poisoned by the knowledge that this one will be his last.

His summer was spent enduring lecture after lecture from his parents on his upcoming Family Responsibilities: a respectable career in a prestigious department of the Ministry of Magic ("Magical Law Enforcement would be best. Aurors are good people to have power and influence over, and it's a straight shot to minister." declares his father) and a suitable marriage to a pure-blood girl ("Don't you have any classes with the Nott's daughter? She should be in your year and she's ever so lovely." croons his mother). He's seventeen now, they say, a legal adult, and he really can't keep acting like a child anymore.

As always, Felix shields himself behind his schoolwork; his upcoming NEWTS have all his focus at the moment, he tells them, and it's not untrue. Felix is determined to stay at the top of his class. The best at everything. All the more important since, in spite of his hours of studying, his perfect O.W.L scores, and his vigilance in keeping Slytherin in line to win the house cup for the last two years, he has somehow failed to make Head Boy.

His family on one side, his schoolwork on the other, Felix feels as though he's being slowly crushed between the two. And he has one year left to come to terms with the fact that there is no escape.

It's time for Juniper Windsong to come to terms with that, as well.

There's a noise from behind him; a shadow creeps around the couch. The dim light and her effort to keep her steps silent prevent her from noticing the back of Felix's head as Juniper makes her way toward the entrance wall. He clears his throat loudly, and she turns with a jump that would have made him laugh if he were in a lighter state of mind.

"Merlin's beard, you scared me!" she says in a strangled whisper. "What are you –"

"No."

"What?"

"Whatever you're doing, the answer is no."

Juniper lifts her hands in a placating gesture. "Look, it's not what you –"