Better Be Slytherin!

'Good evening, Mr. Filch,' said Millie, proper as could be. Harry's knees knocked together and he forced them to stop. If they were caught, they'd all have to face some vile punishment, and Hagrid would get in really serious trouble, too. What was Millie doing? The crate grew heavier and heavier in his arms as they stood there, muscles trembling while they were forced to stand still. Sweat rolled off his brow into his eyes.

Filch's voice became more oily. 'What are you doing out of bed, missy? It's far past curfew. Your Head of House will want to hear about this, oh, yes he will.'

Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, came sniffing around the boys' legs, and they stood perfectly still, not wanting to let her under the cloak, where she would disappear. There was no way Filch would miss seeing that.

'I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Filch, I'll . . .' Millie broke off suddenly, then gasped and pointed down the stairs in the opposite direction of Harry and Teddy and their dragon. 'What the . . . Did you see that?!' she demanded, her eyes wide. 'Peeves!' she shouted as she tore after the figment of her imagination, forcing Filch to chase her, or else let her go without punishment. Mrs. Norris bounded after them, apparently forgetting about her earlier sniffing.

'Peeves!' Filch roared as he raced down the stairs. 'I'll get you this time!'

The boys stifled the laughter that wanted to bubble up and started moving up the stairs again instead. Millie had saved them!

This last set of stairs led to the top of the tower, and when they reached it at last, they were both panting for breath. Norbert was just waking from the dose of sleeping draught Hagrid had given him, and he started snapping and clawing at the sides of the crate. Fortunately, a young man stepped forward from the gloom of the tower top, under the overcast sky. He was skinny, but his arms were cords of muscle, and his skin was dark brown from the sun. 'Ron?' he asked.

Harry and Teddy shed the Invisibility cloak. 'No, I'm Harry. Ron couldn't make it, 'cause this blighter bit him. But Charlie told him you'd take Norbert to Romania for us?'

'We can. I'm Edward, Charlie's friend. These other blokes are helping out. Let's get the wee beast strapped into the harness.' Over the next few minutes, they did just that. The four broom riders had a harness ready for the crate, to carry it between them, so no one person was saddled with all the weight.

Harry and Teddy said a quick goodbye to Norbert as the broom riders flew off the top of the tower, and Harry grabbed his cloak as they headed downstairs again.

In the Slytherin Common Room, Harry and Teddy waited up for Millie to return. While they waited, Harry wondered aloud to Teddy why Snape hadn't known they were out of bounds.

'He only has his alarms and such up for the first couple months or so each year. After that, he figures students know enough not to get caught, and he doesn't have to chase after us all the time. My cousin graduated last year, and she told me our Head drops any special alarms around Christmas.'

Harry nodded, glad to know that, but also wondering to himself where the Bloody Baron had been tonight. Maybe he and Snape were together, talking or plotting together, both of them assuming Harry was asleep in bed. While sitting and waiting for Millie to come in, Harry experienced a strange sense of longing. For some weird reason, he wished he could confide in the professor like he used to do. He would love to tell the professor about the dragon. Oh, not to get Hagrid in trouble, of course, but because he would have liked to share his first sighting of a dragon with the man -- though not tonight's adventure, certainly. But he couldn't. He couldn't share anything like that anymore. After all, Snape was working with Quirrell to try and kill him . . . no, he couldn't think that, not really. Snape wasn't trying to kill him, probably. But he was trying to get the Stone.

A Stone that would bring Lord Voldemort back to life, and back to power as well. With that Sorcerer's Stone, and the potion he could make with it, Voldemort would let loose another reign of terror such as the one he'd unleashed before Harry's parents had been killed. It was likely Voldemort would try and kill Harry again.

Once more, Harry wished Snape wasn't involved with the scheme. He wished it really, really hard. But any doubts he had had of the man's intentions towards him had been squashed quite soundly in Potions class week after week for the last couple months. Snape had belittled him each day and snarled at him, and then vanished his potions and made him do them over or get no credit. And his eyes . . . Snape's eyes were dark and cold now, like black tunnels leading nowhere.

Millie slipped into the room while he was turning this over in his mind, and the two boys jumped up and ran over to her. No one else was around -- it was nearly 3AM -- and they peppered her with questions. 'What did he do? Did you get away? Did Filch tell Snape?'

Millie held up her hands as answer, and they were red and raw, as if she had been cleaning with bleach and not using gloves. Harry said, 'I've got some salve,' as Teddy led her to the choice spot by the fire in the dungeon room and sat her in the comfiest chair. Harry retrieved the container quickly, a bottle of salve he and the professor had made just after Christmas break, when Harry's hands were getting red and sore from the wind and rain during Quidditch practice, with the minimal gloves Seekers wore. The salve helped soothe his raw, chapped skin, just like Snape said it would.

Millie took the salve and spread it on her hands gratefully.

'It's got Murtlap essence in it,' Harry told her. 'One of the best things for burns and cuts, too.' He grinned as her pained expression faded. 'Are we going to have to prank Filch? What did he make you do?'

'He made me scrub the entire Entrance Hall, can you believe it? At this time of night? I might as well stay up. If I go to bed now, I'll sleep till lunch.'

They all agreed and spent the next couple hours, until the rest of the House was stirring, talking about Norbert and Hagrid's propensity for giving away sensitive information.

'It's mad,' Teddy said solemnly. 'I like him well enough, but I would never trust Hagrid with a secret, especially one like this, one which involves You-Know-Who.'

Harry agreed. 'It's almost like Dumbledore wants someone to be able to get the Stone. But why?'

'I'd think a better question would be, but who?' Millie said, and then wondered, 'Why bring it here at all? I mean, I know Gringott's got broken into just after they moved it -- which is a fine piece of fortune-telling on their part, no lie -- but, well, wouldn't this be the next place anyone would look? If the Headmaster had sent it to Siberia in a Yeti's backpack instead, it'd be safe as houses.'