Hermione watched from inside her cage as the Slytherins got ready for bed. Okay, so she had her eyes peeled shut when the boys were changing. She really did not want to see anything nor did she want to be a pervert.
The bed beside her cage creaked as it was weighed down. She gently cracked open an eye to see Malfoy curled up in bed, staring at her. The bangs of his nearly white hair fell to the side.
"I almost forgot." The bed creaked again as Malfoy leaned over to the nightstand where her cage was placed. She squeezed her eyes shut, expecting him to do something terrible. Instead, he picked up his wand.
There was a small clinking noise when the wand was placed back onto the table. "There. Now you won't be able to leave your cage. Just in case you happen to be a smart beast."
What? She didn't even hear him utter a spell.
Just to check, she slid her tail out through the bar. Or at least tried to. Her tail came into connect with an invisible force. She narrowed her eyes at him and growled.
"Bloody beast. It's just one locking spell. If not for me, you would still be out in the streets."
Hermione huffed in indignation. Malfoy's words were unfortunately true. Oh, how she wished she were with Harry and Ron.
Ron. . . It was his bloody fault that she was in this mess. If only he had loved her.
She shook her head, riding her thoughts of the redhead. Instead, she curled up into a ball in the far corner of her cage. Tonight she will rest and tomorrow she will come up with a plan.
. . . .
The smell of something salty woke Hermione out of her deep sleep. Sitting in front of her, just inside the cage, were a couple strips of bacon. She quickly wolfed down the still warm breakfast. Her muscles were sore from sleeping curled up in a ball.
She found Malfoy sitting cross-legged on his bed working on what she assumed to be homework. It was a good thing that she had finished all of her assignments before the weekend.
Curious to see how he was faring, she tentatively took a step toward the opened cage door. Flicking her tail toward it, she found that the magic barrier was gone. Using her wings, she hopped out and over to Malfoy. She glanced at his paper and found that her first assessment was correct, he was indeed working on homework. And to her astonishment, every question was correctly answered so far.
Malfoy looked down at her with a smile. "Glad to see you looking better." He sat his homework down before picking her up. This time, she didn't try to bite him for she was still stunned at the sight of him doing his homework. For some reason, she always thought that he had others do it for him. "Sorry for the barrier last night." She had temporarily forgotten about that. A growl came as a response. Malfoy looked at her with nervous eyes. "It was as much for you protection as for ours. I can't have you biting one of those idiots, nor can I have them sneaking into your cage."
His fingers rubbed against the top of her head. His touch was gentle and quite honestly, soothing. She couldn't believe that this was the same Malfoy who was always picking on her. Malfoy leaned his face closer to hers and she found herself unable to growl at him, though she had the urge to nibble at his nose.
Hermione shook her head to rid her mind of those pesky thoughts. "You know, you remind me of a certain bookworm. It must be because of your eyes." His words sent her into shock. How did Malfoy know what her eyes looked like?
She cocked her head to the side and looked at him. He chuckled at her inquisitive movement. "You look just like her. Maybe I should call you Bookworm." Her scales bristled at his comment. What was wrong with reading? The information that books contained could come in handy in the future. She should know, she had used her knowledge gained from books during crucial events in the past.
Malfoy placed his hands underneath her, putting a stop to her inner ranting. He picked her up off his lap and gently sat her down on his bed. He leaned back against his pillow and continued on with his homework. Hermione couldn't believe that Malfoy was behaving like a proper student instead of stirring up trouble.
They spent the next few hours with Malfoy working on homework and Hermione watching him while secretly observing the room for a way out.
When dinner time rolled around, Malfoy got up and stretched. "I'm going to leave for a little while. I'll leave you out of your cage if you promise to behave yourself." Hermione curled back up into a ball which seemed to satisfy Malfoy. He flung his robes on before leaving.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Hermione stood up and openly surveyed the room. Just as she thought. There was no way for her to escape. She would just have to wait for someone to slip up and accidentally leave the door ajar.
Malfoy returned half an hour later with her dinner. Which of course was yet again meat. He placed the food on the tabletop where her cage was sitting. "I'll be leaving again, but for a little bit longer. Try not to get into trouble. I don't need you causing trouble for me." With that, he removed his robes and left.
Where was he off to on a Sunday? Probably up to no good, Hermione concluded.
. . . . .
Draco apparated to Diagon Alley. Blaise and Theo were already there. "Where are Crabbe and Goyle?"
"Where else would they be?" chuckled Theo. "They're still stuffing those bottomless holes they call mouths."
Draco snorted in exasperation. "We'll start without them then." The three of them parted ways to begin their mission. Their mission; finding the owner of Bookworm.
He had been walking around for two hours and so far, no one had lost a baby dragon. He was starting to get annoyed. Baby dragons didn't just appear out of thin air!
Just when he was ready to call it quits, he saw The Weasel and Potter run to each other. "Any sign of her?"
"No," wheezed Weasley.
"Hermione is going to kill us if we don't find her. Let's keep searching." Weasley frantically nodded in agreement with Potter.
Draco found their worrisome chatter annoying. He apparated back to Hogsmead before the bothersome Gryffindors saw him.
. . . .
"What are you doing back here?" Draco asked in annoyance. He had arrived back to his dorm to find the others there. Bookworm was back in its cage.
"We arrived about an hour ago," said Blaise, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants.
Draco was unable to help himself as he rolled his eyes. "At least you bothered to show," he sneered.
Crabbe shrugged. "The food was good."
"The food is always good," said Goyle with a dopey smile.
The other three peered at the two with disgusted looks. Draco swore he heard Bookworm snort.
"How did it go?" Crabbe asked as a way of getting the attention off of him and Goyle. Draco let it work this time.
"Bloody awful. No one is looking for a bloody dragon," grimaced Draco.
Was he imagining it or did Bookworm perk up with this news. He began wondering again just how smart the beast was.
"Oh, yeah." Draco reached into his pocket where he pulled out a fresh, green apple. Bookworm's eyes darted toward the apple and it licked its lips. "Thought so." He used a slicing spell on the apple before giving it to the dragon.
When he was in Hogsmead, he passed a witch who had been selling different types of fruits and herbs. When he saw the apple, he was reminded of his first encounter with the baby dragon.
Bookworm ate the apple slices in a frenzied hunger. Draco made a mental note to give the creature apples every once in a while.
"Fascinating," whispered Theo.
"It's making me hungry again," said Goyle as he rubbed his stomach.
"Everything makes you hungry," snickered Blaise.
. . . .
Harry tentatively walked into the headmaster's office. "Dumbledore, sir?"
"What is it, Harry?" Harry looked down at the ground, not sure where to begin. "Is this visit concerning Miss Granger?"
Harry looked up with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open. "How-"
"Harry, there is little that I do not know of that goes on in this school." He leaned forward and crossed his hands on his desk. "Hagrid came by earlier-you just missed him- to inform me of our current situation. I do believe you have a way of locating Miss Granger," said Dumbledore with a wink.
What was he-oh! "The map." Harry turned to leave, eager to go fetch the Marauders' Map. He couldn't believe he had forgotten about it.
"Oh, and Harry."
"Yes, sir?" Harry asked as he turned to look at professor Dumbledore.
"You shouldn't need to use it. I assure you that Miss Granger is perfectly safe. Everything will work out as it should," said Dumbledore with a knowing smile.
Harry looked at his beloved headmaster in puzzlement. What did he know? Harry was curious as to know what his headmaster had up his sleeve.
. . . . .