When a Snake Loves an Eagle

Chapter 2- The Hunt

Harry and Draco strolled down to the courtyard where the scavenger hunt was being held.

"Attention! Attention everyone!" Professor McGonagall called. "Please organize yourselves into teams of two!"

Harry and Draco glanced at each other with a smile.

"There's more!" McGonagall continued. "Your partner must not be in the same house as you!"

Again, Draco and Harry looked at each other, but not so happily this time.

Draco scanned the crowd, searchig for a suitable partner. They had to be smart... They had to be fast... They had to be... Hermione! She was here?
Draco's heart started pounding when he saw his crush walking toward him.

"Hey, Draco, want to be partners?" Hermione asked.

For a fraction of a moment, Draco nearly blurted out, "YES! A THOUSAND TIMES, YES!" but instead he cleared his throat, and as casually as he could, said, "Sure."

"Great! Lets go get the list of things we need to find!" Hermione said with a smile. The two of them walked together up to Professor Flitwick and he handed them a scroll. They unravelled it to see a list of things.
"A book from the restricted section is first. Lets go!" Hermione exclaimed.

"No, wait. Everyone will go there first because its at the top of the list. Why don't we start at the middle, or the bottom?" Draco suggested.

"Smart thinking!" Hermione complemented.

'Sweet! She thinks I'm smart!' Draco thought.

"Alright. Lets go get... 'saliva of a three-headed dog.' I'll tell you how we'll get it once there are less people around to hear," whispered Hermione as she eyed the other students around her.

Once the two of them were out of earshot, Hermione told Draco how if you played some music, Fluffy would go right to sleep.

"Okay, but how will we get the spit?" Draco asked

"Fluffy drools," Hermione said very matter-of-factly.

"Alright, and how do you know we have a mutant dog living in our castle?"

"Oh, I read it in 'The Secrets of Hogwarts.' Hey! That could be our book from the restricted section! I nearly forgot, I took it from thers years ago!"

"Well, lets go grab the book, then the drool," Draco said.

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The two students made their way to the Ravenclaw common room. Draco waited outside while Hermione snagged her book. Then they went down to Fluffy's chamber, where Draco enchanted a flute while Hermione collected the massive dog's spit in a glass tube.

"One down, a bunch to go!" Draco whispered as he and Hermione left the giant canine to sleep.

"Hermione? Can I ask you something?" All of a sudden, Draco felt very nervous and short of breath. "Why me?"

"Because you're very cunning and know how to get around," Hermione answered.

"Oh," Draco said.