An Accidental Alliance

chapter 1

Harry was bored.

Really bored.

Like resorting to staring at Hermione's copy of Hogwarts, A History that she was currently reading bored. She had propped it up against a stack of books so he could only see the top inch or two, the bit that proclaimed Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus. He mused on the phrase. The cover, of course, depicted the castle itself and not a sleeping dragon, or even better, a particularly unwise wizard tickling a dragon. He thought that would probably sell more copies, but as long as there were people like Hermione buying the book and people even worse than her printing it, the castle would remain on the cover.

"Hey, Hermione?" he asked.

"What?" she answered distractedly, not looking up.

"What're the dimensions of that book?"

"Uh, two hundred and twenty-two millimeters by one hundred and forty-three, the standard size for hardcovers."

Harry had grabbed a clean sheet of parchment and, though he still distrusted them due to one Rita Skeeter, told his Quick Quotes Quill to draw him a rectangle that size. Then he shoved the blasted quill back in his bag and, since he was feeling silly and artistic, chose the lime green Fwooper quill Hermione had given him for Christmas a few years ago.

She put her book down and looked at him over the pile. "Why?"

"No reason," he replied, sketching out a vague impression of a dragon, recognizable only by the flame shooting from its shout and the spiked tail. Other than that, it looked more like a dog. Or maybe a Flobberworm who'd gotten into a fight with a porcupine.

"Shouldn't you be doing homework?" she asked.

"I've finished everything but Muggle Studies, and I haven't got that for another day," Harry said, crumpling up the parchment and setting it on fire. It floated in the air for a moment, a small ball of fire, then burnt itself out leaving a pile of ash, which he swept onto the floor.

"Harry!" Hermione said, aghast. "You can't just make messes like that!"

"It's fine," he said, pulling out a fresh piece of parchment. "It blends in with the rest of the dirt." This time he didn't bother with the rectangle; it was clear he was going to need practice drawing dragons before he could start for real. "Any idea where books on dragons would be?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Doing your Muggle Studies paper on dragons? I suppose that could be interesting. Don't forget to mention the Ilfracombe Incident of 1932."

"Yeah, of course," Harry said, though he had no idea what she was going on about. "Where'd I find the books?"

"In Magical Creatures, under 'D'," Hermione said. "Obviously."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Not everyone's got the library memorized. I'll be right back." It took longer than he expected, first to locate the Magical Creatures section (just before Muggle Studies and after Local History), and then to find a book with illustrations. He had no idea what use a book on dragons without them would be, but it seemed nobody thought it particularly important to depict the beasts. Their history, sure. How to kill, or at least contain one, absolutely. But what they'd be up against? Nothing but text.

The very last book on the subject was a children's book entitled Don't Dabble With Dragons! It had a cartoon of a Common Welsh Green on the cover, and a little girl smelling a flower with her back to the creature. Somewhat dubiously, Harry flipped through the pages. It was mostly an illustrated children's story, but at the very back it had full-page, full-color photos of each dragon breed. He walked back over to his table with a spring in his step. He was baffled why children were the only ones who needed to know what a dragon looked like, but at least he had found what he was looking for.

He started on the general shape first, using the cartoon of the Welsh Green as a model. Soon enough his parchment was covered with little dragons, ranging from pitiful snakes with wings to a fairly accurate depiction of the Welsh Green. Curvy neck, convex stomach, long tail and two small streams of fire shooting out from its snout. He magicked his ink green and colored the best of his sketches. It didn't look half bad.

Suddenly the tower of books blocking his activities from Hermione disappeared. Don't Dabble With Dragons! fell face up, and Hermione gawked at him.

"You-you've been spending all this time drawing cartoon dragons?" she accused.

"So what if I am?" Harry replied defensively. "I told you, I've finished everything for tomorrow. I just wanted to relax."

Hermione shook her head as she walked away, putting her books away. When she returned she picked up the parchment and examined it. "Some of these are pretty good, actually," she said. "I can't condone putting off your homework until the last minute, but since you can't help yourself, I suppose there are worse things you could be doing."

Harry smiled. That was high praise indeed. "Thanks," he said, taking the parchment back. "D'you mind if I borrow your copy of Hogwarts, A History?"

She pulled the book from her bag and handed it to him. "If it comes back with a single drop of ink-"

"I know, you'll skin me alive," he said, setting it far away from his inkwell. "Thanks, 'Mione."

"I don't know why you'd need it," she replied. "There aren't any pictures of dragons in it, and I highly doubt you're curious as to their history in relation to Hogwarts."

"Don't worry about it," Harry said, settling down with a new piece of parchment. Full-sized cartoon, that was next. He had every intention of progressing to realistic drawings, but he wanted to make absolutely certain he had his bearings first.

"All right, then," Hermione said, a bit mystified. "I'm going back to the Tower. I'll see you later."

"Later," he replied vaguely, already absorbed in the drawing.