The Wolf's Lion ~ Harry Potter (Editing)

Chapter Eighteen | Dragons

November soon ticked by and Ariana was growing even more anxious by the second, not that she would ever admit that.

She had not heard from Remus since his sudden appearance a few weeks ago. In all honesty, it was something she had expected. The Ministry had been cracking down on owls, in other words: they were reading them.

Harry and Ron were point blank refusing to talk to each other, putting the girls in a horrid position. Ariana wasn't on best terms with Ron herself, but talked to him when it was necessary.

Their red-haired friend had accused them repeatedly of submitting their own names, something that pissed them both off tremendously after denying it for the tenth time.

The situation with the other students had not changed. Ariana had tough skin, but even having hexes and jinxes tossed at her by certain pupils was beginning to grate on her. Never had Ariana been so tempted to throw them into the Black Lake with the Giant Squid.

Ron had passed a message on to them, through an agitated Hermione, that Hagrid wanted to see Harry and Ariana. The latter had no idea why, but she was always up for visiting Hagrid nonetheless.

That night, after darkness had fallen, the pair of Champions headed out into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid. He had been quite coy, not revealing where he was taking them.

"Harry, did yeh bring yer father's cloak like I asked yeh?" Hagrid questioned.

"Yeah I brought the cloak. Hagrid where are we going?" Harry asked, looking to the large man as they trudged through the forest.

"You'll see soon enough. Pay attention this is important," Hagrid replied, not giving much away again.

"What's with the flower? Hagrid have you combed your hair?" Harry enquired, furrowing his dark eyebrows.

Ariana had also took notice of Hagrid's peculiar appearance. In place of his normal clothing, he looked considerably more dapper than usual, a large red flower held in his hand.

"As a matter of fact I have. Yeh migh' like teh try the same thing now and again," said Hagrid, sidestepping the question rather obviously.

Ariana shared a confused look with Harry, but they weren't kept in the dark for long. Madame Maxime's French-accented voice called out.

"'Agrid?"

"Oh, the cloak," Hagrid told them quickly. "Put teh cloak on."

Without needing to be told again, Harry rapidly covered himself and Ariana with the cloak that had once belonged to James Potter. Now invisible to the naked eye, the two students watched as the even taller Maxime came into view.

"Bonsoir, Olympe," Hagrid greeted.

'Now we know why he has made an effort with his attire,' Ariana thought to herself, smiling.

"Oh 'Agrid," Maxime sighed. "I thought you weren't coming, I thought perhaps... you had... forgotten me."

"Couldn't forget you, Olympe."

"What is it you want to show me?" Maxime questioned, looking down at Hagrid. "When we spoke earlier you sounded so exhilirateed."

"Yeh'll be glad you came. Trust me," Hagrid answered cryptically, leading his date off into the forest.

Ariana and Harry followed the pair, making sure to remain silent as they stepped over massive roots and branches.

The witch's eyebrows shit to her hairline when she heard the ferocious roar of a dragon echo through the thick trees. Both she and Harry eyed each other in shock, hoping that they had misheard, despite knowing their hearing was not the problem.