Our Secret Marriage: First Year

Chapter 16: Confronting Him

When we knock on the door of Hagrid's hut an hour later, we are surprised to see that all the curtains are closed. Hagrid called "Who is it?" before seeing that it was just and letting us in, before quickly shutting the door quickly behind us.

It is stifling hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Which in itself is odd... and despite the heat, Hagrid makes us tea and offers all of us stoat sandwiches, which all four of us refuse politely.

"So -- yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yea," Harry says as he fans himself., prolonging the moment of asking Hagrid the million-gallon question.

There's no point beating around the bush.

"We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy," I cut Harry off as he hesitates to ask, pushing up theBut Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked thefire glasses that are slipping down my face due to the sweat pouring out of me.

Hagrid frowns.

"O' course I cant, he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It Was almost stolen outta Gringotts - I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on around here," Hermione pleads in a warm, flattering voice.

Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling. "We only wondered who had done the guarding, really."

Hermione goes on. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry, Ron and I beam at Hermione.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that... let's see... he borrowed Fluffy from me... then some o' the teachers did enchantments... Professor Sprout -- Professor Flitwick -- Professor McGonagall --" he ticked them off on his fingers, "Professor Quirrell -- an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

What?

"Professor Snape?" I say hollowly, my heart skips a beat at the mention of his name.

"Yeah -- yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

For all I know Ron, Hermione and Harry were thinking the same as I was. If Severus had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything -- except, it seemed, Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy. aren't you, Hagrid?" Harry asks anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," Hagrid announces proudly.

"Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling," I huff as I fan myself with the hot air.

"Can't, O'ria, sorry," Hagrid says, glancing to the fire.

My eyes follow his and I let out a small gasp.

"Hagrid -- what's that?" But I already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.

"Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard, "That's er..."

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" Ron asks, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," said Hagrid. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" Hermione asks.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin' , Hagrid mumbles, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library -- Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit -- it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on I em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here -- how ter recognize diff'rent eggs -- what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

"Whatever it is, it's a dragon, Hagrid!" I huff, looking at the ominous black egg. "A fire-breathing dragon?"

"You live in a wooden house," Harry states as of a matter of factly, looking around.

But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked thefire. 

As Harry, Ron and Hermione continue to try to convince Hagrid that raising an illegal dragon on school grounds is a bad idea, I make an excuse to Harry about needing to go to the bathroom to slip out of the sweltering hut to find Severus.

My heart beats rapidly against my chest as I run through the dungeons to get to Severus's rooms, narrowly avoiding some loitering students on my way as my mind replays what Hagrid said in his hut, not about the dragon but rather about the stone.

 I know for a fact that Severus is going to try one more time to get past Fluffy and as much as I want to believe that he isn't trying to steal the stone...I want to at least know why he's trying to get to it.

Bursting into his rooms like a typhoon, Severus stands from his seat by the fireplace immediately with his wand raised in my direction. Ignoring his raised wand, I make a quick jog to close the distance between us, jumping onto him and effectively knocking him into his chair.

Breathes leave and enter my body quickly as I try to catch my breath from all the running, looking at me worriedly as I sit on him, Severus cups the side of my face gently searching my face for any indication as to why I came running into his rooms like a whirlwind.

"S...Severus...wha...what do you want...with the stone?" I pant, pleading with my eyes for him to tell me. "I...I know...y...you want it...how you leg got hurt...I know it too...what the dog is guarding...last night too...your talk...with Pro...Professor...Quirrell..."

"Breathe child," He commands gently, sitting nose to nose with me. "Catch your breath."

Sure it takes a while but I manage to catch my breath after a few gulps of water and him rubbing my back. Moving me from sitting beside him to on to him like when I first ran into his room, I don't comment on it when he holds me in place by holding my waist.

"Now, ask your question again," He begins, glancing between me and the door behind me.

"What do you want with the Philosopher's Stone? I know you've tried to get past the three-headed dog, yes, I know there's a three-headed dog called Fluffy on the third floor and I heard your conversation with Professor Quirrell-" I blabber on both explaining how I came to ask the question and asking the question.

Giving my waist a tight squeeze to stop me from continuing, Severus begins, pulling up his sleeve to reveal a skull with a snake curling around it, "Do you know what this is?"

Tentatively, I reach forward to touch the black mark, running my index finger down the length of it, noting that he shivers when I do so. Looking up at him, my finger immediately leaves his skin when I see the harsh pain-filled grimace on his face.

"I'm sorry," I mumble, tearing my eyes away from his face. "I shouldn't have..."

"When I was a boy, I called a very dear friend of mine a very offensive word," He tells me gently, his large hands squeezing my sides. "It cost me our friendship and she ended up marrying my greatest enemy and giving birth to his spawn. I, on the other hand, threw myself in the wrong direction and I gave myself to a very bad man who gave me this mark."

Looking up at him curiously, I whisper, "Is the very bad man You-Know-Who?"

His eyes widen in shock at my question but he nods in response nonetheless.

"The stone..." I trail off as he continues to stare at me.

"The only thing you need to know is I am protecting the stone," Severus says quickly. "There is nothing else you need to know."