The Girl Who Never Lived¹ | h. potter

💎Chapter 16💎

Ciara had never wanted to punch her cousin more than this moment.

The smile that remained on her cousin's face for the remainder of the week sent chills down her spine. It reminded her of the look he would get when he would write to Bellatrix, telling her all the things Ciara had been doing.

She shivered again.

'You okay?'

'For now.'

The darkness in Hagrid's hut hid how pale her face was, but she couldn't hide her fear from Harry.

Oddly enough, she didn't want to.

The dragon, which Hagrid decided to name Norbert, had grown three times in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn't been doing his gamekeeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.

"Just let him go," Harry urged, even though he knew it was a losing battle. "Set him free."

"I can't," Hagrid shook his head. "He's too little. He'd die."

Ciara glanced at the dragon, which was nearly as long as she was tall.

Yeah. Too little.

"He really knows me now," Hagrid said enthusiastically, "Watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mummy?"

"He's lost his marbles," Ron mumbled.

"Hagrid," said Harry loudly, as if to drown out Ron's voice. "Give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment."

"You'll be fired," Ciara said softly.

Hagrid bit his lip. "I — I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him, I can't."

Ciara's heart sunk. This was it. They were never gonna convince Hagrid to get rid of Norbert. He was gonna keep him then Norbert was gonna burn his house down then Norbert would be sent off to some dragon reserve and Dumbledore would fire Hagrid and-

"Charlie."

She looked at Harry in confusion, who was staring at Ron. She frowned at Harry and so was Ron.

"You're losing it, too," he said, "I'm Ron, remember?"

"No — Charlie — your brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"

"Brilliant!" said Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?"

And in the end, much to Ciara's relief, Hagrid agreed.

✨💎⚡

The week dragged on, and by Wednesday, Ciara was ready to pull her hair out.

Either the letter had not gotten through to Charlie, or he was refusing to respond until the last minute, because they had yet to receive word from Ron's older brother. The clock chimed midnight and Ciara forced her heavy eyes open.

Ron had still not returned, he was helping Hagrid feed Norbert for the night. She glanced at the clock on the wall, reading eleven o'clock. Her eyes closed again and she slumped, her body falling against Harry's one she fell asleep.

Harry, surprised with the sudden movement, tensed as he felt the weight of his best friend being pressed against him. He glanced over at her, and his expression softened. Her hair gently fell around her face and she looked more peaceful than Harry has ever seen her.