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edenfallingIn a frantic effort to avoid writing more of the Quidditch scene, last night I worked on "First You Have to Get There" (my AU fifth-year H/G semi-fluffy romance thingy) and a sidefic to Secrets itself. (Come to think of it, "Get There" is also set in the Secretsverse, insofar as it contains the same OCs. It's so much less trouble to keep using them over again instead of inventing new ones every time I want to use Ginny in a story.)
Anyway, back in chapter 2, Apple and Daphne (two of the major OCs in "Secrets," whom Ginny meets on the Hogwarts Express) mention something they call "the dragon debacle" that seems to have occured over the summer before their first year.
This is the story they never got around to telling Ginny.
(Please note that no canon characters, with the sole exception of Charlie Weasley, will appear anywhere in this ridiculously self-indulgent fic.)
---------------------------------------------
The Dragon Debacle, part 1
---------------------------------------------
It was, as Apple later said, entirely Daphne's idea to spy on the mating dragons while visiting their cousin Alexandria Davis, but as Daphne never failed to point out, Apple was the one who slipped Alexandria's standard issue notice-me-not cloaks from her trunk and made the expedition possible.
Apple's mother had brought the cousins to the Romanian dragon reserve both to visit Alexandria and to expand their horizons; she was enthusiastic about travel and particularly fascinated by strange magical creatures. Apple wasn't interested. She borrowed a book on common draconic illnesses and busied herself trying to learn Romanian by relating it to Latin.
Daphne, on the other hand, latched onto Alexandria and followed her all around the outpost for several days. The building itself -- a mazy collection of stone rooms and corridors, half of which were built underground to shield them from fire -- was fun to explore, and she enjoyed watching the handlers float stunned dragons into pens for their biannual medical checks, but Daphne wanted to see dragons that were awake and flying. She wanted to see them breathe fire.
Finally she lost patience with the safety precautions, stormed into the low, narrow guestroom she was sharing with Apple, and yanked her cousin's dictionary and tourist brochure from her hands.
"Alexandria says one of the Longhorns is ready to mate and the males will be courting her over by Lacu Rosa," she said. "We're going to watch."
Apple blinked. "No. Give me my books."
Daphne tossed the book and brochure into the corridor and blocked Apple's instinctive rush to check them for a broken spine or torn pages. "Yes. It's been three days and I haven't seen anything. We're going to watch the dragons. Or I'll throw your dictionary in the toilet."
Apple narrowed her eyes and flipped her frizzy braid over her shoulder. "Right," she said. "Exactly how do you plan to leave the outpost without my mother noticing, or to sneak through the charms around the mating area? Did you even deign to listen when Alexandria mentioned those?"
"That's what you're for," said Daphne blithely. "You tell me how we do this."
"Daphne..."
"Book. Toilet. How do we get out of here?"
Apple held the staring match for another ten seconds, then sighed and sank back on her narrow bed. "You are a selfish, inconsiderate, petty, anti-intellectual tyrant."
Daphne grinned in triumph. "I love you too. So what's the plan?"
"Give me a minute. And go pick up my books!"
---------------------------------------------
"You're quite mad, you know. I feel that, as my cousin, you ought to be aware of that sad deficiency."
"Shush," hissed Daphne, as she and Apple slipped into Alexandria's room in the women's wing. "If you screw this up, I'm going to blame it all on your bad planning."
"You will not! It's a perfectly good plan," said Apple. "The problem is that it's a perfectly good plan for carrying out a mad idea, so it can't escape certain flaws. This is worse than the goats on the gatehouse roof."
Daphne snickered.
Apple frowned as she pulled out their stolen wand -- surreptitiously acquired many years ago from their Aunt Hortense -- and charmed the lock to stick. "It wasn't nearly as funny as you think it was," she said severely. "And I still don't think it was fair that I got half the punishment when I hadn't the slightest idea what you were going to do with that levitation charm."
"Yes, but the looks on their faces!" said Daphne.
Apple's expression softened. "Aunt Hortense did turn a fascinating shade of puce..."
"Exactly," said Daphne. "Now let's get started. I'll look around the open places. You check the trunk; it's probably warded."
"Lazy," muttered Apple. "Don't touch anything until you ask me about it."
Daphne stuck out her tongue and turned to search the room. It was only slightly larger than the narrow guestroom the two girls were sharing, but with only one bed it seemed much more open -- or it would have if Alexandria hadn't lined the stone walls with bookcases and covered every available surface with medications, grooming tools, protective gear, and other dragon-related gewgaws. A mobile of the known draconic breeds hung in the narrow window; the tiny figures idly flapping their wings and breathing miniature jets of flame at each other. A cauldron in the corner bubbled with some noxious yellow goop -- probably an itch-relieving cream for shedding scales, judging by the open potions book propped on its rim.
Daphne poked through the clutter, careful to touch things with a scale-remover instead of her fingers, in case of guard spells. Nothing she found seemed particularly helpful and none of the wall-hooks held the cloak they wanted. Alexandria had lurid taste in bath towels and calendar pictures, though, she noted for future teasing or blackmail.
"Aha!"
Daphne turned to her cousin's triumphant whisper. "Well?"
"Found them." Apple straightened from the brass-bound trunk with six locks that she'd pulled from under Alexandria's bed. Her arms were full of fabric that looked vaguely grey and kept pushing Daphne's gaze away. "It was only the second compartment; she must run through them fairly quickly."
"So she's careless." Daphne waved that aside. "We found them; that's the important thing. Now we just need to get brooms." She looked expectantly at her cousin.
"Ignorant, pea-brained, impulsive twit," muttered Apple, but with much less bite than before. "Why do I always let you talk me into these things?"
"Oh, shut it. You know you have as much fun as me."
"As I do," corrected Apple, but the crinkle around her dark eyes belied her prim expression.
"Pedant. Shake out the cloaks and let's go find a broom."
---------------------------------------------
On to part 2
---------------------------------------------
Today I'm minding the house and the dog while Lucia, our cleaning lady, comes. With careful management of where the dog is, we can get every room in the house vacuumed; otherwise, we have to shut the dog into one room and write it off for the week. (She hates Lucia with a passion.)
Anyway, back in chapter 2, Apple and Daphne (two of the major OCs in "Secrets," whom Ginny meets on the Hogwarts Express) mention something they call "the dragon debacle" that seems to have occured over the summer before their first year.
This is the story they never got around to telling Ginny.
(Please note that no canon characters, with the sole exception of Charlie Weasley, will appear anywhere in this ridiculously self-indulgent fic.)
---------------------------------------------
The Dragon Debacle, part 1
---------------------------------------------
It was, as Apple later said, entirely Daphne's idea to spy on the mating dragons while visiting their cousin Alexandria Davis, but as Daphne never failed to point out, Apple was the one who slipped Alexandria's standard issue notice-me-not cloaks from her trunk and made the expedition possible.
Apple's mother had brought the cousins to the Romanian dragon reserve both to visit Alexandria and to expand their horizons; she was enthusiastic about travel and particularly fascinated by strange magical creatures. Apple wasn't interested. She borrowed a book on common draconic illnesses and busied herself trying to learn Romanian by relating it to Latin.
Daphne, on the other hand, latched onto Alexandria and followed her all around the outpost for several days. The building itself -- a mazy collection of stone rooms and corridors, half of which were built underground to shield them from fire -- was fun to explore, and she enjoyed watching the handlers float stunned dragons into pens for their biannual medical checks, but Daphne wanted to see dragons that were awake and flying. She wanted to see them breathe fire.
Finally she lost patience with the safety precautions, stormed into the low, narrow guestroom she was sharing with Apple, and yanked her cousin's dictionary and tourist brochure from her hands.
"Alexandria says one of the Longhorns is ready to mate and the males will be courting her over by Lacu Rosa," she said. "We're going to watch."
Apple blinked. "No. Give me my books."
Daphne tossed the book and brochure into the corridor and blocked Apple's instinctive rush to check them for a broken spine or torn pages. "Yes. It's been three days and I haven't seen anything. We're going to watch the dragons. Or I'll throw your dictionary in the toilet."
Apple narrowed her eyes and flipped her frizzy braid over her shoulder. "Right," she said. "Exactly how do you plan to leave the outpost without my mother noticing, or to sneak through the charms around the mating area? Did you even deign to listen when Alexandria mentioned those?"
"That's what you're for," said Daphne blithely. "You tell me how we do this."
"Daphne..."
"Book. Toilet. How do we get out of here?"
Apple held the staring match for another ten seconds, then sighed and sank back on her narrow bed. "You are a selfish, inconsiderate, petty, anti-intellectual tyrant."
Daphne grinned in triumph. "I love you too. So what's the plan?"
"Give me a minute. And go pick up my books!"
---------------------------------------------
"You're quite mad, you know. I feel that, as my cousin, you ought to be aware of that sad deficiency."
"Shush," hissed Daphne, as she and Apple slipped into Alexandria's room in the women's wing. "If you screw this up, I'm going to blame it all on your bad planning."
"You will not! It's a perfectly good plan," said Apple. "The problem is that it's a perfectly good plan for carrying out a mad idea, so it can't escape certain flaws. This is worse than the goats on the gatehouse roof."
Daphne snickered.
Apple frowned as she pulled out their stolen wand -- surreptitiously acquired many years ago from their Aunt Hortense -- and charmed the lock to stick. "It wasn't nearly as funny as you think it was," she said severely. "And I still don't think it was fair that I got half the punishment when I hadn't the slightest idea what you were going to do with that levitation charm."
"Yes, but the looks on their faces!" said Daphne.
Apple's expression softened. "Aunt Hortense did turn a fascinating shade of puce..."
"Exactly," said Daphne. "Now let's get started. I'll look around the open places. You check the trunk; it's probably warded."
"Lazy," muttered Apple. "Don't touch anything until you ask me about it."
Daphne stuck out her tongue and turned to search the room. It was only slightly larger than the narrow guestroom the two girls were sharing, but with only one bed it seemed much more open -- or it would have if Alexandria hadn't lined the stone walls with bookcases and covered every available surface with medications, grooming tools, protective gear, and other dragon-related gewgaws. A mobile of the known draconic breeds hung in the narrow window; the tiny figures idly flapping their wings and breathing miniature jets of flame at each other. A cauldron in the corner bubbled with some noxious yellow goop -- probably an itch-relieving cream for shedding scales, judging by the open potions book propped on its rim.
Daphne poked through the clutter, careful to touch things with a scale-remover instead of her fingers, in case of guard spells. Nothing she found seemed particularly helpful and none of the wall-hooks held the cloak they wanted. Alexandria had lurid taste in bath towels and calendar pictures, though, she noted for future teasing or blackmail.
"Aha!"
Daphne turned to her cousin's triumphant whisper. "Well?"
"Found them." Apple straightened from the brass-bound trunk with six locks that she'd pulled from under Alexandria's bed. Her arms were full of fabric that looked vaguely grey and kept pushing Daphne's gaze away. "It was only the second compartment; she must run through them fairly quickly."
"So she's careless." Daphne waved that aside. "We found them; that's the important thing. Now we just need to get brooms." She looked expectantly at her cousin.
"Ignorant, pea-brained, impulsive twit," muttered Apple, but with much less bite than before. "Why do I always let you talk me into these things?"
"Oh, shut it. You know you have as much fun as me."
"As I do," corrected Apple, but the crinkle around her dark eyes belied her prim expression.
"Pedant. Shake out the cloaks and let's go find a broom."
---------------------------------------------
On to part 2
---------------------------------------------
Today I'm minding the house and the dog while Lucia, our cleaning lady, comes. With careful management of where the dog is, we can get every room in the house vacuumed; otherwise, we have to shut the dog into one room and write it off for the week. (She hates Lucia with a passion.)
