Prefect, Captain, Chaser, Awesome

Cooper: Cooper opened the door as soon as he heard the first knock and immediately dragged his little brother into a crushing hug. “Hey Squirt. What’s wrong?” He knew Blaine hated the nickname, which is exactly why he used it when Blaine was upset about something. It helped get Blaine’s mind off his problem for a second in order to be annoyed at Cooper. Leading Blaine up to his room, Cooper ushered him onto his bunk and then muttered spells around them to quiet their conversation and draw the curtain so no one would listen it. This was obviously important and secret. “Okay, so what’s going on?”

Blaine: Blaine was driving himself crazy. It was already February, and this dragon was getting big. He was now the size of a small cat. The first thing Blaine had thought of when realizing how big he was getting was that old internet sensation he used to follow back home known as “Grumpy Cat” because of his size. Even so, it was getting harder and harder to take care of this beast in only his dorm room. It was getting so hard, in fact, that it was becoming a real issue of safety when he’d have to get food. He’s already been caught once sneaking into the kitchen late at night: once more and he’d be in detention. Blaine knew that with all the work he was already behind on, detention would mean the end of the world. Even so, he needed to take care of this creature. He also needed to stop faking everything when people asked why he was so tired. Blaine needed to start trusting people. He needed to start trusting his brother: the man who would always be there for him. No matter what.

Meeting Cooper tonight would be big. Definitely. So when Cooper met him at the Ravenclaw painting and, even more so, with a bone-crushing hug, Blaine was immediately fearful. He wasn’t exactly alone at the moment… In a paranoid rush, Blaine had taken the dragon with him to see his brother. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to be concealing a sleeping dragon in his robes just around curfew, but it also wasn’t such a good idea to leave the small beast to wander his room should he wake up. He also didn’t want to risk anyone finding him… “H-Hey, Coop…” Blaine greeted nervously, keeping his curled arm away from Cooper o protect the dragon nestled there under his robes. When Cooper led him upstairs, Blaine kept his eyes down. He could feel the gazes of other Ravenclaws curiously peering at him from their corners of the Common Room. He could feel the silent whispers in all of their minds, all simultaneously considering Blaine’s attendance and surely pondering over the bulge by his chest. So when they reached Cooper’s room, Blaine sat down on Cooper’s bed and, still concealing, slipped the dragon gently to his lap. “… Cooper… I’m in a lot of shit here,” he said softly. And, with a gentle swipe of his hand, Blaine moved the fabric from his robe to reveal the tiny, black-and-green dragon sleeping soundly on his lap.

Cooper: Cooper had known something was bothering Blaine for a while, he knew him well enough to immediately see when something was wrong. He could almost feel it more than see it. Something would go wrong with with Cooper if Blaine was out of whack. So he had just been waiting for Blaine to finally come clean about what was up. Initially he had assumed it was something to do with Sebastian. When he felt the weird bulge in Blaine’s chest, he had thought Blaine had stolen something, or was.. .who knew. 

Not a fucking dragon. 

"HOLY SHIT." Cooper yelled and leaped back, hitting his head on the back of his wall. "What the… Seriousl… What the fuck Blaine?!" He had never been more grateful for Silencing Charms. For several minutes he just stared at the thing in front of him, dangerously close to his very flammable sheets and books. "I… Well that does explain some stuff. How… Where the fuck did you get a dragon, Blaine?"

Blaine: When Cooper exclaimed so loudly, Blaine automatically draped his arm in front of the dragon, shock in his eyes for his brother’s outrage. He looked down at the dragon in concern, but it didn’t seem to stir. Sighing, Blaine kept his hand gently draped over his purring beast. “… Okay, I know this is bad, but… Cooper, I didn’t have any choice…” He trailed off, not really knowing what to say now. He bit his lip and looked down at the small creature in his lap. Gently, Blaine dragged his fingertips over the tiny scales on his back.

Cooper: He blinked a few times and then looked at the dragon again. It was still sleeping somehow. It was… almost kind of cute once you got over the fear of inescapable fire. “It…seems to like you… How long have you had it? What do you mean you didn’t have a choice, where the hell did you even get a dragon, Blaine? Didn’t I tell you not to go gambling at the Hog’s Head until you were at least a fifth year?” In spite of himself, Cooper reached out his hand and touched the sleeping dragon, his mind filling with the Latin motto of the school they were currently inside of, “Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus” or “Never tickle a sleeping dragon” and prayed to Merlin and Rowena Ravenclaw that this wouldn’t count as tickling. 

Blaine: Blaine smiled and chuckled softly. “Yeah, he does like me… It’s… It’s a little weird, but you know…” Swallowing, Blaine scratched gently behind one of the soft, currently horn-less horn bases. Then, when Cooper reached for and touched the dragon, the small beast suddenly began to stir a little. Gasping softly, Blaine smoothed his fingers down the dragon’s neck, hoping it would soothe him back to sleep. “Shit,” he whispered to himself as the dragon drowsily lifted its head to yawn and open its heavy eyes. It didn’t seem to want to get up or do anything, though, so Blaine was at least a little thankful…

Cooper: "Sorry." Cooper lowered his voice when he saw the dragon stir. He had tickled it. Shit. Fuck. "It’s almost a little cute… did you name it? You probably named it. You shouldn’t have named it though, then you’ll get attached to it. Don’t tell me it’s name, then /I’ll/ get attached to it. Then we won’t want to get rid of it. Her? Him? How do you tell a dragon’s gender?" He was rambling because finally the full realization of what his little brother holding a dragon meant. Prison. Massive fines. Family name in scandal. Probably all being blamed on Cooper as well, because he didn’t watch out for Blaine good enough to keep him from this. "We need to get rid of it. Soon."

Blaine: As soon as Cooper retracted his hand, the dragon lowered his head again. He squirmed for a bit, trying to find a more comfortable position, before seeming to fall right back to sleep. Blaine sighed in great relief. He looked up when Cooper spoke again. “… No, I—No, I haven’t named him. And-And I know it’s a ‘him,’ I—checked…” Blaine dropped his eyes, embarrassed. Blaine knew his brother was freaking out. How could he not? Blaine certainly freaked out when he first recognized that he was holding a dragon egg—then subsequently a dragon. Blaine’s eyes widened, and his head shot up when Cooper said they needed to get rid of him—the dragon. Almost protectively, Blaine wrapped his arm around the beast and slowly pulled him closer to himself. Blaine knew it wasn’t safe to keep this dragon or even wantto keep it, but after all he’d been through to keep it a secret and to feed it and keep it safe and warm—after all that… he had to get rid of him? Plus, Blaine didn’t know if that would be too easy now… now that he’d actually drawn himself close to the dragon… and the dragon to him. “Cooper, I-I can’t… I can’t, I have to take care of him… If-If we get rid of him somehow, he’ll be caught by a Watch or something, and he’ll—He won’t be taken care of, Cooper…” Blaine plead with his eyes for lack of words to express his disproval.

Cooper: "So it just doesn’t like me…" He muttered smiling slightly. When he looked up at Blaine his gaze softened. "Blaine… Blaine but what would happen if you got caught? You’re not going to be able to keep him much longer, dragons grow really really fast and he’s going to get big soon. What if we could find some place that would keep him safe? There’re preserves aren’t there? Or some place where we could release him to the wild. The Ministry doesn’t just leave them to die, and they might be able to take care of him better than you could." Cooper didn’t really know what to do, Blaine was obviously killing himself trying to keep this thing, but it also looked like it would kill him to get rid of it. The protective nature in Cooper was struggling trying to make up his mind. Either way with the dragon, Blaine came first. And Cooper thought that getting rid of the dragon, as best they could, would be best for Blaine. "I’ll help. Adam, we could get Adam in too and between the three of us we can come up with something, right?"

Blaine: Blaine shrugged. “I don’t know if he doesn’t like you… He’s probably just not used to you,” Blaine said softly. When Cooper asked about safety and the risk of getting caught, Blaine sighed heavily. “I know. Believe me, I’ve thought about the prospect of getting caught, but that just makes me want to hide him even more. And The Ministry? Cooper, the Ministry hates dragons. One killed students here; do you really think they would want this guy around?” he asked, meeting Cooper’s eyes. Blaine shook his head and looked down again. “I’m also pretty sure that this is the baby of the dragon that attacked those students… I’m sure the Ministry wouldn’t want any offspring of that beast to roam free… Especially within the school…”

When Cooper mentioned Adam, Blaine tensed. “I… I already told Kurt. I don’t think we should tell anybody else. I hate to say it, but telling you was hard enough… I can trust you with this kind of secret. I don’t think I can trust Adam with it…” he trailed off. He didn’t want to mar Adam, but he didn’t know him as well as he knew Kurt and Cooper.

Cooper: He nodded. It surprised him that Blaine didn’t trust Adam. “Yeah… I get that. But. If you’ve already told Kurt, and you’re telling me, there’s no one either of us trusts more than Adam. I know you don’t know him all that well, but really he’s safe. And probably the best equipped to come up with some kind of solution to this anyways.” Quietly, Cooper scooted a little closer to Blaine, and the dragon. He wanted to try to touch it again. Without tickling it. “There’s got to be someone we can talk to. Wasn’t there some kind of Dragon Rescue group a few years ago? They were trying to get certain kinds of dragons on the endangered species lists. Even the Ministry can’t argue that dragons are important.” His mind flashed back to the death of the student, the fire, and everything else that had happened. “Seriously? You think it’s that dragon’s baby? Where did you find it Blaine?”

Blaine: ”It’s not that I—” Blaine clicked his teeth and wrenched his eyes closed. “Cooper, I just really want to keep this between myself and you and Kurt. That’s it. It was risky enough telling you, I just—I want to keep this as low-key as possible. With four people knowing about this, so much more could go wrong. I just… want to keep this quiet and… between us…” He trailed off and opened his eyes again. When Cooper started talking about Dragon Rescue groups, Blaine shook his head again. His words got stuck in his throat, though, when Cooper asked him where he found it. When he… did… find the words, Blaine slowly replied, “… the day of the attack…” in the quietest possible manner. “… before the kids were killed…”

Cooper: He raised his hands up in the universal giving up salute, “Okay, okay. If that’s what you want. Just you me and Kurt then.” Cooper watched his brother closely while he spoke, frowning slightly. “Blaine…did you know something was going to happen?” It didn’t seem like Blaine. No. Cooper didn’t actually believe Blaine was at all involved, but he was still hiding something. “Come on Squirt, just spit it out. I’ve done loads of worse stuff in my time. Just tell me what happened.” 

Blaine: Blaine squirmed a bit under Cooper’s gaze before finally answering him. “I… I was doing a research project for my Creatures class, and Wilmore had us go into the woods during the day to take notes on some amphibians and reptiles, and—and I remember I was near a stream studying frogs or-or maybe I was looking for salamanders—I don’t really remember—and I-I heard this… sound… like this… like something huge was moving behind me, and I-I didn’t dare look, but soon it was getting closer and I-I panicked and I—I ran but I-I think I tripped or something? I don’t remember what happened next, but I… I found this rock or something, but it didn’t look like a rock. It was huge, and I didn’t really look at it too closely, but then I heard the rustling again, so I think—I think subconsciously I grabbed it and ran again.

"When I got out of the woods, the rustling stopped, but I heard another sound—it was like… It was like something with huge wings just took off from the ground, and when I turned around, nothing was there…" Blaine’s eyes were wide with the memory now fresh in his mind—images of the events brightening his mind once more. "… I… I looked down and I… I realized I was still holding that… that object… It… It wasn’t for a few days that I realized the thing I grabbed was a… a dragon egg…" Blaine trailed off, the scared confusion that he once felt now brimming within him once more. Blaine just hoped Cooper would understand now… wouldn’t hate him…

Cooper: Cooper just listened slightly slackjawed and speechless during Blaine’s story and after a few minutes he shook his head, “I don’t know if I should be proud of you or slap you upside the head for being an idiot…I think I’m more the first. You stole a dragon’s egg right from under her Blaine, that’s badass. That’s awesome, that’s insane!”  He leaned back and rubbed his forehead. “He has to go though, Blaine. You know that. It’ll just be me, you, and Kurt who know but we have to get some kind of plan to get him out of here and somewhere safe soon. Why don’t I talk to Kurt and we can do some research on where we could send him and how to get him there, and you just focus on resting and taking care of him? Kurt and I can cover for you now that we know.” Leaning back over to his brother, Cooper rubbed his shoulder gently and smiled, “It’s going to be okay, Blainers. We got you.”

Blaine: Blaine chuckled softly when Cooper actually—surprisingly—became proud of him. He didn’t expect the sudden exclamation of “awesomeness” from his brother. When Cooper stated again that they still had to do something about the dragon, however, Blaine couldn’t help but feel rather… sullen.

Blaine nodded slowly when Cooper rubbed his shoulder. He dropped his gaze to the now-squirming dragon in his lap. He ran his fingers over the creature’s skinny back, and as he did, the creature shook his head and lifted it a little. Blaine sucked in a breath as the dragon opened his eyes and turned himself to peer up at Blaine through those glossy, moss-green eyes. Blaine exhaled softly and continued to pet over the tiny beast’s back, and in return, the dragon scooted more towards Blaine and tucked itself even closer to Blaine. Blaine inhaled and exhaled again, wondering how he could get rid of a creature like this: a creature that trusted him this much.

 Cooper: Cooper watched how the dragon acted with his brother kind of sadly. He could see how much Blaine liked the thing, and surprisingly, how much the dragon liked Blaine. It would tear Blaine up to get rid of it, Cooper knew that and dreaded having to do that to his baby brother. But on the other hand, it was a question between Blaine loosing what at most could be considered a pet, or going to Azkaban and the dragon being taken away forever. “Maybe we could find somewhere where you could visit him sometimes.” He said softly. 

Blaine: Sighing, Blaine considered the notion, but he couldn’t think of many positive ways to do that. After thinking for a moment, Blaine considered—maybe—“Well… If we’re going to eventually tell someone… Maybe the groundskeeper? Or even Wilmore? I’m sure either or both of them would understand… They’d… Sympathize… maybe…” Blaine looked up o meet his brother’s eyes, looking for a response.

Cooper: Cooper thought that over for a bit. “That might be a good idea… We could say that one of them found the dragon in the forest one day and were just turning it now… the Ministry already knows about the attack on the forest so that would make sense. It’d be the truth, mostly. Just with Wilmore or the groundskeeper instead of you.” He nodded once and then started nodding more, “Yeah, that’s a good idea Blaine. That could work!”

Blaine: Blaine nodded slowly and looked down at his dragon again. Then again, he couldn’t really refer to it as “his” dragon anymore since… it never was his and it never would be. He sighed again even so. Blaine had to admit: he was growing rather sentimental towards the tiny beast. After taking care of it and keeping it a secret for so long, how could he just hand it off so easily? He was finding himself like less and less of the idea the more he thought about it… Frankly, he was just glad Cooper was here to guide him a little.

Cooper: Cooper reached out and put his hand on Blaine’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Blaine. I know you like him. It’s just really dangerous for you, and it’s not even the best environment for him. He’d do better out in the wild where he can learn to fly and hunt and stuff, like normal dragons. You got to raise a baby dragon, Blaine! How many people get to say that?”

Blaine: Blaine smiled. Cooper was right. He was always right. Blaine needed to do the right thing or else he’d no only ruin his own life but the life of this tiny animal. Sighing yet again, Blaine met his brother’s eyes and smiled. “Thanks, Coop,” he said softly. He moved to get up, and as if on cue, the dragon stirred and trilled softly. Blaine wanted to coo at how adorable it was if he wasn’t so worried that if the dragon continued making noises, he’d have a problem once he got downstairs. Nervous now, Blaine curled his arm under the dragon and pet over his spine with his other hand. “Shhh, buddy, shh,” he whispered, hoping to lull the beast to sleep in his arms.

Cooper: Of course he was right. “No problem, Blaine. You know I’m here for you.” He moved past Blaine and stood up, next to the bed. The dragon made this little adorable noise and Cooper understood exactly why Blaine was so attached to it. He smiled sadly and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I found a secret passage down to the fifth floor from this dormitory, if you want to get out of here without going back through the common room.” Walking over to a bookshelf by another one of the bunks, he pulled a seemingly random book from the top shelf and the shelf split in two down the middle, revealing a large, well lit staircase curving out of sight behind the wall.

Blaine: Blaine watched as Cooper unveiled an unknown passage. Blaine raised his eyebrows and nodded, impressed. Curiosity and skepticism arose in him, however, because of the notion that Cooper’s probably known about this secret passage for a long time. Blaine eyed his brother before saying, after a pause, “How do you—never mind, I don’t want to know.” He shook his head before walking towards the staircase. Before entering, Blaine turned back to his brother and smiled graciously. “Cooper… Thank you so much…” Then, curling the dragon into his arm a little more, Blaine stepped towards his brother and hugged him with his free arm. Tears of relief stung his eyes, but he shut them to keep himself from crying here.

Cooper: Cooper opened the door as soon as he heard the first knock and immediately dragged his little brother into a crushing hug. “Hey Squirt. What’s wrong?” He knew Blaine hated the nickname, which is exactly why he used it when Blaine was upset about something. It helped get Blaine’s mind off his problem for a second in order to be annoyed at Cooper. Leading Blaine up to his room, Cooper ushered him onto his bunk and then muttered spells around them to quiet their conversation and draw the curtain so no one would listen it. This was obviously important and secret. “Okay, so what’s going on?”

Blaine: Blaine was driving himself crazy. It was already February, and this dragon was getting big. He was now the size of a small cat. The first thing Blaine had thought of when realizing how big he was getting was that old internet sensation he used to follow back home known as “Grumpy Cat” because of his size. Even so, it was getting harder and harder to take care of this beast in only his dorm room. It was getting so hard, in fact, that it was becoming a real issue of safety when he’d have to get food. He’s already been caught once sneaking into the kitchen late at night: once more and he’d be in detention. Blaine knew that with all the work he was already behind on, detention would mean the end of the world. Even so, he needed to take care of this creature. He also needed to stop faking everything when people asked why he was so tired. Blaine needed to start trusting people. He needed to start trusting his brother: the man who would always be there for him. No matter what.

Meeting Cooper tonight would be big. Definitely. So when Cooper met him at the Ravenclaw painting and, even more so, with a bone-crushing hug, Blaine was immediately fearful. He wasn’t exactly alone at the moment… In a paranoid rush, Blaine had taken the dragon with him to see his brother. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to be concealing a sleeping dragon in his robes just around curfew, but it also wasn’t such a good idea to leave the small beast to wander his room should he wake up. He also didn’t want to risk anyone finding him… “H-Hey, Coop…” Blaine greeted nervously, keeping his curled arm away from Cooper o protect the dragon nestled there under his robes. When Cooper led him upstairs, Blaine kept his eyes down. He could feel the gazes of other Ravenclaws curiously peering at him from their corners of the Common Room. He could feel the silent whispers in all of their minds, all simultaneously considering Blaine’s attendance and surely pondering over the bulge by his chest. So when they reached Cooper’s room, Blaine sat down on Cooper’s bed and, still concealing, slipped the dragon gently to his lap. “… Cooper… I’m in a lot of shit here,” he said softly. And, with a gentle swipe of his hand, Blaine moved the fabric from his robe to reveal the tiny, black-and-green dragon sleeping soundly on his lap.

Cooper: Cooper had known something was bothering Blaine for a while, he knew him well enough to immediately see when something was wrong. He could almost feel it more than see it. Something would go wrong with with Cooper if Blaine was out of whack. So he had just been waiting for Blaine to finally come clean about what was up. Initially he had assumed it was something to do with Sebastian. When he felt the weird bulge in Blaine’s chest, he had thought Blaine had stolen something, or was.. .who knew. 

Not a fucking dragon. 

"HOLY SHIT." Cooper yelled and leaped back, hitting his head on the back of his wall. "What the… Seriousl… What the fuck Blaine?!" He had never been more grateful for Silencing Charms. For several minutes he just stared at the thing in front of him, dangerously close to his very flammable sheets and books. "I… Well that does explain some stuff. How… Where the fuck did you get a dragon, Blaine?"

Blaine: When Cooper exclaimed so loudly, Blaine automatically draped his arm in front of the dragon, shock in his eyes for his brother’s outrage. He looked down at the dragon in concern, but it didn’t seem to stir. Sighing, Blaine kept his hand gently draped over his purring beast. “… Okay, I know this is bad, but… Cooper, I didn’t have any choice…” He trailed off, not really knowing what to say now. He bit his lip and looked down at the small creature in his lap. Gently, Blaine dragged his fingertips over the tiny scales on his back.

Cooper: He blinked a few times and then looked at the dragon again. It was still sleeping somehow. It was… almost kind of cute once you got over the fear of inescapable fire. “It…seems to like you… How long have you had it? What do you mean you didn’t have a choice, where the hell did you even get a dragon, Blaine? Didn’t I tell you not to go gambling at the Hog’s Head until you were at least a fifth year?” In spite of himself, Cooper reached out his hand and touched the sleeping dragon, his mind filling with the Latin motto of the school they were currently inside of, “Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus” or “Never tickle a sleeping dragon” and prayed to Merlin and Rowena Ravenclaw that this wouldn’t count as tickling. 

Blaine: Blaine smiled and chuckled softly. “Yeah, he does like me… It’s… It’s a little weird, but you know…” Swallowing, Blaine scratched gently behind one of the soft, currently horn-less horn bases. Then, when Cooper reached for and touched the dragon, the small beast suddenly began to stir a little. Gasping softly, Blaine smoothed his fingers down the dragon’s neck, hoping it would soothe him back to sleep. “Shit,” he whispered to himself as the dragon drowsily lifted its head to yawn and open its heavy eyes. It didn’t seem to want to get up or do anything, though, so Blaine was at least a little thankful…

Cooper: "Sorry." Cooper lowered his voice when he saw the dragon stir. He had tickled it. Shit. Fuck. "It’s almost a little cute… did you name it? You probably named it. You shouldn’t have named it though, then you’ll get attached to it. Don’t tell me it’s name, then /I’ll/ get attached to it. Then we won’t want to get rid of it. Her? Him? How do you tell a dragon’s gender?" He was rambling because finally the full realization of what his little brother holding a dragon meant. Prison. Massive fines. Family name in scandal. Probably all being blamed on Cooper as well, because he didn’t watch out for Blaine good enough to keep him from this. "We need to get rid of it. Soon."

Blaine: As soon as Cooper retracted his hand, the dragon lowered his head again. He squirmed for a bit, trying to find a more comfortable position, before seeming to fall right back to sleep. Blaine sighed in great relief. He looked up when Cooper spoke again. “… No, I—No, I haven’t named him. And-And I know it’s a ‘him,’ I—checked…” Blaine dropped his eyes, embarrassed. Blaine knew his brother was freaking out. How could he not? Blaine certainly freaked out when he first recognized that he was holding a dragon egg—then subsequently a dragon. Blaine’s eyes widened, and his head shot up when Cooper said they needed to get rid of him—the dragon. Almost protectively, Blaine wrapped his arm around the beast and slowly pulled him closer to himself. Blaine knew it wasn’t safe to keep this dragon or even wantto keep it, but after all he’d been through to keep it a secret and to feed it and keep it safe and warm—after all that… he had to get rid of him? Plus, Blaine didn’t know if that would be too easy now… now that he’d actually drawn himself close to the dragon… and the dragon to him. “Cooper, I-I can’t… I can’t, I have to take care of him… If-If we get rid of him somehow, he’ll be caught by a Watch or something, and he’ll—He won’t be taken care of, Cooper…” Blaine plead with his eyes for lack of words to express his disproval.

Cooper: "So it just doesn’t like me…" He muttered smiling slightly. When he looked up at Blaine his gaze softened. "Blaine… Blaine but what would happen if you got caught? You’re not going to be able to keep him much longer, dragons grow really really fast and he’s going to get big soon. What if we could find some place that would keep him safe? There’re preserves aren’t there? Or some place where we could release him to the wild. The Ministry doesn’t just leave them to die, and they might be able to take care of him better than you could." Cooper didn’t really know what to do, Blaine was obviously killing himself trying to keep this thing, but it also looked like it would kill him to get rid of it. The protective nature in Cooper was struggling trying to make up his mind. Either way with the dragon, Blaine came first. And Cooper thought that getting rid of the dragon, as best they could, would be best for Blaine. "I’ll help. Adam, we could get Adam in too and between the three of us we can come up with something, right?"

Blaine: Blaine shrugged. “I don’t know if he doesn’t like you… He’s probably just not used to you,” Blaine said softly. When Cooper asked about safety and the risk of getting caught, Blaine sighed heavily. “I know. Believe me, I’ve thought about the prospect of getting caught, but that just makes me want to hide him even more. And The Ministry? Cooper, the Ministry hates dragons. One killed students here; do you really think they would want this guy around?” he asked, meeting Cooper’s eyes. Blaine shook his head and looked down again. “I’m also pretty sure that this is the baby of the dragon that attacked those students… I’m sure the Ministry wouldn’t want any offspring of that beast to roam free… Especially within the school…”

When Cooper mentioned Adam, Blaine tensed. “I… I already told Kurt. I don’t think we should tell anybody else. I hate to say it, but telling you was hard enough… I can trust you with this kind of secret. I don’t think I can trust Adam with it…” he trailed off. He didn’t want to mar Adam, but he didn’t know him as well as he knew Kurt and Cooper.

Cooper: He nodded. It surprised him that Blaine didn’t trust Adam. “Yeah… I get that. But. If you’ve already told Kurt, and you’re telling me, there’s no one either of us trusts more than Adam. I know you don’t know him all that well, but really he’s safe. And probably the best equipped to come up with some kind of solution to this anyways.” Quietly, Cooper scooted a little closer to Blaine, and the dragon. He wanted to try to touch it again. Without tickling it. “There’s got to be someone we can talk to. Wasn’t there some kind of Dragon Rescue group a few years ago? They were trying to get certain kinds of dragons on the endangered species lists. Even the Ministry can’t argue that dragons are important.” His mind flashed back to the death of the student, the fire, and everything else that had happened. “Seriously? You think it’s that dragon’s baby? Where did you find it Blaine?”

Blaine: ”It’s not that I—” Blaine clicked his teeth and wrenched his eyes closed. “Cooper, I just really want to keep this between myself and you and Kurt. That’s it. It was risky enough telling you, I just—I want to keep this as low-key as possible. With four people knowing about this, so much more could go wrong. I just… want to keep this quiet and… between us…” He trailed off and opened his eyes again. When Cooper started talking about Dragon Rescue groups, Blaine shook his head again. His words got stuck in his throat, though, when Cooper asked him where he found it. When he… did… find the words, Blaine slowly replied, “… the day of the attack…” in the quietest possible manner. “… before the kids were killed…”

Cooper: He raised his hands up in the universal giving up salute, “Okay, okay. If that’s what you want. Just you me and Kurt then.” Cooper watched his brother closely while he spoke, frowning slightly. “Blaine…did you know something was going to happen?” It didn’t seem like Blaine. No. Cooper didn’t actually believe Blaine was at all involved, but he was still hiding something. “Come on Squirt, just spit it out. I’ve done loads of worse stuff in my time. Just tell me what happened.” 

Blaine: Blaine squirmed a bit under Cooper’s gaze before finally answering him. “I… I was doing a research project for my Creatures class, and Wilmore had us go into the woods during the day to take notes on some amphibians and reptiles, and—and I remember I was near a stream studying frogs or-or maybe I was looking for salamanders—I don’t really remember—and I-I heard this… sound… like this… like something huge was moving behind me, and I-I didn’t dare look, but soon it was getting closer and I-I panicked and I—I ran but I-I think I tripped or something? I don’t remember what happened next, but I… I found this rock or something, but it didn’t look like a rock. It was huge, and I didn’t really look at it too closely, but then I heard the rustling again, so I think—I think subconsciously I grabbed it and ran again.

"When I got out of the woods, the rustling stopped, but I heard another sound—it was like… It was like something with huge wings just took off from the ground, and when I turned around, nothing was there…" Blaine’s eyes were wide with the memory now fresh in his mind—images of the events brightening his mind once more. "… I… I looked down and I… I realized I was still holding that… that object… It… It wasn’t for a few days that I realized the thing I grabbed was a… a dragon egg…" Blaine trailed off, the scared confusion that he once felt now brimming within him once more. Blaine just hoped Cooper would understand now… wouldn’t hate him…

Cooper: Cooper just listened slightly slackjawed and speechless during Blaine’s story and after a few minutes he shook his head, “I don’t know if I should be proud of you or slap you upside the head for being an idiot…I think I’m more the first. You stole a dragon’s egg right from under her Blaine, that’s badass. That’s awesome, that’s insane!”  He leaned back and rubbed his forehead. “He has to go though, Blaine. You know that. It’ll just be me, you, and Kurt who know but we have to get some kind of plan to get him out of here and somewhere safe soon. Why don’t I talk to Kurt and we can do some research on where we could send him and how to get him there, and you just focus on resting and taking care of him? Kurt and I can cover for you now that we know.” Leaning back over to his brother, Cooper rubbed his shoulder gently and smiled, “It’s going to be okay, Blainers. We got you.”

Blaine: Blaine chuckled softly when Cooper actually—surprisingly—became proud of him. He didn’t expect the sudden exclamation of “awesomeness” from his brother. When Cooper stated again that they still had to do something about the dragon, however, Blaine couldn’t help but feel rather… sullen.

Blaine nodded slowly when Cooper rubbed his shoulder. He dropped his gaze to the now-squirming dragon in his lap. He ran his fingers over the creature’s skinny back, and as he did, the creature shook his head and lifted it a little. Blaine sucked in a breath as the dragon opened his eyes and turned himself to peer up at Blaine through those glossy, moss-green eyes. Blaine exhaled softly and continued to pet over the tiny beast’s back, and in return, the dragon scooted more towards Blaine and tucked itself even closer to Blaine. Blaine inhaled and exhaled again, wondering how he could get rid of a creature like this: a creature that trusted him this much.

 Cooper: Cooper watched how the dragon acted with his brother kind of sadly. He could see how much Blaine liked the thing, and surprisingly, how much the dragon liked Blaine. It would tear Blaine up to get rid of it, Cooper knew that and dreaded having to do that to his baby brother. But on the other hand, it was a question between Blaine loosing what at most could be considered a pet, or going to Azkaban and the dragon being taken away forever. “Maybe we could find somewhere where you could visit him sometimes.” He said softly. 

Blaine: Sighing, Blaine considered the notion, but he couldn’t think of many positive ways to do that. After thinking for a moment, Blaine considered—maybe—“Well… If we’re going to eventually tell someone… Maybe the groundskeeper? Or even Wilmore? I’m sure either or both of them would understand… They’d… Sympathize… maybe…” Blaine looked up o meet his brother’s eyes, looking for a response.

Cooper: Cooper thought that over for a bit. “That might be a good idea… We could say that one of them found the dragon in the forest one day and were just turning it now… the Ministry already knows about the attack on the forest so that would make sense. It’d be the truth, mostly. Just with Wilmore or the groundskeeper instead of you.” He nodded once and then started nodding more, “Yeah, that’s a good idea Blaine. That could work!”

Blaine: Blaine nodded slowly and looked down at his dragon again. Then again, he couldn’t really refer to it as “his” dragon anymore since… it never was his and it never would be. He sighed again even so. Blaine had to admit: he was growing rather sentimental towards the tiny beast. After taking care of it and keeping it a secret for so long, how could he just hand it off so easily? He was finding himself like less and less of the idea the more he thought about it… Frankly, he was just glad Cooper was here to guide him a little.

Cooper: Cooper reached out and put his hand on Blaine’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Blaine. I know you like him. It’s just really dangerous for you, and it’s not even the best environment for him. He’d do better out in the wild where he can learn to fly and hunt and stuff, like normal dragons. You got to raise a baby dragon, Blaine! How many people get to say that?”

Blaine: Blaine smiled. Cooper was right. He was always right. Blaine needed to do the right thing or else he’d no only ruin his own life but the life of this tiny animal. Sighing yet again, Blaine met his brother’s eyes and smiled. “Thanks, Coop,” he said softly. He moved to get up, and as if on cue, the dragon stirred and trilled softly. Blaine wanted to coo at how adorable it was if he wasn’t so worried that if the dragon continued making noises, he’d have a problem once he got downstairs. Nervous now, Blaine curled his arm under the dragon and pet over his spine with his other hand. “Shhh, buddy, shh,” he whispered, hoping to lull the beast to sleep in his arms.

Cooper: Cooper opened the door as soon as he heard the first knock and immediately dragged his little brother into a crushing hug. “Hey Squirt. What’s wrong?” He knew Blaine hated the nickname, which is exactly why he used it when Blaine was upset about something. It helped get Blaine’s mind off his problem for a second in order to be annoyed at Cooper. Leading Blaine up to his room, Cooper ushered him onto his bunk and then muttered spells around them to quiet their conversation and draw the curtain so no one would listen it. This was obviously important and secret. “Okay, so what’s going on?”

Blaine: Blaine was driving himself crazy. It was already February, and this dragon was getting big. He was now the size of a small cat. The first thing Blaine had thought of when realizing how big he was getting was that old internet sensation he used to follow back home known as “Grumpy Cat” because of his size. Even so, it was getting harder and harder to take care of this beast in only his dorm room. It was getting so hard, in fact, that it was becoming a real issue of safety when he’d have to get food. He’s already been caught once sneaking into the kitchen late at night: once more and he’d be in detention. Blaine knew that with all the work he was already behind on, detention would mean the end of the world. Even so, he needed to take care of this creature. He also needed to stop faking everything when people asked why he was so tired. Blaine needed to start trusting people. He needed to start trusting his brother: the man who would always be there for him. No matter what.

Meeting Cooper tonight would be big. Definitely. So when Cooper met him at the Ravenclaw painting and, even more so, with a bone-crushing hug, Blaine was immediately fearful. He wasn’t exactly alone at the moment… In a paranoid rush, Blaine had taken the dragon with him to see his brother. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to be concealing a sleeping dragon in his robes just around curfew, but it also wasn’t such a good idea to leave the small beast to wander his room should he wake up. He also didn’t want to risk anyone finding him… “H-Hey, Coop…” Blaine greeted nervously, keeping his curled arm away from Cooper o protect the dragon nestled there under his robes. When Cooper led him upstairs, Blaine kept his eyes down. He could feel the gazes of other Ravenclaws curiously peering at him from their corners of the Common Room. He could feel the silent whispers in all of their minds, all simultaneously considering Blaine’s attendance and surely pondering over the bulge by his chest. So when they reached Cooper’s room, Blaine sat down on Cooper’s bed and, still concealing, slipped the dragon gently to his lap. “… Cooper… I’m in a lot of shit here,” he said softly. And, with a gentle swipe of his hand, Blaine moved the fabric from his robe to reveal the tiny, black-and-green dragon sleeping soundly on his lap.

Cooper: Cooper had known something was bothering Blaine for a while, he knew him well enough to immediately see when something was wrong. He could almost feel it more than see it. Something would go wrong with with Cooper if Blaine was out of whack. So he had just been waiting for Blaine to finally come clean about what was up. Initially he had assumed it was something to do with Sebastian. When he felt the weird bulge in Blaine’s chest, he had thought Blaine had stolen something, or was.. .who knew. 

Not a fucking dragon. 

"HOLY SHIT." Cooper yelled and leaped back, hitting his head on the back of his wall. "What the… Seriousl… What the fuck Blaine?!" He had never been more grateful for Silencing Charms. For several minutes he just stared at the thing in front of him, dangerously close to his very flammable sheets and books. "I… Well that does explain some stuff. How… Where the fuck did you get a dragon, Blaine?"

Blaine: When Cooper exclaimed so loudly, Blaine automatically draped his arm in front of the dragon, shock in his eyes for his brother’s outrage. He looked down at the dragon in concern, but it didn’t seem to stir. Sighing, Blaine kept his hand gently draped over his purring beast. “… Okay, I know this is bad, but… Cooper, I didn’t have any choice…” He trailed off, not really knowing what to say now. He bit his lip and looked down at the small creature in his lap. Gently, Blaine dragged his fingertips over the tiny scales on his back.

Cooper: He blinked a few times and then looked at the dragon again. It was still sleeping somehow. It was… almost kind of cute once you got over the fear of inescapable fire. “It…seems to like you… How long have you had it? What do you mean you didn’t have a choice, where the hell did you even get a dragon, Blaine? Didn’t I tell you not to go gambling at the Hog’s Head until you were at least a fifth year?” In spite of himself, Cooper reached out his hand and touched the sleeping dragon, his mind filling with the Latin motto of the school they were currently inside of, “Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus” or “Never tickle a sleeping dragon” and prayed to Merlin and Rowena Ravenclaw that this wouldn’t count as tickling. 

Blaine: Blaine smiled and chuckled softly. “Yeah, he does like me… It’s… It’s a little weird, but you know…” Swallowing, Blaine scratched gently behind one of the soft, currently horn-less horn bases. Then, when Cooper reached for and touched the dragon, the small beast suddenly began to stir a little. Gasping softly, Blaine smoothed his fingers down the dragon’s neck, hoping it would soothe him back to sleep. “Shit,” he whispered to himself as the dragon drowsily lifted its head to yawn and open its heavy eyes. It didn’t seem to want to get up or do anything, though, so Blaine was at least a little thankful…

Cooper: "Sorry." Cooper lowered his voice when he saw the dragon stir. He had tickled it. Shit. Fuck. "It’s almost a little cute… did you name it? You probably named it. You shouldn’t have named it though, then you’ll get attached to it. Don’t tell me it’s name, then /I’ll/ get attached to it. Then we won’t want to get rid of it. Her? Him? How do you tell a dragon’s gender?" He was rambling because finally the full realization of what his little brother holding a dragon meant. Prison. Massive fines. Family name in scandal. Probably all being blamed on Cooper as well, because he didn’t watch out for Blaine good enough to keep him from this. "We need to get rid of it. Soon."

Blaine: As soon as Cooper retracted his hand, the dragon lowered his head again. He squirmed for a bit, trying to find a more comfortable position, before seeming to fall right back to sleep. Blaine sighed in great relief. He looked up when Cooper spoke again. “… No, I—No, I haven’t named him. And-And I know it’s a ‘him,’ I—checked…” Blaine dropped his eyes, embarrassed. Blaine knew his brother was freaking out. How could he not? Blaine certainly freaked out when he first recognized that he was holding a dragon egg—then subsequently a dragon. Blaine’s eyes widened, and his head shot up when Cooper said they needed to get rid of him—the dragon. Almost protectively, Blaine wrapped his arm around the beast and slowly pulled him closer to himself. Blaine knew it wasn’t safe to keep this dragon or even wantto keep it, but after all he’d been through to keep it a secret and to feed it and keep it safe and warm—after all that… he had to get rid of him? Plus, Blaine didn’t know if that would be too easy now… now that he’d actually drawn himself close to the dragon… and the dragon to him. “Cooper, I-I can’t… I can’t, I have to take care of him… If-If we get rid of him somehow, he’ll be caught by a Watch or something, and he’ll—He won’t be taken care of, Cooper…” Blaine plead with his eyes for lack of words to express his disproval.

Cooper: "So it just doesn’t like me…" He muttered smiling slightly. When he looked up at Blaine his gaze softened. "Blaine… Blaine but what would happen if you got caught? You’re not going to be able to keep him much longer, dragons grow really really fast and he’s going to get big soon. What if we could find some place that would keep him safe? There’re preserves aren’t there? Or some place where we could release him to the wild. The Ministry doesn’t just leave them to die, and they might be able to take care of him better than you could." Cooper didn’t really know what to do, Blaine was obviously killing himself trying to keep this thing, but it also looked like it would kill him to get rid of it. The protective nature in Cooper was struggling trying to make up his mind. Either way with the dragon, Blaine came first. And Cooper thought that getting rid of the dragon, as best they could, would be best for Blaine. "I’ll help. Adam, we could get Adam in too and between the three of us we can come up with something, right?"

Blaine: Blaine shrugged. “I don’t know if he doesn’t like you… He’s probably just not used to you,” Blaine said softly. When Cooper asked about safety and the risk of getting caught, Blaine sighed heavily. “I know. Believe me, I’ve thought about the prospect of getting caught, but that just makes me want to hide him even more. And The Ministry? Cooper, the Ministry hates dragons. One killed students here; do you really think they would want this guy around?” he asked, meeting Cooper’s eyes. Blaine shook his head and looked down again. “I’m also pretty sure that this is the baby of the dragon that attacked those students… I’m sure the Ministry wouldn’t want any offspring of that beast to roam free… Especially within the school…”

When Cooper mentioned Adam, Blaine tensed. “I… I already told Kurt. I don’t think we should tell anybody else. I hate to say it, but telling you was hard enough… I can trust you with this kind of secret. I don’t think I can trust Adam with it…” he trailed off. He didn’t want to mar Adam, but he didn’t know him as well as he knew Kurt and Cooper.

Cooper: He nodded. It surprised him that Blaine didn’t trust Adam. “Yeah… I get that. But. If you’ve already told Kurt, and you’re telling me, there’s no one either of us trusts more than Adam. I know you don’t know him all that well, but really he’s safe. And probably the best equipped to come up with some kind of solution to this anyways.” Quietly, Cooper scooted a little closer to Blaine, and the dragon. He wanted to try to touch it again. Without tickling it. “There’s got to be someone we can talk to. Wasn’t there some kind of Dragon Rescue group a few years ago? They were trying to get certain kinds of dragons on the endangered species lists. Even the Ministry can’t argue that dragons are important.” His mind flashed back to the death of the student, the fire, and everything else that had happened. “Seriously? You think it’s that dragon’s baby? Where did you find it Blaine?”

Blaine: ”It’s not that I—” Blaine clicked his teeth and wrenched his eyes closed. “Cooper, I just really want to keep this between myself and you and Kurt. That’s it. It was risky enough telling you, I just—I want to keep this as low-key as possible. With four people knowing about this, so much more could go wrong. I just… want to keep this quiet and… between us…” He trailed off and opened his eyes again. When Cooper started talking about Dragon Rescue groups, Blaine shook his head again. His words got stuck in his throat, though, when Cooper asked him where he found it. When he… did… find the words, Blaine slowly replied, “… the day of the attack…” in the quietest possible manner. “… before the kids were killed…”

Cooper: He raised his hands up in the universal giving up salute, “Okay, okay. If that’s what you want. Just you me and Kurt then.” Cooper watched his brother closely while he spoke, frowning slightly. “Blaine…did you know something was going to happen?” It didn’t seem like Blaine. No. Cooper didn’t actually believe Blaine was at all involved, but he was still hiding something. “Come on Squirt, just spit it out. I’ve done loads of worse stuff in my time. Just tell me what happened.” 

Blaine: Blaine squirmed a bit under Cooper’s gaze before finally answering him. “I… I was doing a research project for my Creatures class, and Wilmore had us go into the woods during the day to take notes on some amphibians and reptiles, and—and I remember I was near a stream studying frogs or-or maybe I was looking for salamanders—I don’t really remember—and I-I heard this… sound… like this… like something huge was moving behind me, and I-I didn’t dare look, but soon it was getting closer and I-I panicked and I—I ran but I-I think I tripped or something? I don’t remember what happened next, but I… I found this rock or something, but it didn’t look like a rock. It was huge, and I didn’t really look at it too closely, but then I heard the rustling again, so I think—I think subconsciously I grabbed it and ran again.

"When I got out of the woods, the rustling stopped, but I heard another sound—it was like… It was like something with huge wings just took off from the ground, and when I turned around, nothing was there…" Blaine’s eyes were wide with the memory now fresh in his mind—images of the events brightening his mind once more. "… I… I looked down and I… I realized I was still holding that… that object… It… It wasn’t for a few days that I realized the thing I grabbed was a… a dragon egg…" Blaine trailed off, the scared confusion that he once felt now brimming within him once more. Blaine just hoped Cooper would understand now… wouldn’t hate him…

Cooper: Cooper just listened slightly slackjawed and speechless during Blaine’s story and after a few minutes he shook his head, “I don’t know if I should be proud of you or slap you upside the head for being an idiot…I think I’m more the first. You stole a dragon’s egg right from under her Blaine, that’s badass. That’s awesome, that’s insane!”  He leaned back and rubbed his forehead. “He has to go though, Blaine. You know that. It’ll just be me, you, and Kurt who know but we have to get some kind of plan to get him out of here and somewhere safe soon. Why don’t I talk to Kurt and we can do some research on where we could send him and how to get him there, and you just focus on resting and taking care of him? Kurt and I can cover for you now that we know.” Leaning back over to his brother, Cooper rubbed his shoulder gently and smiled, “It’s going to be okay, Blainers. We got you.”

Blaine: Blaine chuckled softly when Cooper actually—surprisingly—became proud of him. He didn’t expect the sudden exclamation of “awesomeness” from his brother. When Cooper stated again that they still had to do something about the dragon, however, Blaine couldn’t help but feel rather… sullen.

Blaine nodded slowly when Cooper rubbed his shoulder. He dropped his gaze to the now-squirming dragon in his lap. He ran his fingers over the creature’s skinny back, and as he did, the creature shook his head and lifted it a little. Blaine sucked in a breath as the dragon opened his eyes and turned himself to peer up at Blaine through those glossy, moss-green eyes. Blaine exhaled softly and continued to pet over the tiny beast’s back, and in return, the dragon scooted more towards Blaine and tucked itself even closer to Blaine. Blaine inhaled and exhaled again, wondering how he could get rid of a creature like this: a creature that trusted him this much.

 Cooper: Cooper watched how the dragon acted with his brother kind of sadly. He could see how much Blaine liked the thing, and surprisingly, how much the dragon liked Blaine. It would tear Blaine up to get rid of it, Cooper knew that and dreaded having to do that to his baby brother. But on the other hand, it was a question between Blaine loosing what at most could be considered a pet, or going to Azkaban and the dragon being taken away forever. “Maybe we could find somewhere where you could visit him sometimes.” He said softly. 

Blaine: Sighing, Blaine considered the notion, but he couldn’t think of many positive ways to do that. After thinking for a moment, Blaine considered—maybe—“Well… If we’re going to eventually tell someone… Maybe the groundskeeper? Or even Wilmore? I’m sure either or both of them would understand… They’d… Sympathize… maybe…” Blaine looked up o meet his brother’s eyes, looking for a response.

Cooper: Cooper thought that over for a bit. “That might be a good idea… We could say that one of them found the dragon in the forest one day and were just turning it now… the Ministry already knows about the attack on the forest so that would make sense. It’d be the truth, mostly. Just with Wilmore or the groundskeeper instead of you.” He nodded once and then started nodding more, “Yeah, that’s a good idea Blaine. That could work!”

Blaine: Blaine nodded slowly and looked down at his dragon again. Then again, he couldn’t really refer to it as “his” dragon anymore since… it never was his and it never would be. He sighed again even so. Blaine had to admit: he was growing rather sentimental towards the tiny beast. After taking care of it and keeping it a secret for so long, how could he just hand it off so easily? He was finding himself like less and less of the idea the more he thought about it… Frankly, he was just glad Cooper was here to guide him a little.

Cooper: Cooper opened the door as soon as he heard the first knock and immediately dragged his little brother into a crushing hug. “Hey Squirt. What’s wrong?” He knew Blaine hated the nickname, which is exactly why he used it when Blaine was upset about something. It helped get Blaine’s mind off his problem for a second in order to be annoyed at Cooper. Leading Blaine up to his room, Cooper ushered him onto his bunk and then muttered spells around them to quiet their conversation and draw the curtain so no one would listen it. This was obviously important and secret. “Okay, so what’s going on?”

Blaine: Blaine was driving himself crazy. It was already February, and this dragon was getting big. He was now the size of a small cat. The first thing Blaine had thought of when realizing how big he was getting was that old internet sensation he used to follow back home known as “Grumpy Cat” because of his size. Even so, it was getting harder and harder to take care of this beast in only his dorm room. It was getting so hard, in fact, that it was becoming a real issue of safety when he’d have to get food. He’s already been caught once sneaking into the kitchen late at night: once more and he’d be in detention. Blaine knew that with all the work he was already behind on, detention would mean the end of the world. Even so, he needed to take care of this creature. He also needed to stop faking everything when people asked why he was so tired. Blaine needed to start trusting people. He needed to start trusting his brother: the man who would always be there for him. No matter what.

Meeting Cooper tonight would be big. Definitely. So when Cooper met him at the Ravenclaw painting and, even more so, with a bone-crushing hug, Blaine was immediately fearful. He wasn’t exactly alone at the moment… In a paranoid rush, Blaine had taken the dragon with him to see his brother. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to be concealing a sleeping dragon in his robes just around curfew, but it also wasn’t such a good idea to leave the small beast to wander his room should he wake up. He also didn’t want to risk anyone finding him… “H-Hey, Coop…” Blaine greeted nervously, keeping his curled arm away from Cooper o protect the dragon nestled there under his robes. When Cooper led him upstairs, Blaine kept his eyes down. He could feel the gazes of other Ravenclaws curiously peering at him from their corners of the Common Room. He could feel the silent whispers in all of their minds, all simultaneously considering Blaine’s attendance and surely pondering over the bulge by his chest. So when they reached Cooper’s room, Blaine sat down on Cooper’s bed and, still concealing, slipped the dragon gently to his lap. “… Cooper… I’m in a lot of shit here,” he said softly. And, with a gentle swipe of his hand, Blaine moved the fabric from his robe to reveal the tiny, black-and-green dragon sleeping soundly on his lap.

Cooper: Cooper had known something was bothering Blaine for a while, he knew him well enough to immediately see when something was wrong. He could almost feel it more than see it. Something would go wrong with with Cooper if Blaine was out of whack. So he had just been waiting for Blaine to finally come clean about what was up. Initially he had assumed it was something to do with Sebastian. When he felt the weird bulge in Blaine’s chest, he had thought Blaine had stolen something, or was.. .who knew. 

Not a fucking dragon. 

"HOLY SHIT." Cooper yelled and leaped back, hitting his head on the back of his wall. "What the… Seriousl… What the fuck Blaine?!" He had never been more grateful for Silencing Charms. For several minutes he just stared at the thing in front of him, dangerously close to his very flammable sheets and books. "I… Well that does explain some stuff. How… Where the fuck did you get a dragon, Blaine?"

Blaine: When Cooper exclaimed so loudly, Blaine automatically draped his arm in front of the dragon, shock in his eyes for his brother’s outrage. He looked down at the dragon in concern, but it didn’t seem to stir. Sighing, Blaine kept his hand gently draped over his purring beast. “… Okay, I know this is bad, but… Cooper, I didn’t have any choice…” He trailed off, not really knowing what to say now. He bit his lip and looked down at the small creature in his lap. Gently, Blaine dragged his fingertips over the tiny scales on his back.

Cooper: He blinked a few times and then looked at the dragon again. It was still sleeping somehow. It was… almost kind of cute once you got over the fear of inescapable fire. “It…seems to like you… How long have you had it? What do you mean you didn’t have a choice, where the hell did you even get a dragon, Blaine? Didn’t I tell you not to go gambling at the Hog’s Head until you were at least a fifth year?” In spite of himself, Cooper reached out his hand and touched the sleeping dragon, his mind filling with the Latin motto of the school they were currently inside of, “Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus” or “Never tickle a sleeping dragon” and prayed to Merlin and Rowena Ravenclaw that this wouldn’t count as tickling. 

Blaine: Blaine smiled and chuckled softly. “Yeah, he does like me… It’s… It’s a little weird, but you know…” Swallowing, Blaine scratched gently behind one of the soft, currently horn-less horn bases. Then, when Cooper reached for and touched the dragon, the small beast suddenly began to stir a little. Gasping softly, Blaine smoothed his fingers down the dragon’s neck, hoping it would soothe him back to sleep. “Shit,” he whispered to himself as the dragon drowsily lifted its head to yawn and open its heavy eyes. It didn’t seem to want to get up or do anything, though, so Blaine was at least a little thankful…

Cooper: "Sorry." Cooper lowered his voice when he saw the dragon stir. He had tickled it. Shit. Fuck. "It’s almost a little cute… did you name it? You probably named it. You shouldn’t have named it though, then you’ll get attached to it. Don’t tell me it’s name, then /I’ll/ get attached to it. Then we won’t want to get rid of it. Her? Him? How do you tell a dragon’s gender?" He was rambling because finally the full realization of what his little brother holding a dragon meant. Prison. Massive fines. Family name in scandal. Probably all being blamed on Cooper as well, because he didn’t watch out for Blaine good enough to keep him from this. "We need to get rid of it. Soon."

Blaine: As soon as Cooper retracted his hand, the dragon lowered his head again. He squirmed for a bit, trying to find a more comfortable position, before seeming to fall right back to sleep. Blaine sighed in great relief. He looked up when Cooper spoke again. “… No, I—No, I haven’t named him. And-And I know it’s a ‘him,’ I—checked…” Blaine dropped his eyes, embarrassed. Blaine knew his brother was freaking out. How could he not? Blaine certainly freaked out when he first recognized that he was holding a dragon egg—then subsequently a dragon. Blaine’s eyes widened, and his head shot up when Cooper said they needed to get rid of him—the dragon. Almost protectively, Blaine wrapped his arm around the beast and slowly pulled him closer to himself. Blaine knew it wasn’t safe to keep this dragon or even wantto keep it, but after all he’d been through to keep it a secret and to feed it and keep it safe and warm—after all that… he had to get rid of him? Plus, Blaine didn’t know if that would be too easy now… now that he’d actually drawn himself close to the dragon… and the dragon to him. “Cooper, I-I can’t… I can’t, I have to take care of him… If-If we get rid of him somehow, he’ll be caught by a Watch or something, and he’ll—He won’t be taken care of, Cooper…” Blaine plead with his eyes for lack of words to express his disproval.

Cooper: "So it just doesn’t like me…" He muttered smiling slightly. When he looked up at Blaine his gaze softened. "Blaine… Blaine but what would happen if you got caught? You’re not going to be able to keep him much longer, dragons grow really really fast and he’s going to get big soon. What if we could find some place that would keep him safe? There’re preserves aren’t there? Or some place where we could release him to the wild. The Ministry doesn’t just leave them to die, and they might be able to take care of him better than you could." Cooper didn’t really know what to do, Blaine was obviously killing himself trying to keep this thing, but it also looked like it would kill him to get rid of it. The protective nature in Cooper was struggling trying to make up his mind. Either way with the dragon, Blaine came first. And Cooper thought that getting rid of the dragon, as best they could, would be best for Blaine. "I’ll help. Adam, we could get Adam in too and between the three of us we can come up with something, right?"

Blaine: Blaine shrugged. “I don’t know if he doesn’t like you… He’s probably just not used to you,” Blaine said softly. When Cooper asked about safety and the risk of getting caught, Blaine sighed heavily. “I know. Believe me, I’ve thought about the prospect of getting caught, but that just makes me want to hide him even more. And The Ministry? Cooper, the Ministry hates dragons. One killed students here; do you really think they would want this guy around?” he asked, meeting Cooper’s eyes. Blaine shook his head and looked down again. “I’m also pretty sure that this is the baby of the dragon that attacked those students… I’m sure the Ministry wouldn’t want any offspring of that beast to roam free… Especially within the school…”

When Cooper mentioned Adam, Blaine tensed. “I… I already told Kurt. I don’t think we should tell anybody else. I hate to say it, but telling you was hard enough… I can trust you with this kind of secret. I don’t think I can trust Adam with it…” he trailed off. He didn’t want to mar Adam, but he didn’t know him as well as he knew Kurt and Cooper.

Cooper: He nodded. It surprised him that Blaine didn’t trust Adam. “Yeah… I get that. But. If you’ve already told Kurt, and you’re telling me, there’s no one either of us trusts more than Adam. I know you don’t know him all that well, but really he’s safe. And probably the best equipped to come up with some kind of solution to this anyways.” Quietly, Cooper scooted a little closer to Blaine, and the dragon. He wanted to try to touch it again. Without tickling it. “There’s got to be someone we can talk to. Wasn’t there some kind of Dragon Rescue group a few years ago? They were trying to get certain kinds of dragons on the endangered species lists. Even the Ministry can’t argue that dragons are important.” His mind flashed back to the death of the student, the fire, and everything else that had happened. “Seriously? You think it’s that dragon’s baby? Where did you find it Blaine?”

Blaine: ”It’s not that I—” Blaine clicked his teeth and wrenched his eyes closed. “Cooper, I just really want to keep this between myself and you and Kurt. That’s it. It was risky enough telling you, I just—I want to keep this as low-key as possible. With four people knowing about this, so much more could go wrong. I just… want to keep this quiet and… between us…” He trailed off and opened his eyes again. When Cooper started talking about Dragon Rescue groups, Blaine shook his head again. His words got stuck in his throat, though, when Cooper asked him where he found it. When he… did… find the words, Blaine slowly replied, “… the day of the attack…” in the quietest possible manner. “… before the kids were killed…”

Cooper: He raised his hands up in the universal giving up salute, “Okay, okay. If that’s what you want. Just you me and Kurt then.” Cooper watched his brother closely while he spoke, frowning slightly. “Blaine…did you know something was going to happen?” It didn’t seem like Blaine. No. Cooper didn’t actually believe Blaine was at all involved, but he was still hiding something. “Come on Squirt, just spit it out. I’ve done loads of worse stuff in my time. Just tell me what happened.” 

Blaine: Blaine squirmed a bit under Cooper’s gaze before finally answering him. “I… I was doing a research project for my Creatures class, and Wilmore had us go into the woods during the day to take notes on some amphibians and reptiles, and—and I remember I was near a stream studying frogs or-or maybe I was looking for salamanders—I don’t really remember—and I-I heard this… sound… like this… like something huge was moving behind me, and I-I didn’t dare look, but soon it was getting closer and I-I panicked and I—I ran but I-I think I tripped or something? I don’t remember what happened next, but I… I found this rock or something, but it didn’t look like a rock. It was huge, and I didn’t really look at it too closely, but then I heard the rustling again, so I think—I think subconsciously I grabbed it and ran again.

"When I got out of the woods, the rustling stopped, but I heard another sound—it was like… It was like something with huge wings just took off from the ground, and when I turned around, nothing was there…" Blaine’s eyes were wide with the memory now fresh in his mind—images of the events brightening his mind once more. "… I… I looked down and I… I realized I was still holding that… that object… It… It wasn’t for a few days that I realized the thing I grabbed was a… a dragon egg…" Blaine trailed off, the scared confusion that he once felt now brimming within him once more. Blaine just hoped Cooper would understand now… wouldn’t hate him…

Cooper: Cooper just listened slightly slackjawed and speechless during Blaine’s story and after a few minutes he shook his head, “I don’t know if I should be proud of you or slap you upside the head for being an idiot…I think I’m more the first. You stole a dragon’s egg right from under her Blaine, that’s badass. That’s awesome, that’s insane!”  He leaned back and rubbed his forehead. “He has to go though, Blaine. You know that. It’ll just be me, you, and Kurt who know but we have to get some kind of plan to get him out of here and somewhere safe soon. Why don’t I talk to Kurt and we can do some research on where we could send him and how to get him there, and you just focus on resting and taking care of him? Kurt and I can cover for you now that we know.” Leaning back over to his brother, Cooper rubbed his shoulder gently and smiled, “It’s going to be okay, Blainers. We got you.”

Blaine: Blaine chuckled softly when Cooper actually—surprisingly—became proud of him. He didn’t expect the sudden exclamation of “awesomeness” from his brother. When Cooper stated again that they still had to do something about the dragon, however, Blaine couldn’t help but feel rather… sullen.

Blaine nodded slowly when Cooper rubbed his shoulder. He dropped his gaze to the now-squirming dragon in his lap. He ran his fingers over the creature’s skinny back, and as he did, the creature shook his head and lifted it a little. Blaine sucked in a breath as the dragon opened his eyes and turned himself to peer up at Blaine through those glossy, moss-green eyes. Blaine exhaled softly and continued to pet over the tiny beast’s back, and in return, the dragon scooted more towards Blaine and tucked itself even closer to Blaine. Blaine inhaled and exhaled again, wondering how he could get rid of a creature like this: a creature that trusted him this much.

 Cooper: Cooper watched how the dragon acted with his brother kind of sadly. He could see how much Blaine liked the thing, and surprisingly, how much the dragon liked Blaine. It would tear Blaine up to get rid of it, Cooper knew that and dreaded having to do that to his baby brother. But on the other hand, it was a question between Blaine loosing what at most could be considered a pet, or going to Azkaban and the dragon being taken away forever. “Maybe we could find somewhere where you could visit him sometimes.” He said softly. 

Blaine: Sighing, Blaine considered the notion, but he couldn’t think of many positive ways to do that. After thinking for a moment, Blaine considered—maybe—“Well… If we’re going to eventually tell someone… Maybe the groundskeeper? Or even Wilmore? I’m sure either or both of them would understand… They’d… Sympathize… maybe…” Blaine looked up o meet his brother’s eyes, looking for a response.