After she calmed down, Fleur's face, which had been flushed with excitement just moments ago, turned deathly pale in an instant.
After all, that was a terrifying Dragon.
A creature that played the villain or great demon lord in all kinds of stories...
The moment Fleur realized what she was truly facing, her beautiful eyes filled with sheer panic.
Especially when the Dragon above them lowered its head and looked down at her.
Fleur felt it with terrifying clarity. In that instant, her heart seemed to stop, and even her breathing froze on instinct.
In truth, even for a fairly capable witch like Fleur, this was her first time facing a "wild" Dragon head-on, let alone dealing with this so-called weapon of war...
Her stiff body pressed tightly against Draco, as if trying to draw that hard-won warmth from him.
Without the sense of safety he gave her, Fleur's legs might have gone weak already, leaving her unable to stand.
At that moment, Fleur was reminded of what had happened during the Triwizard Tournament.
Back then, she had looked just as useless...
So nothing had changed at all?
The sudden realization made Fleur bite down hard on the tip of her tongue. Under Draco's strange gaze, she slowly stepped out from behind him and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
"...I've decided. I'm not hiding behind you anymore!"
Though she was trembling with fear, Fleur still forced herself to raise the wand in her shaking little hand, looking as if she had made up her mind to face the Dragon before them together with Draco.
Little did she know.
While Fleur was trying to encourage herself, she failed to notice the almost human flicker of confusion in the Dragon's eyes.
It was as if it were wondering what this newly arrived ant thought she was doing...
...
In any case.
Just as Fleur finally finished preparing herself mentally, the Dragon circling overhead suddenly let out another roar.
"Roar~"
"Eek!!"
"Roar~"
"Avada..."
"Wait, Fleur!!"
At the same time Draco cut her off, the fierce wind whipped up by the Dragon's wings swept straight toward them.
Dust billowed.
Sand and stones flew.
If Draco had not cast a protective Charm to block the damage, they might have been blown away by the gust.
But that was not a reason to interrupt the spell she had just been casting.
Thinking this, Fleur looked at Draco beside her in confusion.
Before Draco could explain, however, the fierce wind that had just died down swept toward them again.
This time, Fleur finally saw what had caused it.
After landing on the ground, the Dragon had forcefully spread its wings again.
And now, what appeared before her was an enormous Dragon with its head held high and its wings beating.
"Roar!!!"
If, moments ago, she had not truly understood just how massive a Dragon was, then now, with it only a few steps away from them, Fleur finally realized how naive she had been to think she could fight it...
The air seemed to grow scorching hot.
That towering black shadow blotted out the entire sky.
Its sharp dragon claws and folded wings filled Fleur with deep unease.
The urge she had felt earlier to question Draco had vanished without a trace.
"What do we do? She's found us, Draco!?"
"...."
Just as Fleur said.
After roaring, someone... or more accurately, a certain dragon lowered her huge head and looked toward Draco and Fleur.
In Fleur's eyes, this dragon had surely mistaken them for food...
However.
In her panic, Fleur failed to notice the mischievous expression on Draco's face, much less realize that there was not much hostility in the Dragon's eyes.
Instead, there was a kind of clear, vacant stupidity...
"She... she's coming over!?"
"Roar~~"
As the dragon's head drew close, Fleur shrieked, shut her eyes like an ostrich, and instinctively threw her arms around Draco beside her.
Feeling that this had gone far enough, and that he might face revenge if he kept teasing her, Draco finally spoke softly to stop her. "Stop messing around, Norberta."
"....."
"....."
Norberta?
A new Charm?
Could this be some anti-dragon magic Draco had created?
After a strange silence, Fleur belatedly let out a startled sound.
"Huh?"
Her adorable reaction made Draco laugh with delight.
Visibly, Fleur's face darkened at an astonishing speed...
...
From that laugh, Fleur understood everything.
Especially when she saw the Dragon in front of her letting Draco pat her head like a little puppy, the last thread of Fleur's reason snapped from sheer anger.
"I'm going to strangle you, Draco Malfoy!!!"
"Calm down! Ow... let go... are you a dog?!"
"Mmph, no... you're the dog."
Still furious, Fleur lunged at Draco and bit him, determined to vent all the emotions from that brush with death.
When Draco saw the tears glistening in Fleur's eyes, he finally realized that his joke had indeed gone too far.
Was it because he had been under too much pressure lately?
Although he recognized the problem in himself, Draco did not use that as an excuse. Instead, he guiltily reached out to soothe the agitated girl in his arms.
"I'm sorry. There won't be a next time."
"...You still want there to be a next time?"
"....."
"You can let go of me now."
At some point, Fleur, whose body had still been a little cold moments ago, had begun to feel hot all over.
Especially when she saw the Dragon in front of her looking her over curiously, Fleur felt as if her cheeks were about to burn.
Finally, the instant she felt Draco's hand loosen, Fleur sprang out of that pleasant-smelling embrace as if she had been shocked.
It had to be said.
As long as she was with Draco, she always ended up in all kinds of heart-pounding situations.
First the Thunderbird.
And now a Dragon...