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  Charlie Weasley's love of dragons starts when he's pretty small. His Uncle Gideon gives him a picture book all about them for his third birthday, and from then on, he's fascinated. He makes someone read it to him every night until it mysteriously vanishes. His first bit of accidental magic is making the little lions on his bedroom wall change colors whilst throwing a fit when he’s told that it’s been lost. His mum sighs in defeat as she rubs her temples and tells his dad to fetch the book from where it's been hidden in the workshed.

  When he's five, his mum knits him a stuffed dragon for Christmas that he sleeps with every night until he's old enough to go to Hogwarts. His dad later sneaks him a Muggle toy that he's bewitched to fly around the room and blow smoke rings. It's his most prized possession until the spell wears off, and it winds up in the pile of junk Dad likes to tinker with for fun.

  For his seventh birthday, his Uncle Bilius gives him a tiny model of a Chinese Fireball that he'd picked up on his travels. It makes realistic noises and even breathes fire. It's without a doubt the most brilliant thing that Charlie's ever seen in his whole life. His mum nearly has a heart attack when it sneezes and accidentally sets fire to the curtains in their kitchen while they eat cake. Despite his pleas, he's forbidden from keeping it. It’s partly because she doesn't trust that it won't happen again but mostly because she doesn't want it to land in the hands of his little brothers, the mischievous Fred and George. He's reasonably upset, but he can see her point. One of them had just recently discovered an old wand lying about and used it to make gigantic slugs out in the garden. The gnomes appreciated it; Mum did not. 

  When he's eight, his mum lets him venture out to the local village library. He drags Percy along with him for the company because he's quiet, well-mannered, and it's one less kid that his hardworking Mum has to look after. Bill would've liked to join them, too, but as the oldest, he helps Mum around the house as much as possible. Charlie reads about his dragons while Percy flies through any book he can get his hands on. The Muggle librarian makes it a habit to check on them regularly, tutting about how little boys need constant supervision. It’s almost as though she’s trying to catch them in the act of doing something naughty and have to ask them to leave. It's quite silly, really because they wouldn't dare misbehave. Their Mum would be furious, and she would never let them go back so they wouldn’t dare risk it. On one of these trips, Percy informs him that he’s read that Muggles believe dragons to be fictional. So are unicorns, mermaids, and many of the other creatures that Charlie knows for a fact exist. His dad had taught his kids all about them, and his dad would never tell lies. Plus, how could these Muggle authors create stories about something if they supposedly don't exist? Muggles are strange, strange people, he decides.

  Growing up, his favorite days are the rare occasions his Dad lets the kids accompany him on trips to Diagon Alley. While the Weasleys are more of a window-shopping family, between the crowds and the noise, Charlie loves every second of it. Most of the time, he and his brothers press their faces into the front window of shops like Quality Quidditch Supplies and marvel at the latest and greatest model of broom while their dad gets what he needs. Bill always wants to check out the sweetshop, while Percy insists that they go to the secondhand bookshop to browse. The twins always find a way to make some kind of a mess, so his Dad usually has them tethered to his side. In Charlie's opinion, the best part of Diagon is the little cart that sells different kinds of nuts, fire-roasted by a miniature dragon. It's the closest he thinks he'll ever get to a real live dragon. His Dad never has the heart to tell him that it's not actually alive, just a very convincing model. Charlie would stand and admire it for hours if his Dad would allow him. 

  At age 11, Errol the family owl drops Charlie's Hogwarts letter into his bowl of porridge, which means a family trip to Diagon is needed. Charlie will be using Bill's spellbooks the previous year, so he won't need to get those, but he’s also inheriting Bill’s robes and those need a little work if they’re going to fit Charlie correctly. While Percy jets off to buy treats for his new pet rat, Bill stocks up on chocolate frogs, and Dad takes the other boys to round up the things on the Hogwarts lists, Charlie follows Mum and Ginny to Madam Malkin's for alterations. His mum keeps reminding him he must stay absolutely still, or else he'll get jabbed by Madam Malkin’s magical pins. However, he's an 11-year-old boy - standing still is just not in his nature, plus Ginny giggles whenever he yelps, and he loves to hear her laugh. When the seamstress is satisfied with her work, and his Mum pays, it’s time to make their way to Ollivander’s for Charlie to choose his first wand.

  Mr. Ollivander looks up at them as they enter his shop. His eerie silver eyes are trained firmly on Charlie, studying him. The wandmaker doesn't say a single word, just hums to himself as he turns to his shelves, grabbing a few boxes and has them stacked, all ready and waiting for Charlie to try out. The first wand Charlie picks up does absolutely nothing when he gives it a wave. He hadn't expected the first one to work for him, but for it to not even shoot sparks or anything feels disappointing. His mum pats him on the shoulder when she sees his face fall and encourages him to keep trying. The next wand emits a feeble shower of green stars before sputtering pitifully. A tiny wisp of purple smoke emerges from the next one. The one after that causes a nearby vase to shatter, scaring his baby sister who'd been napping next to his mum. The longer it takes, the more he internally panics. What if this means he isn't meant to do magic? Mr. Ollivander doesn't seem fazed by the rejected wands piling up on his shop's counter. He just turns back to the shelves to select a few more. When Charlie picks up the ash wand with the tiniest bit of unicorn hair trailing out the end, he feels a sort of warmth wash over him, and he just knows that this is his wand. He gives it a confident swish, and a jet of glowing golden light shoots out the end - his mum claps as Ginny shrieks in excitement.

  September 1st comes faster than he expects. He finds himself standing on Platform 9¾ amongst all the other families waiting to see their kids off to Hogwarts, feeling strangely aware that he and his siblings are all wearing secondhand clothes. It's not something he's ever cared about before, didn't even think about it the previous two years when they'd seen Bill off (he'd been too busy being tough and pretending that he wouldn't miss his big brother). Now, it's all he notices - each patch and every fraying hem. His dad may work for the Ministry, but the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office doesn't exactly rake in the Galleons. He also doesn't quite understand politics yet, but he does know that his family name doesn't command respect the way others' do. That was made abundantly clear the one time he'd gone to visit Dad at work and seen the way some people sneered at him. He's a little nervous that no one will want to be friends with him because of this. That's cast aside when he meets Nymphadora Tonks later that day when she trips and literally falls right into his compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Tonks, as she insists that he call her, is short and feisty with a messy head of bubblegum pink curls that she changes to flaming red to match his own because she's a Metamorphmagus, which means she can change her appearance at will. Percy had read all about them in a book he’d found in their parents’ small collection. Apparently, they’re quite rare so Charlie never imagined he'd meet one in person let alone befriend one. The two spend the train ride playing Exploding Snap and munching on the corned beef sandwiches that Charlie's mum had handled him when they hugged goodbye. He personally hates corned beef, but Tonks accepts a sandwich gratefully and declares that the two of them will be the best of friends. When the kind old witch with her trolley of confections comes by, Tonks pulls out a purse of coins to splurge on everything she has to offer. She won't even bother to hear his squawks of protest when he offers to pay her back for his portion, swatting his hand away. Best friends don’t worry about owing one another silly things like money, she insists.

  After a quick boat ride across the Great Lake, his nerves get the best of him as he stands in the Great Hall, waiting to get Sorted with his fellow first years. What if there's been some horrible mistake and he doesn't actually belong at Hogwarts? What if the Hat sits on his head and can't place him anywhere? What if the Hat decides he belongs in Slytherin? His parents would probably disown him or maybe send him to live with his horrible Auntie Muriel. He's not sure what's worse. Tonks keeps him distracted by changing her features into different animals and teaches him to swear words that would make an adult blush. When Professor McGonagall calls his name, he thinks he's about to faint and can't make himself move. Charlie feels the boy next to him shove him forward; he stumbles, steadies himself, and takes a seat on the stool, face as red as his hair. Much to his relief, the Sorting Hat recognizes him as another Weasley and places him in Gryffindor only moments after touching his head. Tonks, who had been Sorted into Hufflepuff several people before him, lets out a shrill whistle. The whole Gryffindor table, decked out in their scarlet and gold, celebrates enthusiastically, no one louder than Bill.

  That first year, he and Tonks are practically inseparable. They don't sit together at meals because the House tables don't mix, but luckily Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs share Herbology lessons. The two always sit at the same table, goofing around more often than not. Charlie and Tonks earn themselves their first detentions when the pair start throwing puffapod beans at each other instead of collecting them in jars as the lesson calls for. The whole class has to evacuate the greenhouse when the beans started blooming lest the spores start making them all too dizzy. Professor Sprout, usually known for being an easy-going woman, is not too happy with them that day. Charlie would bet that Sprouts' yelling could probably have been heard all the way back at the castle.

  On the weekends, the two of them take over a corner table in the library where they're supposed to be doing classwork. They mostly just hide Muggle comics behind their books so no one can tell they're not actually working, but still. When the weather gets nice enough, they spend weekends out by the lake, doing homework and tossing rocks into the water, trying to get the famous Giant Squid to show itself. Tonks even tries morphing her face into a squid, like that will somehow work. It never does. 

  Like the rest of the first years, he’s required to take flying lessons from Madam Hooch. She's an intimidatingly serious woman with yellow eyes that watch each student like a hawk. Charlie's glad he already has plenty of experience on a broom; otherwise, he thinks he'd be too nervous under that gaze to do well in lessons. The school brooms aren't fantastic, but they're better than the ones in his family's broom shed, and with them, Charlie quickly becomes the star of the class. He zooms around the training grounds with ease as his fellow Gryffindors and a few jealous Slytherins look on bitterly. No matter how many weeks go by, Magnus Tanner can't even manage to get his broom to come up when he commands. Charlie would feel bad for him if it weren't for the fact that Magnus had made nasty comments about Charlie’s family during their first shared Potions lesson. In his heart, Charlie wants to believe that not all Slytherins are evil, even if that's what most people think, but Magnus Tanner doesn't exactly help his case.

  His second year, he wants to find a way to distance himself from being known as 'Bill Weasley's little brother' or 'the other Weasley.' Tonks, it seems, is the only one who never accidentally calls him Bill, including his professors. Professor Snape only refers to him as ‘Weasley,' and Charlie's convinced it's because he hasn't bothered to figure out the difference between the two brothers. He tries out for the Quidditch team as soon as he's able because Quidditch is the one thing Charlie knows for a fact that he's better at. He's spent years perfecting his flying technique out in the little apple orchard in his family's yard. One of his siblings would throw up apples that he'd pretend were Snitches, and he'd catch them expertly. Looking at the brooms some of his competition have brought with them, he's a little ashamed of his crummy little Cleansweep 3, but it was the best that Dad could afford. His embarrassment aside, he nails his tryout and is named Gryffindor's new Seeker. His captain, Anthony Wilkerson, tells him that he's never seen someone who flies so well. Charlie flushes, not sure how to accept the compliment without coming off as cocky, but inside, he swells with pride.

  No one knows what to make of him in his first match as Gryffindor's new Seeker, a scrawny and unproven second year going up against a seventh year powerhouse for Ravenclaw. By the end of it, when he catches the Golden Snitch mere inches from the ground, the crowd of scarlet and gold supporters erupts like he's just won the Quidditch World Cup. Even a few Ravenclaws cheer despite their team's defeat because they just can't get over what a spectacular catch he'd made. Thanks to his hair, he gets nicknamed the 'Flying Pumpkin', and he can't seem to believe it when people make signs of support and chant it during matches. People are cheering for him. Charlie Weasley. An average nobody with robes and spellbooks he inherited from his cooler, more popular older brother. He sets a Gryffindor record that year for fastest caught Snitch, gets a plaque with his name on it for the Hogwarts trophy room and everything. Nobody ever refers to him 'Bill Weasley's little brother' again. 

  For his third year, he chooses Care of Magical Creatures for one of his elective courses. He loves that it's a class taught exclusively outdoors and that it introduces him to magical creatures he's dreamt about ever since he first skimmed through a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as a kid. It's the first class he finds himself actually looking forward to. Professor Kettleburn loves him instantly, says that Charlie's a total natural when it comes time for interacting with creatures. He can hardly believe it when Charlie's the only one in his class who can get a full-grown adult unicorn to trust him enough to get close to her. Usually, only the young ones don't seem to mind male humans, but the one that’s currently being nursed back to health had let Charlie get close enough to stroke her nose. Kettleburn says he's supposed to introduce them to flobberworms at some point, but he finds them to be rather dull creatures, so he brings in Fire Salamanders instead. With Kettleburn's supervision, the class is tasked with keeping a whole group alive for the duration of their lesson. He helps gather dry leaves and sticks to keep the fire going and watches in awe as the Salamanders scamper around in the flames. He knows owning a dragon is far too unrealistic, but a Fire Salamander wouldn't be too bad. It's a shame they can't live very long once they're outside of fires or else he’d be harassing his mum to get one when he goes home for the summer.

  A few weeks into the second semester, he gets an owl from Professor Kettleburn asking to meet him at the paddock. At first, Charlie's wary and almost declines because he doesn't want to get caught on school grounds after dark, but he's glad he doesn't. Kettleburn surprises him with a baby Ukrainian Ironbelly that he'd borrowed from a friend. For a moment, Charlie wonders what kind of person has spare dragons just lying about, but then it hits him that he's seeing a real live dragon in the flesh, and he doesn't care. Ironbellies are the largest species of dragon, and even though this one is still a baby, it's easily the size of a Shetland pony. Kettleburn warns him to keep clear of the fire that the baby snorts when it sneezes, but doesn't seem to take his own advice, which is how he winds up losing a hand. It's a lesson Charlie won't soon forget. 

  His fourth year, in between homework, Quidditch practices, and library visits with Tonks, he spends time hanging around Hagrid, the school Grounds Keeper. Most people tend to avoid Hagrid because he's definitely part-Giant and the fact that he's lived on the school grounds ever since being expelled from Hogwarts as a child. For what, Charlie isn't sure, but there are plenty of rumors that he's chosen to ignore because it's actually none of his business. Hagrid shares Charlie's affinity for magical creatures, dragons especially. He tells Charlie that his deepest desire is to raise a dragon, but he's never been fortunate enough to come across an egg.  He doesn't seem to take into account the fact that owning a dragon is considered illegal, so Charlie doesn't point that out. He just politely sits at Hagrid's massive table, sips his tea (Hagrid’s attempt at cooking goes untouched), and listens to stories about his uncles and their school day shenanigans. He'd been young when they died, so he can't recall a lot about them, but he does know that Uncles Gideon and Fabien had been the funniest of his uncles. The pair were always pulling pranks and causing mischief, which drove Mum mad. For the sake of his mum's sanity, he hopes his own twin brothers won't cause as much trouble when they're old enough to attend Hogwarts.

  As part of his duty as Grounds Keeper, Hagrid also has to take care of the goings-on in the Forbidden Forest and often lets Charlie accompany him. To keep students safe from some of the more dangerous creatures that dwell within the Forest, it's against school rules for students to go in on their own. With Hagrid by his side, though, Charlie knows he'll be just fine. He introduces Charlie to his Forest friends like the Centaurs and a massive spider-like creature called Aragog. The Centaurs aren't very fond of humans, but since Hagrid vouches for him, they accept Charlie enough to chat. Being around Aragog is unsettling, though, between the large pincers and the legs and far too many eyes.  Part of him suspects that the spider would have him for supper if Hagrid weren’t around.

  His fifth year, he's made a Prefect. He's a little surprised because although he's a decent student and pretty well-liked, he does have a habit of being around Tonks whenever she gets into trouble (like getting caught using her morphing powers to imitate teachers). He'd always assumed that Professor McGonagall thought he was a troublemaker by association. His mum beams and writes a letter to everyone she knows, bragging about how now she's got two sons who've been named Prefects. He'll be just like Bill, she declares, much to his annoyance. He loves Bill, but Charlie's his own person, thank you very much. Percy puffs out his chest and claims that he'll be a Prefect next and maybe even Head Boy after, which Charlie doesn't doubt because Percy knows all the school rules by heart. He probably knows them better than their Headmaster Dumbledore, even.

  It's also the year he and Tonks don’t hang out as much as he would like to. They don't have a falling out or anything, but people won’t stop insisting they're in love, and Charlie can't stand it. Peeves the Poltergeist makes kissy noises at them when he finds them studying together in the library, and his dormmates keep teasing him about his 'Hufflepuff girlfriend', no matter how much he insists they're just friends. On a trip to Hogsmeade during Valentine's weekend, Madam Rosmerta, the Three Broomsticks landlady, mistakenly thinks they're a couple and gives them free drinks. Whereas Tonks just laughs it off, Charlie is highly annoyed and even considers walking out. There’s no law that says a guy and girl who hang out have to be dating, so why do people always assume it's the case with them? Truth be told, he's not even sure there are girls out there he wants to date. Sure, some of the girls in his year are pretty and smell nice, but he can't imagine kissing them or anything more. He'll leave that up to Bill, who's always got girls trailing after him like he's the Pied Piper.

  His sixth year he's named Gryffindor's Quidditch captain, which means more to him than being a Prefect ever did. Sick of losing in the championship match nearly every year, he takes it upon himself to completely revamp the team. He holds tryouts to replace players who don't meet his expectations, warning every team hopeful that he’s serious about not putting up with mediocrity. He makes them practice three or four times a week with no excuse, much to his team's complaint. The only one who doesn't seem to mind is their new Keeper, Oliver Wood. That kid eats, sleeps, and breathes Quidditch, so he'd practice 24/7 if he were allowed. Charlie admires the dedication. The rest of his team may secretly want to revolt by the end of the season, but their hard work pays off with Gryffindor winning the Cup. They absolutely demolish Slytherin in the championship match 400-60. With his own house team slinking back to the locker room in defeat, Professor Snape looks positively ill as he watches the Gryffindors celebrating on the pitch with Professor McGonagall.

  The afterparty that night up in Gryffindor Tower is legendary. Though they're just first years, Fred and George have already figured out how to smuggle food from the kitchen. They convince the House Elves to prepare a victory feast, an entire keg of butterbeer directly from the Three Broomsticks included. In his excitement, Jimmy Flanders somehow manages to throw an armchair out the window. Despite being Head Boy and the one who’s supposed to ensure they all behave, Homer Madsen strips down to nothing and streaks through Gryffindor Tower. Charlie, still high on adrenaline, and slightly drunk on some smuggled Firewhiskey, nearly breaks his neck falling off a table while dancing with Mavis Flaherty, one of his Chasers. When Adrian Fallon forms a rowdy conga line around one in the morning, Percy finally gets fed up with the noise and tries to get them in trouble for not going to bed. Usually stern, Professor McGonagall pretends not to hear the ruckus until a fourth year accidentally sets fire to the bedsheet he’d been wearing as a toga.

  In the middle of his seventh and final year, he feels completely lost about what he'll do once he finishes Hogwarts. He wishes he knew why he can't seem to pull it together like the rest of the kids in his year. They've all got careers lined up while he's still trying to figure out where he'll be. He knows he's an excellent Quidditch player, knows he could turn pro as soon as he's done with school, but he's not sure it's what he wants. Puddlemere, Chudley, Wimbourne, and Falmouth have all sent owls expressing their interests in him, but he turns them all down, not wanting to accept a position if his heart isn't 100% in it. He talks to Professor Kettleburn about maybe coming back at the start of next year as an assistant. Kettleburn says he'd be delighted to have him. However, he insists that there isn't any need for him to have an assistant at this time as he still has 1 and a half limbs and is still perfectly capable of teaching. Tonks tries to convince him to join the Auror training program with her, urging him to do it soon because she’d nabbed one of their last available slots. Getting to work alongside his best friend had been a tempting offer, but Charlie can’t really picture himself working so closely with the Ministry.

  He makes the difficult decision to leave school less than two months shy of finishing, and because he's of age, no one can stop him. His parents are furious when they find out. His Mum even sends him a Howler that he ignores until it explodes, and he can't ignore it any longer. After that, he doesn't speak to them, choosing to stay at the Leaky Cauldron instead of going back to the Burrow. After that, he finds himself a job in Diagon Alley working at the Magical Menagerie. He likes it enough; it's not something he wants to do forever, but magical creatures are involved so it'll do for now. Suddenly having his own money to spend feels incredible. He uses his funds to finally buy himself a new wand and sends his old one home for Ron to use when he goes to Hogwarts. He wishes he could send some money home, a little thank you for all his parents have done for him, but he knows they would never accept it. His Dad is far too proud.

  He meets Evie McCabe on a slow day in late July. She's looking to buy a toad for her baby brother's birthday, so he’ll have a pet to bring to Hogwarts that year. A toad? How boring. He tries to convince her to get something more exciting, like a fire crab, but she doesn't go for it, saying her mum would probably ban it from the house, not to mention it's not on the Hogwarts-approved list of pets. Charlie smirks but doesn't tell her that his brother has been bringing a non-approved pet to school for years. He just leads her to their latest shipment of toads and helps her pick out the liveliest one. He invites her to get an ice cream at Florean Fortescue's shop later after his shift ends and that begins their friendship.

  They share lunches together nearly every afternoon, and nights are spent drinking at the Leaky Cauldron until Tom cuts them off. She doesn't mind that he can't quite seem to get the smell of owl droppings out of his work robes, and he doesn't mind when she sheepishly admits that she'd been in Slytherin. Though only two years apart, their paths had not crossed while at Hogwarts, but he does recall hearing about her. She's the girl who'd carved curse words into Professor Snape's desk after he'd made a girl in her class cry. Charlie's impressed she would snap at her head of House like that. He could be in his fifties with kids of his own and still be terrified of Professor McGonagall's wrath.

  Their friendship ends with a massive row on Halloween night when they're supposed to be meeting up with some friends in Hogsmeade to see the Weird Sisters. All Charlie does is casually mention how she reminds him of a Norwegian Ridgeback because the females are usually much more ferocious than the males. He means it in the most complimentary way possible, but, much to his confusion, the comparison sets Evie off on a rant. She claims that Charlie has told her more about dragons in the three months of knowing her than he's told her about himself. He tries to rectify the situation, offering up tidbits about himself that he hopes might make her calm down, like his favorite color (midnight blue), food (roast turkey), and professional quidditch team (Chudley, even if they're rubbish). He tells her about the time he accidentally dropped Ron out the window only for him to bounce back in so his mum never found out, how he once caught Percy practicing to be the Minister of Magic in the mirror and teased him mercilessly,  and how he was the only one in the family who could get Ginny to stop crying as an infant with his dragon impression. Evie childishly screams, "If you love dragons so bloody much, then why don't you marry one, Dragon Boy!" before she Apparates out of his life forever.

  Losing a friend stings a little, but he takes what she says to heart, quits his job at the Menagerie, and sets out to find one where he really can focus on his passion. He tries his luck at the Reserve in Romania that Professor Kettleburn had once mentioned to him. They start him off doing things like fixing holes in enclosures and cleaning up dung, which isn't exactly what he had in mind. Still, it's a chance to interact with dragons, so he can't be picky. He keeps his head down and focuses on his work, hopes he can leave a good impression on his superiors. His work ethic catches the attention of Clayton Fenwick, one of the more experienced keepers on staff. Clayton takes Charlie under his wing, teaching him how to properly take care of the baby dragons after they’ve been weaned from their mothers. Charlie finally feels like maybe he's figured out where he's meant to be. When he owls home to update his family, his mum isn't crazy about the idea of him being around such dangerous creatures, but she's just happy they're speaking again. All his siblings think it's wicked. Well, all of them expect Percy, but Perce has always been a bit stuffy, so Charlie doesn't exactly care what he thinks.

  It’s a little lonely at first, being so far from home without knowing a single person, but he gets used it in time. His mum sends weekly care packages filled with all of his favorite foods, and that helps. He gets letters from his friends back home, and that helps, too. Oliver Wood sends him at least a dozen letters telling him how barking mad he is for passing up playing professional Quidditch. Tonks sends him letters to make sure that he knows she hasn't gotten herself blown up during Auror training. She's a clumsy thing, that Tonks, but she's determined to succeed. She's also in the capable hands of the famous Alastor Moody, so he has all the faith in the world that she'll be okay.

  His parents visit him for Christmas, and it's the first time they've seen each other in months. His mum cries and fusses over the burns that're healing on his forearms ("They're babies, Mum. They can't help it if they breathe a little extra fire every time they get the hiccups!" he protests when she clucks her tongue and suggests that maybe he should come home) all while throwing in disapproving comments about how long he's let his hair get. It's such a typical Mum thing to say that he can only roll his eyes and shake his head a little. When she starts to lay into him about how untidy his little cabin is, he brings Ginny out to the pens to watch him feed the babies to avoid an argument that he knows he'll lose. When things cool down, he takes them to meet some coworkers. His dad is quite interested to learn that one of them is Muggle-born and practically drags Charlie to introduce the two of them so he can ask the poor lad questions about things like television antennas, vacuum cleaners, and batteries.

  He gets a letter from Ron a couple of months later, asking for his help. Good ole Hagrid's got himself into a spot of trouble with a baby dragon that he can't hide in his hut much longer. He's in desperate need of someone who can properly take care of the little thing before it gets found and confiscated by the Ministry. Ridgebacks have always been one of his favorite breeds, and Charlie's never been known to refuse to help a dragon in need, so he sends a few friends to Hogwarts in the middle of the night and hopes they don't get caught. Norbert turns out to be Norberta, but other than that surprise, she settles into her new home nicely. She has an unusually kind temperament for a Ridgeback female, and it's not surprising to Charlie when she finds a mate almost immediately. He can't wait to tell Hagrid when the hatchlings come along.

  His mentor Clayton disappears while on holiday in the Black Forest, and, based on the amount of bloodshed found at his last known location, the outcome of him ever returning looks grim. Charlie and the rest of the Reserve staff are devastated. They go out drinking as a way to celebrate their fallen colleague’s memory. He figures that his experience of drinking night after night with Evie would have been enough to prepare him for the night, but he’s wrong. They toast to Clayton with glass after glass of Dragon Barrel brandy, a fitting tribute that leaves Charlie barely able to stay upright. He meets a local wizard named Victor Popescu and the two hit it off immediately. They bond over both having large families and overbearing mums. Victor’s fascinated by Charlie’s job and they fight over which country has the best National Quidditch team. When Victor tries to kiss him at the end of the night, Charlie’s embarrassed that he possibly led him on. He lets the poor lad down easily, assuring him that it’s nothing to do with Victor himself, Charlie doesn’t want to kiss anyone.

  When he was younger, Charlie had assumed he was broken because it seemed that whatever instinct most humans have that allows them to feel romantically towards others, he was born without.  He never could seem to understand the fuss others made about romantic relationships and everything that came with them. He’s since learned that not everyone experiences attraction to others and that’s okay. Take his relationship with Tonks, for example. Though the two were never romantically involved, he’s always felt as close to her as if he’s known her his whole life. If that has taught him anything, it’s that sometimes, friendship is the most powerful kind of love there is.

  The closest thing he has to a best friend at the Reserve is the rambunctious Melonie Talbot. They’re roughly the same age and she’d started around the same time so it’s a bit like they’ve grown up together in a way. There’s an easiness between them that reminds him of his days at Hogwarts with Tonks. They spend a lot of their downtime in each other’s cabins playing Exploding Snap, getting drunk on spirits that Melonie distills herself, and complaining about their coworkers. Charlie tries to teach her to play Quidditch, hoping to recruit her for the intermural team he wants to form at the Reserve, but she’s too nervous on a broom for it to go anywhere. In return, she teaches him how to braid hair and how to swear in French.

  He’s always regarded Melonie like a sister, but he knows she harbors some romantic interest in him. It’s hard not to notice the way she sometimes looks at him like he’s the most spectacular person to ever walk the earth. He’s seen his dad look at his mum like that before and he knows it’s a look of pure adoration. Charlie sometimes wishes in his heart that he could reciprocate, but it’s just not possible for him. Regardless, they don’t let it affect their friendship. Melonie’s convinced that Evie may have been looking for a relationship to develop between herself and Charlie. Looking back, based on how she’d blown up at him the last time they spoke, he thinks that she’s probably right. Obviously, he’d never picked up on it, and it’s probably for the best.

  In addition to being an accomplished dragon wrangler, Melonie’s also a damn fine cook. Ever since being made head of the Reserve’s culinary program, Melonie makes it her duty to ensure that Charlie stays well-fed. More often than not, Charlie tends to miss meals because he’s too focused on his work. Whenever that happens, he always finds that she’s left some supper waiting in his cabin. Like his mum, she also likes to use him as a test subject for new meals, knowing he’ll give her honest feedback, even when she doesn’t want to hear it. He doesn’t mind, really, except for when she gets a little too carried away experimenting with her global spice collection. His stomach still hasn’t fully recovered from what’s been dubbed ‘the curry powder incident’.

  In a recent letter from the twins, they casually mention that something bad happened at Hogwarts involving Ginny, but they don't know the whole story and neither Mum nor Dad will elaborate when he writes them to ask for details. They assure him she'll be fine, so he doesn't need to come home. He knows that Ginny is more than perfectly capable of holding her own, but he still hopes that Fred, George, and Ron will keep a closer eye on her from now on, make sure she's safe. When Percy had come to Hogwarts, he'd been the target of a gang of Ravenclaw bullies and Charlie had taken care of it. Isn't that the whole point of being an older brother?

  That summer, Dad wins some well-deserved money in the Daily Prophet's Grand Prize Galleon Draw, which he uses to take the family on a much-needed trip to visit Bill in Egypt. Bill's been away working on some top-secret curse-breaking job for Gringotts and he knows that their Mum misses her firstborn quite dearly. Charlie can't remember the last time he saw Bill, so he takes time off and joins them. It damn near kills him to leave his dragons for a month, but he thinks his second in command can handle it. Plus, all his coworkers think Charlie doesn't have a life outside of the Reserve, and he's determined to prove them wrong.

  While Bill’s busy working, he arranges for the family to go on tours of the tombs he’s helped to break the curses on. Many of them are still filled with skeletons that have sprouted extra limbs from curses put on would-be thieves. His parents aren’t too sure that they’re appropriate for Ginny to be seeing, but their pride in Bill’s work outweighs their unease and they allow her to go. To Charlie, Ginny looks to be doing okay, but his parents do seem to be keeping an eye on her at all times, treating her like she’s fragile or one second away from going mad. Charlie still doesn’t have the whole story behind her ordeal, but he respects his sister enough not to pry or treat her like a baby.

  They’re in between tours one day when Fred and George try to trick Percy into being locked away in a pyramid. When Mum notices, she’s furious enough to ban them from any more sightseeing. They’re all having a great time until Ron freaks out when he thinks his pet rat Scabbers has been eaten by a baby Sphinx they’d encountered outside their rental flat. He’s outraged when the Sphinx won’t give him an actual answer about Scabbers’ whereabouts, just riddles that get increasingly harder the longer Ron annoys it. Like the angst-ridden 12-year-old he is, Ron whines and sulks around their flat until the twins finally give up and reveal that they’ve stowed Scabbers away in a cupboard out of boredom.  

  The last night of the trip, Bill takes treats Charlie and Dad to a night at his favorite pub where they get drunk on some kind of Egyptian alcohol that puts Firewhiskey to shame. Dad cries that night and gushes about how proud he is of his two oldest sons. Up until that moment, Charlie had assumed his dad still held a bit of lingering disappointment towards him for choosing to leave Hogwarts early to go off and play around with dragons.

  When he returns to Romania, and news of notorious murderer Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban reaches the Reserve, he and his colleagues are stunned. It's supposed to be impossible to break out of Azkaban; Black must be even more deranged and dangerous than believed. Around camp, they place bets on when he'll be caught. Charlie doesn't waste money on something so pointless. If Black is clever enough to escape Azkaban, then he's certainly capable of avoiding recapture. He ignores the gossip and focuses on a far more important Black, a runty Hebridean Black that's been giving the staff a hard time. The MacFusty Clan had transported the youngster from Scotland after several failed bonding attempts with surrogates when it became apparent that the dragon's own mother had no interest in raising it.

  Around camp, they have a rule not to name the young dragons until the keepers are certain they're going to survive, but that doesn't stop Charlie from getting attached to the little guy that he's affectionately dubbed Mac as a tribute to the people who'd brought them together. Charlie has been trying to get Mac to bond with a female Romanian Longhorn whose eggs had recently been trampled. It’s not easy to get one breed of dragon to take in another and raise it is her own, especially when she has her own babies already. In this case, however, the Longhorn, in her grief, is quick to accept Mac, but Mac doesn’t exactly feel the same way. Instead of nuzzling up to his surrogate as most hatchlings do, Mac chooses to spend his day following Charlie around the pen, watching his every move; it’s almost as if he’s imprinted on Charlie like a little duckling.

  A rather nasty outbreak of Dragon Pox hits the camp around the middle of March, and it takes down everyone except Charlie, who's immune due to the fact he'd caught it from Ron as a kid (thank Merlin for large families). He has no choice but to bust his hide to keep the place running, even though it’s far from easy on his own. He nearly loses several baby Welsh Greens when one of them manages to wriggle through a gap in their enclosure. He has to subdue three of them before he can even go after the escapee. The stubborn little guy fights Charlie every step of the way. One black eye and a significant burn on his forearm later, he finally gets him back where he belongs only to find that three more have gotten loose. He gets those ones back with no problems, but to make matters worse, one of the mediwizards that they'd brought in to treat his coworkers goes missing, thought to have fallen into one of the pens, and feared to have been eaten. Miraculously, Charlie finds him a week later, trapped in the enclosure they use to quarantine sick or injured dragons. Thankfully, it had not been in use at the time. The man's a little hungry and slightly dazed, but still very much alive. Based on his heroics, he's promoted to one of the Senior Keepers, and he's pretty damn proud of himself. He’d like to think that Clayton would be proud, too.

  Professor Kettleburn comes to visit him later that summer because he's finally decided to retire and has all the free time in the world now. It's a pleasure to see his former professor, but Kettleburn's a serious liability. A man with three wooden limbs should not be anywhere near giant beasts that breathe fire. It turns out that he's there to offer Charlie his now-vacant position at Hogwarts, but Charlie declines. It's a tempting offer, but the Reserve is his home now, and he can't bear to leave it behind. He does suggest Hagrid for the job, though. Charlie thinks it might be right up his alley.

  After a small fire breaks out in a nearby Wizarding village, causing damage to several homes and businesses, local law enforcement requests help from the Reserve because the suspected cause is a rogue dragon. Charlie and two of the other Seniors are sent to investigate It’s not the first time the Reserve has been sent out to the scene of a dragon-induced fire, and, with the arrogant way many Wizards think they have what it takes to raise dragons, it won't be the last. It honestly baffles Charlie how anyone can bring these creatures into the world only to abandon them when they realize they're in over their heads. If he could, he'd print a leaflet saying 'Do. Not. Buy. A. Dragon. Egg. If. You. Can't. Handle. A. Dragon.' and fly across the Wizarding World to dump heaps of them on the people below.

  They search several of the damaged homes but find nothing significant. Then, they spot a small flame coming up from the ground, leading them to the burnt-out shell of a what can only be described as a hovel. Amongst the ashes, he and his team find a sleeping baby Romanian Longhorn. With each exhale, the dragon emits a small fireball, and the team knows they’ve found their culprit. When Charlie offers the baby a bottle of dragon milk, he greedily slurps it up, indicating that he hasn’t been fed in a quite a bit. They gather him up and bring him back to the Reserve for a checkup. Other than being hungry, the baby’s in good health, which means he can be introduced to the other Longhorns. Luckily, the Reserve has been breeding them in record number for the past couple of years to help their declining population recover and this new little guy should fit in with them quite nicely.

  The baby Longhorn quickly finds himself being adopted by a female Longhorn named Emerald, who’s already raised six babies of her own. It warms his heart to watch Emerald let the little one snuggle up to her side within moments of their first interaction. It’s moments like these that make Charlie grateful he made the decision to seek out the Reserve instead of settling into a job he hated and a life he would grow to resent.

  An owl brings Charlie a surprising letter from Professor Dumbledore asking to meet later that day to discuss borrowing some dragons in the near future. It’s not every day you’re asked to meet with one of the most powerful wizards in the world, so of course, Charlie immediately sends back an affirmative reply. Dumbledore arrives just as Charlie finishes up an inspection of the quarantine enclosure looking for any signs of damage after its most recent inhabitant had woken up during a medical procedure and tried to escape.

  Over a cup of tea and some biscuits that Dumbledore had pulled from his robe pocket, he pitches his request to borrow three of the Reserve’s nesting female dragons for a few weeks. Though he won't reveal any specifics, insistent that everything will be revealed in time, he assures Charlie that the dragons will be well taken care of. Charlie’s a tad hesitant to agree as dragons aren't exactly puppy dogs in terms of safety and they’re not easy to handle by any means. However, he trusts his former Headmaster's judgment, and once it's assured that Charlie and some coworkers will be accompanying the creatures, he approves of the plan.

  Thanks to the fact he has a father and brother who work for the Ministry, he finds out that the dragons are to be used in the soon-to-be reinstated legendary Triwizard Tournament and this year's will be at Hogwarts. He'd read about the Tournament for Professor Binns' History of Magic class and had been one of the more interesting topics they’d covered. In theory, getting to compete for the honor of one’s school had sounded wicked (not to mention the cash prize), but the fact that it had been discontinued because too many students had died mid-competition, shows how absolutely bonkers the whole thing is.

  His dad manages to score a handful of tickets to the Quidditch World Cup - top Box seats up with the Minister of Magic - certainly the best available that only a madman would say no to. Charlie jumps at his offer, making sure the Reserve is safely in the hands of his second in command a and apparates home as soon as possible. Though he wishes England had made it to the Finals (a damn shame getting trounced by Transylvania 390-10), getting to witness the greatness that is the Irish National Team and Bulgarian superstar Viktor Krum with his own two eyes is an opportunity he wouldn't pass up in a million years. It's the Quidditch World Cup for Merlin's sake! As a fellow Seeker, Charlie greatly respects Krum's abilities, but he's not a lunatic and still plans on cheering for the Irish. Bulgaria may have the best Seeker in the world, but Ireland has seven equally talented players, and that all but guarantees them a win.

  One thing Charlie misses at the Reserve is the bustle of the Burrow and his siblings. Upon his arrival, Fred and George had accosted him with an opportunity to invest in their future joke shop. Apparently, they'd spent the summer locked away in their room, inventing an array of products like fake wands and trick sweets. Mum, who'd been busy in the kitchen preparing lunch, had overheard and threatened to chuck a saucepan at him if he dared give them any money. Listening to her harass Bill about his long hair and his earring had been enough nagging for one day, Charlie didn't need her to start in on him, too. They play a family game of Quidditch that night out in the apple orchard, much like they used to when everyone still lived at home. The boys had never let Ginny play with them when she was younger, but Charlie knows she used to sneak out to the broom shed and steal someone's Cleansweep to practice on her own. Watching her fly now, he knows that she could make a fine Chaser if she ever wanted to try out for the Gryffindor team. Maybe they'll even get a professional Quidditch player in the family after all.

  Dad's always been a 'more the merrier' type of guy so he lets Ron invite his friends along to the Cup. Charlie's only ever heard about the other members of his brother's trio through letters, so meeting Harry and Hermione is something he's been looking forward to. He can tell that Hermione doesn't much care for Quidditch, but she does care for Ron so naturally she wouldn't turn down spending the rest of the summer with them. Harry is famous in the Wizarding World for defeating the evil You Know Who, but Charlie's sure he gets enough attention because of that, so when they meet, Charlie doesn't make a fuss.  Mum cooks a massive feast to celebrate everyone being together again. Charlie can't remember the last time he'd left a table feeling so full.

  As much as he would've liked to have gotten to hang out with his younger siblings and their guests, they have to turn in at a reasonable hour as they have an early morning. Unlike youngsters in their party, Charlie, Bill, and Percy, fortunately, don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn to meet a Portkey. They get to sleep in and Apparate to the campgrounds later in the day. Unfortunately, this also means having to sit at the breakfast table while Percy drones on about his work at the Ministry. In the middle of a lecture about cauldron thickness, Bill manages to shut him up by maturely flicking eggs at Percy's glasses. It's just like old times. He's practically buzzing with excitement by the time the three of them leave to meet the rest of the family. 

  Before the match, Fred and George make some ridiculous bet with shady Ludo Bagman that Ireland will still win despite Krum catching the Snitch, and it's laughable, really. Why would Krum catch the Snitch if Bulgaria weren't in a position to win? If their mum knew they were gambling away money they couldn't afford to lose, she'd be furious, so Dad pretends not to notice. The match is intense. The Bulgarian Beaters are brutal, but the Irish Chasers are spectacular. Krum pulls off a dangerous Feint, which throws Ireland's Lynch off his game for the rest of the match. In the end, Krum does catch the Snitch, but it isn't enough to secure the victory for Bulgaria. The entire arena sits in their seats, stunned. Fred and George can't wipe the grins off of their faces.

  Celebrations that night are interrupted by the arrival of Death Eaters, the supporters of You Know Who, long thought to have vanished when he disappeared. Chaos ensues. A family of Muggles gets thrown in the air, tortured for all to see. It's disgusting. He jumps in to help the Ministry wizards alongside his dad, Bill, and Percy. They manage to get the family down safely, but before any of the Death Eaters can be captured and unmasked, something seems to scare them off. At some point, he and his brothers find themselves separated when some kind of explosion occurs about 60 yards in front of them.  He picks himself up off the ground, ears ringing and head spinning, to see Bill with his arm all mangled and Percy with a face covered in blood. Dad and the rest of the Ministry wizards are nowhere in sight.

  No use in getting lost further, the brothers decide it best make their way back to their campsite, relieved to see that Fred, George, and Ginny are safely in one of the tents. They patch themselves up the best they can and anxiously wait for their dad to return, hoping he’s found Ron and his friends along the way. None of them are harmed, but he can't seem to get the images of the poor Muggles out of his mind. While they wait, someone casts a spell that blasts the Dark Mark in the sky, a symbol far too familiar to those who had been alive during the First War. It’s the calling of the Death Eaters, left in their wake to show they are responsible for whatever chaos or destruction has occurred. Luckily, Charlie’d been quite small during most of the First War and his parents had been able to shield him from the realities of attacks by You Know and the Death Eaters. Bill faintly remembers seeing the Mark flicking on the front page of The Daily Prophet one morning and their Mum chucking the paper in the fireplace before he could ask questions.

  Dad returns with Ron, Harry, and Hermione in tow, shaken, but also unharmed. He assures them that the Ministry has secured the situation with no further harm done to the Muggles. They have determined that the Mark had been summoned by a rogue House Elf and that the danger has passed for the time being. Whether they had been actual Death Eaters or just copycats looking to cause mayhem is still undetermined, but whatever the case, this is serious business.  

  With his dad and Percy are busier than ever doing damage control at the Ministry, Charlie, at the urging of his anxious mum, spends the rest of the summer at the Burrow, returning to Romania only after seeing his siblings off to Hogwarts on September 1st. He’s still slightly on edge from the violence he'd witnessed, but he shakes it off quickly. He's got a job to do. The dragons they plan on lending to the Tournament need to get used to being wrangled.

  Something goes haywire, and somehow Harry gets chosen to be a fourth champion, which messes up the plan his team had already set in place. They need to select a fourth dragon, but the only two nesting mothers left in the camp are a Horntail and a Peruvian Vipertooth. Both are exceptionally dangerous, which makes choosing a decision they can't take lightly. The Horntail is just a massive beast with a deadly spiked tail, while the Vipertooth is highly venomous and enjoys human flesh. In the end, they go with the Horntail, fearing that if they bring the Vipertooth, it could very well wind up devouring a student if given a chance.

  Getting four dragons to Hogwarts without Muggles seeing is a lot more complicated than Charlie or his team had anticipated. They can only take one dragon at a time, and it has to be in the dead of night. The Swedish Short-Snout, the Chinese Fireball, and the Welsh Green are no problem, but the Horntail is a whole other story. Despite a sleeping draught, she fights them the entire way and no spells will work. She's so riled up by the time they reach Hogwarts that she nearly burns down the entire enclosure. Normally, it can take up to six keepers to stun a dragon to the point where they're docile, but nothing seems to be working on this one. She just won't go down and he feels nothing but sympathy for whichever Champion has to deal with her. In the end, it takes a combination of mass stunning and a calming spell Charlie had learned from watching his mum handle infants.

  Dumbledore meets them the following morning and explains to Charlie and his fellow keepers that the dragons will be guarding a golden egg that each champion must find a way to rescue. The golden egg will be hidden amongst a clutch of the mother's real eggs, making this a complicated task. No one is more protective than a mother of her babies. In his heart, he knows that there's a good chance that some or all of the real eggs could be trampled, and that makes him apprehensive about the whole thing, but they can't exactly back out now.

  Come the day of the task, it's both fascinating and excruciating to watch the four champions take on their dragons. He knows that it's more likely a student will get hurt, but he can't help but be fearful for the safety of the creatures that are his responsibility. Cedric Diggory uses Transfiguration to distract his dragon, turning a rock into a dog. It works exceedingly well until the dragon changes its mind and practically burns Cedric's face off. Fleur Delacour, the clever girl, puts her dragon into an enchanted sleep, which is exactly what he'd do. It's easily the safest way to handle them. Unfortunately, she has no idea that sometimes dragons breathe fire while snoring, and winds up lighting her own skirt on fire. He's supposed to be rooting for Harry because he's Ron's best mate and also representing Hogwarts, but this Fleur girl could really win the Tournament, in his opinion. Viktor Krum may be better known for what he can do on a broomstick, but he's not too shabby with a wand. He also must've done his homework on dragons because using a Conjunctivitis Curse on the Fireball had been a halfway decent idea. Research tells you that using spells on dragons is exceptionally hard because of how tough their hides are, but the eyes are one area where they're vulnerable. Charlie can't bear to look as his dragon thrashes in pain, squashing nearly half of her real eggs in the process. Harry's use of a summoning charm to get his broom is equally as impressive. Charlie hadn't learned to do that spell properly until he was almost 18, and here Harry was at 14, putting him to shame. Based on what he's heard from his siblings, Charlie had known that Harry was an excellent flyer, but seeing it in person is a whole other experience. The way he used his Firebolt to maneuver around the Horntail like he was playing in a Quidditch match instead of being tracked by a fire-breathing beast had been insane. He finds himself on his feet, screaming Harry's name as he swoops in to grab the golden egg as easily as he catches the Snitch.

  He and his team are set to go back to Romania once the first task is over, planning on taking the dragons home one by one, just as they'd done before. The first three dragons give them no trouble, but the Fireball has been having a hard time ever since the task. While the Occulus potion they'd given her following the Curse's use had successfully restored her eyesight within a few hours, it seems that losing some of her eggs has thrown her into some sort of depression. They can't get her to eat, and she won't allow anyone into the vicinity of her remaining eggs. Giving her a sleeping draught is impossible. No one can get near the enclosure without her mushroom-shaped fire being aimed in their direction. Someone suggests they may have to put her out of her misery, but Charlie won't hear a word of that nonsense. He's dealt with grieving mothers before; he knows he'll figure out a way to help this one.

  Using music to soothe her is actually Hagrid's suggestion. Something about it working well on a three-headed dog he'd once had called Fluffy. Charlie doesn't like to ask questions. Standing as close to the enclosure as she'll let him, armed with only his wand and a crude wooden flute that Hagrid had whittled, he tries out a lullaby he'd been sung as a child. Slowly, her eyes being to close, and she's asleep by the time he finishes. He's so thankful that he'd kiss Hagrid's big, hairy face if he could reach it. Charlie and his team can now slip the dragon a powerful sleeping draught and a calming potion for an extra measure before taking her back to Romania without incident. She's much better once she's in the comfort of the enclosure she's used to at home. Charlie keeps a close eye on her as he goes about his daily routine. Soon enough, she's eating again and starts tending to her remaining eggs, breathing fire on them regularly to keep them warm and safe. He's glad he wasn't quick to give up on her, unlike the keeper he'd let go as soon as they'd returned from Hogwarts.

  Technically, Harry wins the Tournament, but the win is overshadowed by a terrible tragedy. Cedric dies at the hands of the recently returned You Know Who. Charlie's horrified. He can remember the Diggorys joining his family as they escorted Cedric to Kings Cross for the first time. Cedric had been quiet, almost too serious, as he'd waited to say goodbye to his parents, a stark comparison to the Weasley kids who'd been playing a rowdy game of keep-away with one of Ron's trainers. Hell, it was only a couple of months ago when he'd talked to Cedric before the World Cup. How could he be dead? He was just 17, and that was far too young.

  With You Know Who's return, dark times lie ahead, and anyone alive during the First War knows it, including his parents, if his Dad's letters are any indication.  He writes that Dumbledore has reformed the Order of the Phoenix, the secret group created to fight against You Know Who and his Death Eaters. They need help beyond Britain, which is where Charlie comes in. He does what he can, trying to increase their numbers by recruiting foreign wizards. He meets with potential Members on his days off, using his rusty language skills to convince these strangers to help join the cause. He's also still pretty friendly with Victor Popescu, and he uses that friendship to his advantage. Charlie entrusts him with the task of visiting local pubs, bonding with patrons, and keeping his ears open for any kind of information. Anything useful, even the tiniest snippet of conversation, is passed along to Dumbledore and the Order. He hasn't been home for months, and he feels a little guilty. It's not easy balancing his work at the Reserve and his work for the Order, but it's the least he can do.

  He and Tonks don't talk about their work for the Order or what’s going on with the War when they exchange letters. It's a depressing subject, and neither want to be reminded that danger lurks around every corner nowadays. Instead, they trash talk each other's favorite Quidditch teams and tease each other good-naturedly, just like he would his own siblings. He sends her a nice pair of dragonhide boots that he knows she'll squeal with delight when she sees, and she sends him some of the Muggle sweets he used to love back when they'd been at Hogwarts. He'll never admit it aloud, but her work as an Auror in the current climate scares him. He's fiercely proud of his best friend for doing a brave and noble job, but he’s far too aware that with each letter she sends him comes the possibility that it could be her last.

  It's a well-known fact amongst the Order that the Minister of Magic is scared of Dumbledore, and he goes through great lengths to smear Dumbledore's name in the community. The Daily Prophet prints stories that paint Dumbledore as a liar and Harry as troubled. If it weren’t for the fact that Charlie wants to be able to keep up with the news back home, he would cancel his subscription altogether. Cornelius Fudge and the rest of the Ministry are daft if they don't believe the words of Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore. Apparently, Percy's one of those fools who falls for whatever the Ministry has been pedaling because Charlie hears from Ginny that Percy and Dad have a nasty falling out, leading to Percy denouncing the family. He'd insulted Dad, claimed he had no ambition, and basically insinuated that the Weasleys were an embarrassment to Wizarding society. It's inexcusable. Charlie almost wants to send him a Howler at work and embarrass him for being such a prat. He doesn't, though. Percy is hardly worth his time these days.

  He has a rough go of things when a sick Opaleye arrives at the Reserve. It's unclear how the New Zealand native found its way to Romania, but she's in bad shape when a local farmer finds her turning his sheep into her supper. From the looks of the deep marks on her neck, it's evident that whoever had been keeping her had her chained up and, judging by the way she can't fully extend her wings, Charlie assumes she's been confined to a place much too small for her body. He names her Judy and tries his best to nurse her back to full health. He manages to deal with the scale rot that's started making her gorgeous pearly scales flake off in bunches, but in the end, she's far too sickly and weak to make it. He knows that that's just life, that you can't save them all no matter how hard you try, but he's gutted by the loss. 

  He gets the perfect opportunity to get his mind off of Judy when he gets a letter from Hagrid inviting him for drinks in a nearby village. Turns out he’s in the country on an assignment from Dumbledore but can’t say anything about it. He sends back his reply immediately to set a day. When they meet up, and Charlie sees his old friend for the first time, he’s shocked. Hagrid looks like he’s been through hell and back with bruises of various shades covering half his face, cuts and scrapes crisscrossing both of his massive hands. Charlie has a feeling that he’s been off trying to communicate with and recruit the giants that are rumored to live in the mountains, but he keeps that to himself. Secret mission are secrets for a reason. Instead, the two men sit, drink their ale, and catch up. While Charlie talks about life at the Reserve, Hagrid spends a lot of time talking about Madame Maxime, his travel companion and the woman he's fallen in love with. If Charlie remembers her correctly, she's the headmistress of Beauxbatons, the French wizard school that had competed against Hogwarts last year. It's fitting that Hagrid would fall for a woman who’s also part giant.

  While on duty for the Order, Dad gets attacked by a snake and nearly dies, but Charlie can't possibly take time off to see him. Three mother dragons have just hatched little ones, and his second in command has just run off with a Muggle man she'd met down the pub, which means he's the only one with the amount of experience needed to take care of them. Even though he can't physically be there with his family, he arranges to talk to them through the fire once Dad gets released from St. Mungo's. While his dad excitedly tells him about a Trainee Healer's attempted use of some Muggle medical procedure called stitches that didn't actually work on him because of the snake venom, his Mum tries to pretend she isn't still angry about it. The look on her face as Dad explains how they sewed him up is enough to tell Charlie how she really feels about the whole thing. Only his dad would be mad enough to let some Trainee use Muggle remedies on him.

  When the weather starts to get warmer, he takes a trip to the Swedish Dragon Reserve to observe a group of Short-Snouts. It's supposed to be a sort of vacation for him, but that doesn't stop Charlie from volunteering to help out around the place like volunteering to collect buckets of dragon milk to feed the babies who are old enough to be away from their mothers. He's walking alongside a pen of nesting mothers when a rogue jet of brilliant blue flames comes straight for his head. His savior, Astrid Larsson, takes it upon herself to tackle him to the ground at the last second. Without her, Charlie surely would've been reduced to a pile of ash. It's a rookie mistake for him to be so close to this particular pen without being cautious when he knows that Short-Snout mothers often send out flames in a random fashion once their little ones are born. He's embarrassed that he'd been so careless. He half expects Astrid to yell at him because he'd do it to one of his staff. She doesn't, though, just pulls him off the ground and helps him dust off. She's far more concerned with the dragons at the moment. They look into the pen to find that one of the mothers, Hera, is surrounded by three newborns. Charlie helps Astrid carefully navigate their way to check the babies out before returning them to their mother. Later that night, Astrid takes him to little dive not too far from the Reserve to celebrate the healthy new crop of hatchlings. He can't help but smile at how animatedly she talks about her love for her work. If it weren't for the fact that he has no desire to date and Astrid only has eyes for the pretty bartender serving them all night, he'd think they were a perfect match.

  After Easter, Fred and George take a page out of Charlie's book and leave Hogwarts early. He’s a proud older brother for them choosing to follow their passion, even if it upsets their mum. In true Fred and George fashion, the don't go quietly, though, leaving chaos in their wake in the form of a Portable Swamp set up in the hallway that's incredibly difficult to remove. It sounds like a brilliant bit of magic, which he’s not surprised about. They’re a lot smarter than most people will give them credit for. Unbeknownst to the rest of the family, Harry had given them his Triwizard winnings. They use that money to finally open their joke shop in Diagon Alley. They send him a sampler pack of their latest inventions that he shares with his coworkers. They're a huge hit with everyone, and Charlie has no doubt that his brothers will be anything less than successful.

  When news of the Department of Mysteries ordeal reaches him, he can't believe how brave and utterly stupid both Ron and Ginny are. He admires their dedication to Harry, but sneaking off in the middle of the night to go help fight You Know Who? Mum must've had a cow. They had taken on Death Eaters and lived to tell the tale thanks to the Order and Dumbledore's arrival. Tonks has a short stay in St. Mungo's due to some spell damage, and he sends along his condolences on the loss of her cousin Sirius. He knows she feels some sort of guilt over the death. At least the Ministry can now no longer deny that You Know Who had returned. All it took was for him to appear inside the Ministry itself.

  Bill goes and falls in love with Fleur Delacour, the beautiful French girl Charlie had secretly rooted for in the Triwizard Tournament. She’s all he can talk about when Charlie meets him for drinks at the Leaky Cauldron one night. Apparently, the two had grown close when Bill had left his work in Egypt to take a desk job at Gringotts to so could also do some part-time work for the Order.

  Charlie almost regrets Apparating all the way to London just to listen to Bill moon over some girl, but he treasures any chance he gets to hang out with his big brother nowadays. After their second round of Firewhiskey, Bill floats the suggestion that Fleur has some old school friend she could set Charlie up with, but he’s not too keen on the idea. He’s sure they’re just as beautiful and charming as Fleur, but even pretty faces aren’t enough to tempt him.  He’s worried that Bill will keep pressing the offer on him, but thankfully his brother takes the first no as an answer and pays for another round.

  He’s just launching into a story about how he and Melonie had inadvertently started a camp-wide prank war when none other than Evie McCabe walks through the door on the arm of a muscular lad that Charlie recognizes as a player for some small quidditch league. A beater, he thinks, judging by the build. Thankfully, they sit too far away from his and Bill’s table to see him. As much as he would like to hash things out about how their friendship ended, Charlie’s far too drunk to interact with her tonight. Before he leaves, he does pay Tom to send a drink Evie’s way with a note that says ‘Thanks for the advice. Xo Dragon Boy’.

  Charlie’s always tried to get along with everyone he meets, but a new lad starts at the Reserve that seriously tries his patience. Patrick Malarkey is an entitled, arrogant little prat who thinks he can just breeze right in and do anything he pleases, and Charlie thinks he just might hate him. Patrick doesn't listen to his superior's instructions, nor will he follow any of the proper safety protocols. The kid tries to pick fights with other newbies during training exercises, cuts in line during breakfast, barges into other people’s cabins without knocking, and almost manages to get himself burnt up at least six times within his first week. One of the other Senior Keepers threatens to affix him completely naked to the welcome sign out front with a Permanent Sticking Charm if he doesn’t knock it off, but Charlie has a less aggressive approach to things. He thinks that punishing Patrick by making him do nothing but shovel out the enclosures for a week will help whip him into shape. He’s sorely mistaken. All the punishment does is make Patrick more reckless. Needless to say, the situation does not end well for anyone involved.

  From day one, the new hires are warned about the last Peruvian Vipertooth left in the Reserve. Even though it’s weakened in its old age and less lethal, the general rule is that it could still eat humans, so it’s best that they all stay as far away as possible. Surprise, surprise Malarkey does not follow the rules and waltzes right into the Vipertooth's pen at feeding time like it’s no big deal. The Vipertooth swallows him whole, leaving nothing behind except a single boot. The reserve has never dealt with an accidental death like this before and, because it happened on Charlie’s watch, part of him feels like a failure. He makes it his responsibility to write Patrick’s family and tell them what happened. He’s tempted to tell them that their son died because he was an irresponsible idiot, but Charlie can’t do that to a grieving family. Instead, he explains the situation, sending his regrets and apologizing profusely. He can’t but help think that if only he had tried harder to mentor Patrick like Clayton had done for him all those years ago, it never would’ve happened.

  Not long after that, Charlie’s and Tonks’ work collides when she and a few other Aurors arrest a shifty little wizard called Jackson Podmore for selling dragon eggs during a raid in Knockturn Alley. Podmore cracks under questioning, revealing that he and a few partners have been stealing Opaleyes from New Zealand and forcing them to breed, selling their eggs for profit. When one had gotten loose, they’d moved their whole setup and doubled down on their binding enchantments. Podmore indicates that there are operations like his all over the Wizarding World. He'll cooperate to the fullest extent, naming names and working with the Aurors to conduct sting operations that lure the leaders out of hiding. Charlie takes pleasure in knowing that soon enough, they'll be stuck in prison for their crimes.

  The investigation into Podmore leads to a cave high up in the Apuseni Mountains in which they find several female Opaleyes magically bound up with thick, heavy chains. The Aurors summon a team comprised of Charlie, some other keepers, and a dragon healer to rescue them. The living conditions are disgusting, and the dragons are in pretty rough shape. It physically pains him to see how badly they’ve been mistreated. At least he’s gotten his answer to where Judy had escaped from.

  After evaluating their health, the team determines that there is sadly no way they can live normal lives at the Reserve. Even if they did recover from being mistreated and underfed, being bound up the way they had, had impacted their bodies to the point where the dragons would be left unable to move around normally. Out of their best interest, the team has no choice but to euthanize them. Charlie’s never actually been involved in the decision of putting a dragon down before, but this time he can’t avoid it. That’s a tough pill to swallow. The silver lining, if there is one, is that they can take the eggs back home and raise the hatchlings. Their mothers may be gone, but that doesn’t mean these innocent babies won’t get the chance to grow and thrive.

  It doesn't seem right when he hears the news that Professor Snape had killed Professor Dumbledore. Snape was supposed to be on their side; supposed to be sticking his neck out to spy for the Order; supposed to be one of the good ones. Despite it being well-known that he was once a Death Eater, Dumbledore had completely trusted Snape. Turns out that was a mistake because he’d allowed his Death Eaters buddies to infiltrate Hogwarts, killed Professor Dumbledore, and fled like a coward.

  Bill gets attacked by Fenrir Greyback, one of the most notorious werewolves in existence, while helping the Order to defend Hogwarts. He’s left scarred, but he’s incredibly lucky that Greyback hadn’t been transformed at the time so he won’t become a full-fledged werewolf. Fleur stands by him the aftermath, proving she loves Bill for much more than his handsome face. Charlie never had any doubts about that, but he knows a few people may have. Charlie wants to go home for Dumbledore’s funeral, but he’s been placed on strict bedrest by the Reserve’s resident Healer after being struck by the tail of an agitated Longhorn. The tail whip had sent him flying at last 70 feet in the air before he’d landed in a heap on the ground and blacked out. The fact that he hadn’t broken every bone in his body had been a miracle, but to err on the side of caution, he’s been ordered to stay in bed for at least two weeks.

  While he’s laid up, he finds out that Tonks is marrying fellow Order member Remus Lupin. Though a kind man, Remus is much older than they are, and he's also a Werewolf. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with that, but Charlie's not sure if those two are meant to be together. He’s happy his friend has found someone she wants to spend the rest of her life with, but people tend to rush into things like marriage in times of war. His parents had the first time, and it worked out well for them, so who's to say that Tonks won't be just as lucky? He sends the future Mrs. Lupin a wheel of the Reserve's finest dragon milk cheese as a wedding present. He knows she'll get a kick out of it.

  Even though it’s in the middle of peak breeding season, Charlie has no choice but to take some personal time off because his older brother is getting married. He's even been asked to be Bill's best man. He’s looking forward to going back at the Burrow but not too keen on being around his Mum. His siblings have all reported that she’s been has been going a tad overboard with the preparations, and it’s been a bit if a nightmare. The Burrow isn’t impressive by any means, but he knows she’s determined to make it (and its inhabitants) look as presentable as possible for Fleur’s family. In her letter advising him on what to wear, she had insisted he neaten up his hair for the occasion, and he's not happy about it. He has Melonie help him because he just can’t bring himself to do more than give his mane a trim.

  He arrives the night before the wedding, where his Mum is hosting a dinner that night for Harry's seventeenth birthday. He'd have come sooner but he'd been busy dealing with the fallout of a violent fight between two Longhorns over the same female. He almost wishes he hadn’t shown up as his Mum takes one look at his haircut when he arrives and decides it’s not quite proper enough. She marches him into the kitchen where she swipes at his head with her wand leaving a pile of red locks on the floor. When she’s satisfied by her handiwork, he runs a hand over his newly shorn head and grimaces. He can't say he's too enthused by the results, but it’s for his Mum so he’ll deal. He can always regrow it as soon as the ceremony ends.

  Harry’s birthday dinner guests include Fleur's parents and sister, Hagrid, Tonks, and Remus. While the party waits to start their dinner until his dad returns from work, Charlie and Tonks get a chance to catch up, and he meets her new husband properly. He plays the part of protective best friend and good-naturedly warns Remus that if he hurts Tonks, Charlie will sick one of his dragons on him. His dad sends word that the Minister of Magic will be coming home with him, which causes the Lupins to leave early, making Charlie wonder if there’s some bad blood there. He makes a note of asking Tonks about it when they see each other at the wedding.

  The wedding itself goes off without a hitch, but they’re warned that the Ministry has fallen to the dark side and that Death Eaters are on their way to crash the reception. They search the Burrow for signs of Harry, claiming he’s wanted for questioning in the death of Dumbledore, but he’d already disappeared with Ron and Hermione by the time they arrived. Charlie finds out later that even from beyond the grave, Dumbledore’s still made it his mission to rid them of You Know Who once and for all, sending the three out on a top-secret quest to find ways of defeating the Dark Lord. Everyone who hadn’t managed to Disapparate before the disruption is questioned for information on Harry’s whereabouts, which gets them nowhere. For his safety, Harry had attended the wedding disguised as a Weasley cousin so no one who wasn’t in the loop had any idea he’d even been at the Burrow. Despite not having anything useful for the Death Eaters, no one is harmed, but it's obvious that back home is not a safe place to be anymore. With the rest of his family now under Ministry surveillance, Charlie returns to Romania and makes sure to put extra protective charms on the Reserve; Death Eaters may come for him, but he'll be damned if they try to destroy his second home.

  Ginny writes to him every now and again, detailing the horror stories occurring at Hogwarts now that the Ministry has made it mandatory for every Wizarding child in Britain. It turns his stomach when he finds out that Snape has been named Headmaster and Death Eater teachers now force students to practice curses on one another. Hogwarts was supposed to be the safest place in the Wizarding World. However, he thinks that nowhere can be considered genuinely safe with You Know Who on the loose. It isn’t surprising to Charlie that Ginny and her friends are rebelling against Snape’s regime, even going so far as to break into his office to steal the Sword of Gryffindor. He finds it a bit interesting that their punishment had been detention served with Hagrid, a known ally of the Order and friend to the Weasleys. He’d expected Snape to have them sent to the dungeons for some kind of medieval punishment that the caretaker, Filch, had always threatened troublemakers with.

  When the letters stop coming, Charlie’s initially worried that something terrible has happened, but an explanation from Bill helps to ease his mind. It turns out that the family’s been forced to flee the Burrow and go into hiding because the Ministry has discovered that Ron is not being kept home from Hogwarts because he's ill, but is actually traveling with Harry, who they’ve deemed "Undesirable Number One." To ensure they remain safe, the family has taken residence at Auntie Muriel's, and Charlie feels a pang of sympathy. Muriel, the judgmental old bat, is a nightmare to be around for more than five minutes. At Bill's wedding, she'd drunk a few too many glasses of champagne and found a reason to insult anyone she came in contact with. Fred and George, unable to keep their shop running, are staying there, too. Charlie hopes they're giving her the hell she deserves.

  Now that the biased Prophet is under Ministry control and the Ministry itself is directly under the thumb of You Know Who, he's taken to listening to a pirate radio program called Potterwatch while he goes about his daily routine to stay updated on what's going on back home. He holds his breath and hopes he doesn't recognize any name he knows when they read the list of the dead and laughs at the ridiculous rumors about You Know Who. He takes comfort in hearing voices from people he remembers so well. He remembers Lee Jordan as being a loyal friend to Fred and George. The fellow Gryffindor had taken over doing the Quidditch commentating during the season in which Charlie had won them the Cup. The kid had been hilarious – biased as hell- but still engaging enough to make one forgive that. Kingsley Shacklebolt had been a presence in the Order, taking it over from Dumbledore. On one of the few occasions he’d come home, Charlie had felt drawn in whenever Kingsley spoke during meetings. He reckons he’d make a fine Minister of Magic if things ever return to normal.

  The next letter he gets from Tonks just after Easter includes a picture of a squirming infant with the tiniest tuft of bright blue hair. Her newborn son, Edward Remus Tonks, had been named after Tonks' father, who hadn't lived long enough to see his grandson be born. On the run from the Ministry's Muggle-born Registration Commission, Ted Tonks had been murdered the month before by Snatchers who'd been rounding up anyone the Ministry had deemed "undesirable." When Charlie had heard about Ted Tonks' death on Potterwatch, it'd stung. He recalled the summer he'd spent a week with Tonks and her parents. Mr. Tonks had taught him Muggle magic tricks that he'd later brought home to amaze his own dad. He still has the false Muggle coin that lets you trick people into thinking you've swallowed a piece.

  Reports of a Ukrainian Ironbelly on the loose get traced back to a break-in at Gringotts. Bill had told him years before that the goblins had been rumored to use dragons to protect some of the more high-value vaults, but he’d never actually seen any while working for the bank so he couldn’t confirm or deny. Guess this proves it’s more than just a rumor. This particular dragon had apparently been used to guard the vaults of some of the more prominent Wizarding families before Ron, Harry, and Hermione had ridden off on its back. He’d heard all about the daring escape on Potterwatch and how the Ministry had placed a thousand Galleon bounty on the dragon’s head. Charlie can’t sit quietly by and let the wrong person be the one to find the dragon, so he rounds up a team to search the countryside for any signs of it. The goal is to get the Ironbelly back to camp without attracting attention. Once he’s at the Reserve, he’ll officially reach protected status, and the Ministry can’t do a thing about it.

  When they reach a dense forest that appears to have spontaneously gone up in flames, he knows they've located the creature. The team works quickly to secure the area, racing to put out the fire and place a protective spell on the forest to keep curious bystanders away. The dragon’s positively massive with great spiky wings that he keeps folded close to his body, as though he isn’t used to having room for them to spread out. The time spent underground has caused his metallic steel-colored scales to grow dull and lifeless. From the scars that cross its face and hide, it’s obvious that the goblins had not been particularly kind. Half-blind and very untrusting, the dragon initially will not allow Charlie or anyone else to get close. They try to lull the beast into an enchanted sleep, but every attempt ends with the trees going back up in flames followed by a mad dash to get them extinguished.

  The rescue mission feels hopeless until one of the other keepers starts kicking around an old teakettle Charlie assumes had once been a Portkey in frustration. They notice that the dragon seems to shrink back at the sound, terrified. Charlie knows this can mean only one thing. The goblins must have used a Clanker to put fear into this dragon. While the use of clankers to condition dragons is not practiced at their Reserve, it was once a widely used way to train dragons to follow commands. The keepers that use this method make it so that these dragons expect pain when they hear the sound of the clanker, and it supposedly makes them more docile. Many modern keepers think it’s a barbaric practice, Charlie included, but they know they’ll have to use it to their advantage in this situation. With the clanging noise serving as a distraction, the dragon is too terrified to fight back, which means that Charlie can sneak close enough to put him in an enchanted sleep. Now that they have the dragon finally subdued, they’ll be able to bring him to safety just as soon as night falls.

  It’s right before dinner one night in May when word spreads around camp that You Know Who has come to Hogwarts and that a great battle has ensued. He's in the middle of helping the rest of the Senior Keepers reinforce the new pen made for holding several Horntails when the cry for the Order to join the fight goes up. Obviously, he has to be there fighting alongside his friends and family, but he can't just flake on the rest of the team. He enlists a few of the Junior Keepers to finish things as quickly as possible and Apparates to as close to the Hogwarts grounds as one can. He's not exactly concentrating when he does it, trying not to let himself think of worst-case scenarios, so he winds up a little south of where he intended, but still close enough to walk through Hogsmeade. It’s there where he joins forces with Potions professor Horace Slughorn. Together, they sound the alarm in the village, banging on all the shopkeeper's doors and amassing an army of reinforcements.

  The Battle of Hogwarts is in full swing by the time Charlie and the rest arrive. The castle is in ruins and too many lives have been lost, including Harry. As You Know Who gloats about his triumph, Neville Longbottom, the definition of a True Gryffindor, uses the sword he’d tried to help Ginny steal only months before to cut off the head of You Know Who’s beloved pet snake and chaos ensues. The Centaurs join the fight as do the House Elves and even some Giants. At one point, he sees Hagrid literally throws a Death Eater across the room like a sack of potatoes. His Dad and Percy (had they made up?) are battling together against the current Minister. As he watches a Killing Curse miss his sister by inches, time seems to stand still for just a moment. It lights a fire in his mum, who jumps to Ginny’s defense, battling against Bellatrix Lestrange with such a ferocity he’s only ever witnessed while trying to get close enough to a nesting mother’s eggs or a newly hatched baby. When Bellatrix falls, You Know Who turns his wand on Charlie’s mum and he’s sure he’s about to witness one of his deepest fears come true, but a powerful Shield Charm from an unknown place stops any harm from coming her way. Harry, it turns out, is very much alive, which is great for morale. He’s up in an instant goading You Know Who into an intense duel. Regardless of the side they’re fighting on, the entire Great Hall stops to watch the two battle it out. It doesn't end until the shell of the man who once upon a time had been called Tom Riddle is lying crumpled on the ground, killed by his arrogance and his own rebounding curse.

  The Second War finally comes to an end, but not without its casualties. His family loses one of their own, and he also loses his best friend. No one knows how to cope. Percy, who had finally seen the error of his ways, joining the fight just in time to watch Fred die in the wake of a massive Death Eater-induced explosion, takes it exceptionally hard.  With no job to go back to (he’d resigned mid-battle), he locks himself in his room at the Burrow for hours at a time, not even emerging for meals most nights. His poor mum cooks food no one has the appetite for, cleans parts of the house that are already clean, and cries. A lot. George disappears to his joke shop and stops responding to owls. Charlie sticks around just long enough for the funerals before he heads back to Romania with an excuse that he's been away too long. He throws himself back into his work to avoid thinking about all the death. He trains the new kids to properly fix the dragon enclosures without getting burnt to a crisp. He makes the troublemakers shovel dung. But he refuses to think about how Fred looked like he died laughing or how Tonks' little boy, like so many others, is now an orphan. They're safe now, but at what cost?

  The years pass by in a blur. Charlie settles back into his normal routine, spending most of the year at the Reserve forming bonds with magnificent creatures that could kill him if he doesn't earn their trust, but now he finds the time to go home for longer visits with his mum to make her smile. He lets her teach him how to knit and cook; he doesn't even roll his eyes anymore when she criticizes his clothes or hair. He watches his siblings get married and have kids, create new family memories of their own. He spoils his nieces and nephews rotten, earning himself the title of favorite Uncle. When he comes home at Christmastime, he’s always armed with an array of the wildest stories from the Reserve and pockets full of foreign sweets. His mum warns him not to give out any before they've had dinner, but he always sneaks them some anyway with a wink.

  Nosy Rita Skeeter, who'd started her own gossip rag after finally being sacked by the Prophet, apparently has nothing better to do these days than speculate why he's the lone Weasley bachelor. In her column, she dubs him 'The Single Weasley' and writes all kinds of outlandish theories about him. He's thought about writing to her, setting the record straight, but he doesn't want to give her a chance to spin his words like she's been known to do. The thing he's found about dating is that it's not for him, and that's more than okay. People always ask if he's happy without his own family, which is pure rubbish if you ask him. You don't need a spouse or kids to feel whole. He's got his work in Romania and an army of nieces and nephews to fill the non-existent void, which's more than enough for him.