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“Woahh girl, there we are, little bit further, aww, whose a beautiful girl, ey? Aw yes you are. Look at you. So pretty.”
The Peruvian Vipertooth huffed slightly, curling her back round to further show off the shimmering copper scales across her back.
“Aww so perfect, aren’t you sweetheart?” cooed the red-head currently polishing the scales in question, Charlie balancing perfectly on the ridges of the dragon.
Annabelle (the dragon in question) was admittedly one of his favorite's in the sanctuary, not least because of her unusually affectionate behavior. Peruvian Vipertooth’s were notorious for being one of the most dangerous dragon species, not just being the smallest and fastest of the breeds, but also in that they were of the only species that ate humans as part of a diet, rather than for protection. Unlike her wild counterparts, Belle was far calmer and sweeter, and with a regular diet of fresh meat, could often be persuaded to have a good scrub down rather than dinner.
“He’s insane.”
“Yup.”
“Bloody insane.”
“I can hear you, you know.” he called out to the group of rangers currently lazing around just on the other side of one of the many shield bubbles stationed around the reservation.
“We know!” called back Kieran, the oldest of the group, having graduated Hogwarts a few years before Charlie, “And you're still insane!”
“She’s an absolute sweetheart!” he called back indignantly, “Look at her!"
Annabelle purred, in the peculiar way dragons did, shifting slightly so Charlie could get to her her horns, leaning back into his hands.
“To you maybe. She tried to eat me last time I did that!”
“Maybe there’s more meat on your bones.”
“You’re a fucking beanpole, Weasley, everyone's got more meat than you.”
“You should see Perce, he’s more bones than anything else. Ron’s getting there as well.”
“Talking of your siblings, I saw Bill the other week in the Ministry. He was getting some papers or something.”
Charlie looked over to the bubble-gum haired girl, raising an eyebrow as he dismounted off of the dragon, giving her a final pat, before she bounded off into the forests.
Wiping down his hands, he joined the group in the bubble, plonking himself down next to Tonks.
“Really? Last I heard he was somewhere in Brazil. Must’ve apparated in since then. Talking of work, how's your training going? Mad Eye Moody, did you say you were training under?”
“Yup,” Tonks popped the ‘p’, “Moody lives up to his name, but he can be a right laugh if you get him in the right mood. Wicked sense of humour, sarcastic as hell. Can’t tell whether Shackles hates or loves him.”
“I take it you love him, then.” grinned Charlie, lying down flat on the large rock in the centre of the bubble. Above the group, the orange fingers of sunset were beginning to crawl across the skies, the faint cry of the giant reptiles that lived on the reservation echoing across the valleys.
Charlie had only begun working at the reservation at the beginning of that summer, and yet he now couldn’t imagine his life without it - without the early mornings, up before the sun, the wind nipping at his ankles. Without the long days spent on foot, traversing the barely-there paths, tracing the various inhabitants the sanctuary held, finding them, feeding them, even grooming them for some of the more friendly species. Without the evenings, where dusk blanketed the world in warm strands, lying on the ground beside a roaring fire, idly chatting with the other rangers.
They came from all over the world, from the Highlands of Hogwarts, from the city-scape of Ilvermony, to the plains of Uagadou. Teenagers starting life, adults wanting a new start, rugged trainers, who’d spent their lives travelling the world, and had finally settled in the sanctuary.
The hidden oasis of Romania, a huge area of ground, covered by miles and miles of forests, mountains poking their misty heads out of the carpet of ancient trees. Trees so old it took an entire team of rangers to wrap themselves around, fingertips stretching. Mountains that occasionally puffed more smoke than mist.
Charlie loved these moments the most. Quiet moments, staring up into the sky, where the first stars were beginning to poke their heads through.
Or first thing in the morning, when the world was still and cold. When the forest would stand still for him, and he stepped through with feet he’d learnt to make silent.
The silence never lasted long though, not with the team he had, he thought fondly.
Since the rez was so big, rangers were split into groups of 13, and dispersed through the area. Charlie could walk a full day in any direction and not meet anyone outside his group. They would organise meetups sometimes, between the groups, meeting in one of the larger protective spheres, to play cards, or share stories, or (Charlie’s favourite) play a friendly game of quidditch.
Despite having only been there for a few months, Charlie could safely say that his team was one of the more, uh, colourful of the groups. Being made almost solely of newcomers, with only old Eric, and Kristen being seasoned rangers, the team often ran wild, high on the excitement that still hadn’t worn off yet. The thrill of being alive, for the first time in their lives. The pure adrenaline of being free. Of running wild through the forests, ducking and dodging an attack from one of the bulls (male dragons, as he’d explained to Tonks, who’d been very confused at why he was talking about cows), or of playing with the abandoned fledglings they received almost every month. Especially the latter. Entire days could be spent rough-housing with the tiny dragons, enjoying the few precious weeks, as they grew from being small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, to being the size of a pony, who was still under the impression it was puppy sized.
He’d been beyond excited when Tonks had dropped in for a visit, his best friend apparently miffed that he had practically dropped off the map. In his defence, the dragons kept trying to eat the owls she sent, and he felt it was animal cruelty to keep sending them off.
Upon her surprise arrival at camp, he’d spent the day showing her round the best haunts, introducing her to his favourite dragons, including the aquatic wyrm who’d been rescued only that week, and their latest dragonet, who was currently the size of a greyhound, and very fond of sitting on people’s laps. Which was probably concerning considering Hughbrick was a Hungarian Horntail, but Charlie didn’t really see the problem. As long as he didn’t try it when he was fully grown, the redhead was more than happy to have daily snuggles with the baby.
Letting out a deep breath, Charlie let his head fall back, closing his eyes against the falling sun.
It had been a good day, but a long one. Maybe a nap wouldn’t hurt before -
“Oi, Weasley, isn’t that your family owl?”
Charlie bolted upright again, almost smacking his head on the floor as the flap of wings sounded above him.
“Huh, ‘ello bud,” he said, lifting an arm neatly to catch the bird, who nipped fondly at his fingers, “You got a letter for me?”
Carefully, Charlie pulled the letter off of the owl’s leg. To his surprise, instead of the neat handwriting of his mother, in a beautifully sealed envelope, a scruffy piece of notepaper was attached, bearing the scrawl he faintly recognized as Ron’s.
Frowning, he opened it up, and read it.
And read it again.
“What’s it say?” enquired Tonks, digging her bony chin into his shoulder.
“It’s from Ron. He… wants me to go collect a baby dragon.”
There was a brief pause.
“He wants you to do what?”
“Ron as in the 11- year old?”
“From Hogwarts?”
“Bloody hell, your family's crazy.”
“Where’d he get a dragon from?”
“Who’d he get a dragon from?”
Voices overlapped in disbelief, no one even trying to pretend they hadn’t been eavesdropping.
A hand reached over, snatching the scrap of paper from Charlie’s hand, Kieran ducking away despite his protests.
“Dear Charlie, I was wondering if you could come and do me a favour. We, well, Harry, Hermione and I, kinda found out that Hagrid was raising a dragon in his hut. It hatched last night, and Hermione’s awful worried it will burn his hut down. If you could come pick it up at some point, we’d much appreci- it would be great. Lots of love, Ron. P.S Hagrid would like me to tell you his name is Norbert. P.S.S come fast, because that git Malfoy got us all detention, and I don’t want another because McGonagall caught you."
"Huh, I guess the apple never falls far from the tree, eh Charlesy boy?”
Charlie rolled his eyes, snatching the letter back, “Very funny Mr I-almost-tripped-over-the-edge-of-a-cliff-last-week, a true role model to us all.”
Tonks smacked him over the head, “Ignore him, what are we gonna do?”
Charlie frowned, “We?”
The girl rolled her eyes, “Yes, we. You didn’t think we’d let you go by yourself, did you?”
“I never said I was going to do it!”
A dead stare. “Were you not?”
“... okay, yes I am, but it’s going to be dangerous! Hogwarts isn’t easy to sneak into.”
“Weasley, we work with dragons for a living, trying to cut Gregory’s claws is harder than that.”
Charlie sighed, then took a seat back down on the rock, letting the owl shift to his shoulder.
“Okay, before we start this, I need to know, are we all in?”
A chorus of nods, yes’s and ‘HELL YEAH BABY’’s echoed around the circle they formed.
“Awesome, so, we need a plan.”
“Have you got one?”
Charlie grinned, “Always ‘Dora. Now, this is what we’re going to do…”
—-------------------------------------------
A few hours later
“OH MY MERLIN! THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER.”
Charlie laughed wildly, the air whipping past him, arms spread wide in the air, Tonks gripping tightly onto his waist, still screaming in joy.
Around them, similar cheers and screams were echoing out into the night, nine teenagers clinging to scales, and spines and various handholds, alone in the world, aside from the glow of the moon, and the fierce war-cries of Annabelle, swooping through the skies in a manner so majestic it took Charlie’s breath away.
This was what a dragon should be. Wild and free and soaring, higher and higher. No cage to hold her back, no rangers to herd her away from the edge.
And Charlie was in love.
Quidditch had always been one of his favourite things in the world, swooping along, becoming one with the wind, always hunting. But he was beginning to think now, Quidditch had only been his favourite because it was the closest thing he had to what he truly wanted.
This. This was what he wanted.
To ride a dragon, one who was carrying him of free will, because she wanted to, because he asked.
To feel as if the world was nothing but a tiny speck below him, to travel so high he never wanted to go down again.
Around him, eyes sparkled with pure adrenaline, the thrill of the sky mixing with the excitement of sneaking out, past the older rangers, and into the forest, where Annabelle had been waiting, the dragon apparently understanding Charlie when he’d asked for the favour.
She was screaming now, a scream like that of an eagle, finally freed from her cage, and allowed free range for the first time in her life. A creature in her true element.
That made two of them then.
They continued through the sky, renewing their warming charms when necessary.
Finally, after blissful hours in the sky, they found themselves skimming across a familiar forest.
In the distance, Charlie could faintly see the twinkling lights of the castle, rising up into the mist.
“Is that your famous Hogwarts, then?” asked Violet, a recent graduate from Ilvermony.
“Yup, there she is.”
“She’s gorgeous,” breathed Daisy, Violet’s twin.
“She’s home.” replied Tonks, leaning forward to lean her chin on Charlie’s shoulder.
He understood how she felt.
The reservation was everything he’d dreamed of, the home away from home he’d always wanted. But Hogwarts had been his first. So different from the comfort of the Burrow, but warm in her own way.
Peering down amongst the trees, Charlie climbed a little further up Annabelle’s neck, until he was sat practically on her horns.
“Hey girl,” he whispered, laughing softly as she chirped in response, “Could you bring us down just at the treeline?”
She gave a short roar in confirmation, and as they neared the edge of the forest, tucked her wings in, causing a wave of short screams from the occupants, as she used the last of her momentum to glide neatly between the trees, landing just out of sight from the school.
Breaths of mixed relief and disappointment filled the air as the group dismounted, Charlie patting the dragon gently as thanks. She huffed back at him, nuzzling her face delicately into his, carefully rubbing her horns against the spot he would’ve held his, if he’d been born a dragon. Which, in moments like these, he wished he had.
“Thanks Belle,” he murmured, “You wanna rest for a bit while we sort this baby out? I’m sure Hagrid will have some dinner for you.”
She gave a chirp in response, bounding slightly ahead of the group.
Tonks snickered as Kieran tripped over himself ducking out of her path.
They hadn’t gotten more than a few paces up the path towards Hagrid’s hut when a familiar figure appeared, waving wildly, a lamp in one hand and a dog by his feet.
Charlie felt his mouth split into a wide grin, and he burst out into a run, stopping just in front of Hagrid in time to throw himself onto the half-giant.
“Hagrid!” he cheered, as the man swung him in a circle, laughing loudly, as easily as he’d done when Charlie was a tiny first year, trailing the grounds-keeper round his duties, being introduced to all of the creatures he upon reflection probably shouldn’t’ve been introduced to. Ah well, it was worth it.
“Charlie!” boomed the man, “How are ye? How’s the ol’ reservation doing?”
“Hi Hagrid!” beamed the red-head, finally being set down, “Romania’s great, I’ve already written to Newt thanking him for the recommendation.”
Hagrid smiled at the name, Newt Scamander being a regular visitor to the little hut.
Charlie himself had been astounded to meet his hero - he had all the books, and considered the man his idol. The first time Newt had dropped in while Charlie was with Hagrid, he’d hidden behind the half-giant the entire time, staring with wide eyes at the man who made his childhood. Hagrid had had to physically lift him around to get him to talk to Newt, stating only, “This is Charlie Weasley. He wants to work with dragons.”
Since then, the two men had bonded incredibly well, Charlie visiting the Scamander residence several times throughout his years, and holding regular correspondence, concerning not only work but also their passions and hobbies. Charlie had been especially horrified to find out about the Ironbelly that Gringotts held captive in their vaults, and Newt had taken him (usually without Molly’s permission) to several campaigns and protests about the poor thing.
“Anything for a friend,” chuckled the half-giant, bringing Charlie back to the present, “Anyway, I see ya brought the Peruvian Vipertooth yer were tellin’ me ‘bout last time. Annabella was she?”
“Annabelle. And yes, she agreed to take us all down here. She’s a beauty, isn’t she.”
“Ye not wrong,” said the man, gazing wistfully at the dragon, “Yer always been a whisperer, ain't ye lad?”
“I suppose so. Now, where’s this little one my brother was telling me about?”
Hagrid’s shoulders drooped slightly as Charlie spoke, his face twisting in grief.
“Oh yeah,” he said, “N-Nobert’s this way.”
Swinging the lamp round, the half-giant turned to lead the way up the path, the shorter ones amongst the group having to do double steps every so often to keep up, running and skipping along the path. Or in Kieran’s case, chasing after the girls, causing them to squeal in mock-terror, genuine-terror and general chaos.
All in all, the break in wasn’t particularly sneaky. Charlie sent a silent apology to Ron.
“So,” he said curiously, “Where exactly did you get a dragon then? Ron said you were raising him, so I’m assuming you got an egg from somewhere.”
“Yeah, I did!” exclaimed Hagrid, “Well ye see, I was down in the Leaky Cauldron a while ba’, and this fella ‘pproached me one evenin’. Said he had an egg he wanted to get rid o’, and I offere’ to take ‘im. Beautiful thing. Norwegian Ridgeback, he is. Right beauty.”
Well, that sounded a bit sketchy, but Charlie couldn’t blame the man - he was as much a sucker for a dragon as the half-giant, and couldn’t claim he would’ve acted differently. Though he probably wouldn’t’ve tried to raise him in a wooden hut.
Somehow, despite the ruckus they managed to make (honestly, Charlie wondered whether they would’ve been quieter if he’d asked them to make noise), no one caught them on the way up the path, and soon enough they found themselves outside of Hagrid’s hut.
Through unspoken agreement, Charlie and Tonks were the only ones to follow Hagrid inside the hut itself, the other standing guard (messing around) outside.
It didn’t take long to locate Nobert.
“Oh, he is pretty, isn’t he?” admired Charlie, halfway to drooling over the perfect little reptile, who’d made his nest in an empty cauldron hanging over the fireplace.
Norbert chirped and cawed as he spun round and round, getting visibly excited at the visitors.
Pulling on a pair of oven mitts, Hagrid reached into the cauldron one last time, ducking the little burst of fire the dragon made as he was lifted gently out. The half-giant sniffed, eyes suspiciously wet, before placing the dragonet on the table and turning away.
“Take ‘im quickly,” he said, voice thick.
Charlie hopped up onto a nearby chair to pat the man on the shoulder, “It’ll be alright Hagrid,” he said comfortingly, “Norbert will have a nice life on the reservation with all the other dragons. And you can come and visit him whenever.”
“Really?”
“Of course Hagrid, now, it might be best if you head out for this part. Just to make it easier on Norbert.”
With some convincing, the man finally left, Charlie shutting the door behind him firmly. They didn’t need an escapee today.
A little shriek brought his attention to the table, where Tonks was currently playing a game of ‘avoid getting set on fire by the baby dragon’.
Leaping nimbly back down, Charlie gently moved the Metamorphmagus to the side, leaving him face to face with Norbert. “Hey there bud,” he whispered, “How’d you feel about coming with me? I know a lovely reservation you could live on, with lots of other-”
Tonks barely pulled him away from the jet of flame before it turned him into a ginger crisp.
Norbert screeched at them, arching his back to display the tiny ridges on his back, a position which screamed ‘get back or I’ll stab you’. Charlie was in love.
“Look at you! ” he cooed, practically vibrating, “Such a pretty dragon. Aww yes you are, aren’t you. Come here you little fluff ball.”
He almost missed Tonk’s side comment of “what fluff?” dodging the second flame bolt.
“I thought you said baby dragons were cute and stuff?” hissed Tonks.
“They are!”
Tonks gave him a blank stare, and then shrugged, “Well you have fun with that, I’m going to sit outside.”
“Wait no, don’t open the -”
An excited squeal came from the table, and before Charlie could move, a single bound had taken Norbert clean through the-
“-door.”
“... whoops?”
And then the screaming started.
“AHHHHH”
“OH MY GAWD I’M ON FIRE.”
“CATCH HIM!”
“HE BIT ME!”
“WHERE DID HE GO?”
“KIERAN GRAB HIM!”
“GRAB WHAT, THE AIR?”
“NORBERT COME TO MUMMY!”
“HAGRID, DON’T-”
“Is that a dragon?”
Dead silence.
Every one of them, intruder, groundskeeper and dragon alike, froze as a Scottish voice echoed through the air, Professor McGonagall resplendent in a tartan dressing gown, lighting the night air with her wand.
Norbert squeaked from where he’d been trying to bite Hagrid’s finger off, detaching himself from the half-giant and leaping over to Charlie, who caught him only through reflex, where he then promptly turned himself into a scaly scarf.
He coughed slightly, “Uh, hello Professor. Lovely night for a walk, isn’t it?”
“Mr Weasley, you have a dragon around your neck.”
“Oh, uh, this old thing? Oh he’s - it’s - a scarf. A… Romanian one. From Romania.”
“It just sneezed.”
“He has allergies.”
They stood in silence a moment longer, before the older woman sighed heavily and dropped her wand
“You know, when Mr Malfoy told me Hagrid was raising a dragon in his hut, I was rather hoping he was suffering from an overactive imagination.”
“Professor -”
She raised a hand, “I do not want to know. I do not want to know who these people are. I do not want to know how you got in. I certainly do not want to hear where Rubeus got a dragon from.”
“Then… what do you want to know?” ventured Charlie.
“I would like to know how quickly a group of adolescents are capable of removing dragons from my school, without getting caught. Hypothetically, of course.”
“Well, hypothetically speaking, they could be gone within ten minutes. Quietly.” he fixed a glare on Kieran, who had opened his mouth, “ Very quietly.”
“In that case, I would suggest to those hypothetical intruders, to remove themselves from the grounds along with the hypothetical dragon as quickly as hypothetically possible.”
Charlie could feel the identical looks all the Hogwarts-graduates within the group were giving the woman.
“So, we’re not in trouble?” he double checked.
She gave him a Look™.
“You have learnt many things over the course of your years at Hogwarts, I would’ve hoped plausible deniability would’ve been one of them.”
“R…ight. Okay. Uh, lovely to see you Professor. You too Hagrid. Uh, enjoy your night.”
“Goodnight Mr Weasley. Say hello to your brother for me. And if you could do me a favour, use the front door next time.”
“Bye Professor!” he called back, one hand waving, the other tickling Norbert’s chin.
One by one, they filed back down the path, considerably quieter than they had earlier, until they reached the place they’d left Annabelle, who was snacking on the carcass of a deer.
As Charlie clambered on, Norbert seemed to perk up, racing up and down Annabelle’s spine, apparently fascinated with the first true member of his species he’d encountered. Charlie chuckled as he settled back at the top of Belle’s spine, leaning against her horns and whispering in her ear.
Soon enough, they were moving, Annabelle taking large bounds as she exited the cover of the forest. They had just broken the treeline when Charlie suddenly got a feeling in his gut. Like he’d forgotten some-
“AHHHH.”
A shriek suddenly came from just in front of them, and then shortly just beneath them, as Annabelle took a final leap upwards into the sky, narrowly missing trampling the poor Transfiguration professor as she stood, still draped in tartan.
Charlie winced as the woman stumbled, speechless for perhaps the first and last time in her life.
“Plausible deniability, Professor,” he called down, ducking slightly as he did so to avoid the scathing glare the woman gave them.
Ah well, at least he didn’t have to worry about losing House Points anymore.
As the wind picked up, Annabelle changed her angle, going from a leisurely swoop, to a full throttled ascent into the clouds. Charlie laughed out loud as they hit the fluffy mass, the entire group shrieking in unison as a sudden deluge soaked them to the bone, the deceptive fluffiness hiding the fact it was technically just a clump of cold flying water.
Norbert chirped in distress as well, latching onto the closest body, which happened to be Violet, who held him with delight, cooeing at the dragon as he attempted to climb under her clothes.
They continued through the sky, drying themselves off one by one with spells, the long night finally catching up with them, and leaving a group of tired and finally quiet teenagers.
The night was silent, aside from the powerful beat of each wingstroke, and the occasional chirp from Norbert.
Charlie began to find his eyelids drooping, the warmth of the great body beneath him, the tight grip that Tonks had on his waist, and the rhythmic sound of her snores soothing him, rocking him back and forth.
He was tilting on the brink of sleep when the call came over from the other side of the dragon.
“Hey, uh, Charlie?”
“Whassup Vi?” he asked sleepily.
“I might be wrong… but I don’t think Norbert’s a Norbert.”
He frowned, “What do you mean? What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing’s wrong. It’s just that she’s not a Norbert. She’s a Norberta.”
“Oh.” he said, “Norberta, huh? It suits her. I’ll tell Ron tomorrow. For now, lets get home.”
And they flew on.