Men and Their Dragons

Charlie watched her from afar. It was breakfast time, and Darien was obviously a morning person, unlike the rest of her fellow Dragon Keepers. Her frizy black hair was pulled back into a pony tail, she wore a simple button-up shirt that was tucked into her jeans, along with her brown boots scuffing against the floor everytime she swung her foot back and forth.

She was laughing at the way her co-worker, Antonia, was acting as she repeatedly fell asleep while halfway putting a fork in her mouth. Antonia glared at her with hazy eyes before pushing her plate away and laying her head down. Darien only laughed more.

Violetta appeared at the side of Charlie, her white blonde hair braided messily.

“Stop watching her like a hawk. She’s not a Death Eater, and she’s not a Muggle.”

Now that Charlie thought about it, Charlie hadn’t seen her wear anything but long sleeved shirts since he first saw Darien three months ago. And he hadn’t seen her pick up a wand in that exact same amount of time.

“Well then what is she?” Charlie turned too look at the seer, but she wasn’t there when he looked. Violetta was one of those mysterious women that always liked to sneak up and sneak away. Sighing, Charlie ran a hand over his stubble. It had been awhile since he had shaved. Sighing to himself, Charlie stood from his breakfast and didn’t even glance back to see if it had disappeared or not.

Darien glanced over when she saw a flash of red/orange. She saw Charlie just leaving the dining hall. She said a goodbye to her friend and hurried after the tired looking redhead. Easily, she caught up with his fast strides, leaning her head under his bowed one. He looked as if in thought.

“Knut for your thoughts?” Darien teased, causing Charlie to stop short. She stopped just after he did, her hands in her pockets as she smiled at him. Charlie blinked, looking over at her, his green-blue eyes looking into her dark brown ones.

“Pay up,” he teased to her, holding out his hand palm up. She chuckled, pulling out a bronze knut and holding it up to him.

“Tell me what’s on your mind first.”

Charlie froze for a moment. They had talked and teased since that day in the nursery when he first met her. She’d give him updates on the egg he had brought her. Antonia had told her it would be a male when the egg hatched. Charlie had added the information that it was a Peruvian Vipertooth. Darien had already picked out a name for the still-maturing dragon.

Abel, after her late father.

Other than the small chats here and there whenever they bumped in the halls, Charlie and Darien hadn’t talked together much.

“You obviously aren’t a muggle,” Charlie started. “But I haven’t even seen you touch a wand since we met. And—“

He was cut short after hearing Darien give a full out laugh. He looked down at her. She was clutching her sides, the knut dropped to the ground. Tears started to leak from her closed eyes as she doubled over with laughter. How could she find this funny?

“Oh Charlie, I didn’t know you could be so funny!” Darien continued to laugh, her hands cluthcing at her aching sides. Charlie just stared at her like she were off her rocker. She took a few moments to finish up her laugh, catching her breath as she placed her caramel-colored hands on her denim covered hips. She had a very nice figure, Charlie mumbled in the back of his brain.

“Haven’t you ever heard of a Squib?” Darien tilts her head to one side, her pony tail bouncing along with her head.

Charlie’s red/orange brow rose to his hairline. “No,” his reply was stated simply.

Darien gave another chuckle before stuffing her hands in her pockets again. She went on to explain, “A Squib is a non-magical person with magical parents. My mum and dad were both purebloods, so of course their families did not agree with me being non-magical. My father is Portuguese, my mother fullblood Spanish. We lived in Lisbon until my father died from dragon pox when I was eight.”

Charlie slowly took in the information. Darien continued. “After that, my mother went to go live with her brother, my Uncle Roberto, until she was able to get a job in the Italiano Ministry of Magic. I stayed with my uncle and his wife, an American named Stacy. I was never given my acceptance letter to any magical school, for I showed no signs of having magical power. I’m still able to see all things magical, I just don’t have that gene where I can use magic.”

A Squib. That’s what Darien Towers was. She was half muggle, half magical – not like a halfblood – like a mixture of someone who couldn’t use magic, but could see all things magical. It made perfect sense now. “Oh,” Charlie simply said. Violetta then decided to show up again, her blonde hair still in a messy braid.

“Tomas would like to see you both in his office. You have an assignment together,” Violetta told the pair, turning back around and disappearing yet again. Darien continued to smile, holding out her arm for the silent man.

“Well then, shall we go, Mr. Weasley?” Charlie was pulled from his thoughts by her words. Giving a chuckle he took her elbow and they walked together to Tomas’s office, as Violetta had said he needed them. On the walk, Charlie curiously asked questions about what it was like for Darien to not be able to use magic, yet still be able to see Dragons, and the Knight Bus, and not being able to travel like Apparatition. Darien answered all of his questions with no problem.

After arrving to Tomas’s office, the big man that ran the whole reserve, he looked up with a moment of surprise before shaking his head and muttering, “Violetta.”

Charlie and Darien walked up to his desk, Tomas handing them both a file that apparently had the same information in it.

“Just a simple youngster that’s causing some mayhem in Ukraine. No sightings of a mother, just the baby and a few burnt crops and missing cattle. Shouldn’t be too hard.” Darien grinned happily. It was just a baby Ukrainian Ironbelly. The half-Portuguese/half-Spanish native smiled to herself, Ironbellies had always been the prettiest dragon to her – with their shiny metallic silver scales and crimson red eyes.

“We’ll get right on it, sir,” Charlie said formally after skimming through the file. “We’ll just quickly pack and—“

“No need for the over night stay! It’s just a quick round-up. Shouldn’t take you more than a few hours.” Charlie blinked at Tomas’s interruption, but nodded at his boss.

The redhead gave a curt nod. “Of course sir.”

--

“So, Charlie, what made you want to become a Dragon Keeper?” Darien asked her companion as the two walked the outer streets of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, and the last place the baby dragon had been seen. Charlie took a few moments to gather the memories that would make his story.

“Well, when I was younger, I’d always bring stray animals home. Mum went off her rocker each time and made me get rid of them. But after a while of that happening, I learned to sneak them up into the attic, where my brother Bill and I slept after Percy and the twins were born. It’d take mum a few weeks before she noticed I was sneaking food.” Darien laughed at that, imagning a little Charlie Weasley sneaking cats and dogs and birds under his jacket up the many flights of stairs to the attic and hiding his new pets there. Charlie smiled along with her.

“Then, my last summer just after sixth year, I got an invitation to the Hebrides for a few weeks. Mum was reluctant to even consider me going,” Charlie laughed at the memory of his mother freaking out when he came home with bandaged up arms and legs. And half his left ear bitten off. “That summer was amazing. I was scared shitless, but loved every second of it. I was already sending in applications to other reserves half way through my seventh year at Hogwarts. And well, after I packed and had a week to say goodbye to my family, I was off to Romania and that’s where I’ve been for the past... what? Seven years sometime this month.”

Darien smiled at him, enjoying the story of how Charlie Weasley became the Dragon Keeper he was today. “You going to tell me what got you in dragons, Miss Towers?” Charlie teased her, the two given a few looks by an elderly couple that they passed. They obviously recognized the word ‘dragon’, even though the pair were talking in English.

Darien gave a thoughtful look, tapping her chin momentarily before giving the man a mischievious smirk. “No, I don’t think I will.” Darien quickened her steps. Charlie stopped short, staring at her back with his jaw agape She had just shown a witty side of herself that he hadn’t even guessed was there.

Charlie jogged to catch up with the young Dragon Nurse, closing the short distance between the two. When he turned the corner she just did, he had to grab onto the wall beside them to keep from tripping over her crouched form. He glanced down at what she was observing. Claw and scorch marks littered the sidewalk and brick wall that Charlie was holding onto. Darien slowly stood up, her dark brown eyes following the marks to another corner, leading into an alleyway. The scorch marks were fresh.

The two stepped lightly over the concrete, and looked through the entrance of the alleyway. There was a far off sound that reached Charlie’s ears. He had known for baby dragons to whine when they had a low body temperature, and Charlie was shivering at the autumn winds that blew through the city of Kiev. Darien took a step forward, squinting her eyes into the dim light trying to look for the metallic silver color of the baby dragon’s scales. Just a few feet from her, buried under a very bags of garbage, Darien saw a small stream of blue and orange flames.

A small smile over came Darien’s face as she knelt to the ground, being careful as she moved the plastic bags from around the Ukrainian Ironbelly. The small gray dragon was curled up, blowing small steady streams of fire from his nostrils trying to warm his body.

“Charlie, hand me your jacket,” Darien said quickly, taking the small dragon in her arms and wrapping him in the leather jacket that Charlie handed her. The baby’s stream of flames slowed into just a few puffs of smoke as the baby’s body temperature returned to normal while in Darien’s arms. The two stood there for a moment, looking down at the baby dragon. The same thing was on their mind.

“He isn’t big enough to cause all the problems that were reported,” Charlie said. Darien nodded and walked back out into the light of mid-day in Kiev, Ukraine. The two dragonologists were to head out ot the country and catch a portkey where no muggle could see anything. It was hidden in the roots of a tree stump with a claw mark on the rings of the tree.

Darien and Charlie hurried out of the city, making sure the dragon wasn’t seen by any muggle (even though they both knew muggles couldn’t see Dragons. They just wanted to make sure there were no questions). The trio was half way to the portkey, before they found the reason why so many sightings had been reported.

Here came the daddy dragon.

“Pelo amor de todas as coisas mágicas...” Darien breathed out in Portuguese, clutching the baby dragon closer to her chest. The magnificent beast stood over twenty feet tall, and was the length of an American schoolbus. Darien slowly backed away, the whines of the baby dragon starting again as the father’s crimson eyes glared at the pair, mostly Darien for she was holding his son.

“Charlie, what do we do?”

Charlie didn’t know what to do. The dragon was blocking their way to the portkey, and they were told to bring the baby dragon back no matter what. (Well they weren’t told that, but it was one of the many unspoken rules.)

“I... I don’t know.” Charlie swallowed the knot in his throat, gripping his wand tightly in his right hand. He knew he couldn’t stun the fully matured dragon. It took at least of dozen of them to calm down a mother dragon back at the reserve, let alone a very angry father who more than likely didn’t like the thought of his son being taken away by a couple of humans.

...but that didn’t mean he couldn’t distract the dragon in just enough time to let Darien get by and get to the portkey.

Slowly, Charlie pocketed his wand and began to unbuckle his belt. Darien gave him an unbelieveable look, wondering what was going on in the male’s mind.

“Charlie, this is not the time to try and seduce a daddy dragon!” Darien hissed, stepping closer to the redhead. Charlie held up his hand, stopping her from coming closer.

“Dragons like shiny things. It’s in their blood to protect treasure,” Charlie finally informed her. “I’ve done this before, worked like a charm.” Pun intended.

Darien just simply stared as Charlie swung his belt back and forth, the bronze buckle shining whenever the sun hit it. The daddy dragon’s eyes followed it, its posture shifting as if he were a cat ready to pounce on a toy mouse. Darien slowly began to move to the side of the dragon, hushing the baby in her arms as best she could. She could see the tree stump just ten yeards away. A glistening gift-wrapped box under the roots. (Wow, really? A christmas present as a portkey?)

The dragon’s tail slithered back and forth, Darien slowly moved around it. Charlie moved back, gripping his pants in one hand, trying to keep them up, while swinging the belt back and forth.

Darien was able to get behind the dragon, and began to sprint to the portkey. But then she tripped.

Stupid roots.

The baby dragon went flying out of her arms, hitting the ground a few feet away causing him to cry and whine as he hit the ground, hard. The father was distracted by the belt buckle just enough to turn around, smoke fuming from his nostrils as he stocked over toward Darien while she hurried to grab the baby and hush him making sure nothing was broken. Charlie cursed their luck, and Apparate to stand in front of Darien, wand at the ready.

“When I say so, run to the portkey.” Darien nodded, swallowing a knot in her throat. The dragon grew closer, its chest puffing up as it grew ready to burn the two into a crisp.

Closer...

Closer...

Closer...

“NOW!”

Darien took off running, taking in deep breaths every few steps she took, clutching the baby dragon in her arms. Charlie shot illusion charm after illusion charm while stepping back, trying to stop the dragon from getting any closer. It wasn’t working that well. The redhead turned his head to see Darien just a few feet away from the tree stump. He took one last look at the dragon before...
POP.

Darien practically jumped out of her skin as she saw Charlie appear before the stump. She skid to a halt, grapping the portkey just as Charlie did. The world spun, and the large male dragon disappeared. Within a few seconds, Charlie and Darien were spinning over the reserve, just outside the main office. When Darien dropped the the ground, Charlie helped her up immediately, brushing the dirt off before the two took off in a run to the nursery to get the baby warmed and fed. That’s why he seemed so small.

The father may have been stubborn (like most men) but he couldn’t care for the child like the mother had to.

At the end of the day, Darien and Charlie sat in the dining hall grinning at each other like idiots, knowing that today had just been the start of something very big.