Written for round 5 of the Quidditch League Competition (Pre-Hogwarts, Charlie Weasley)

Written for the Prompt Relay Challenge (Pig)

Dragon Dreams

Biting his lip, eight-year-old Charlie Weasley tipped 4 knuts and 3 sickles onto his bed. That wasn't nearly enough, he realised. He needed a lot more than that before he could ask his mum and dad to take him to Diagon Alley.

"Not fair," he sighed as he ran to his bedroom door. Poking his head out, he bellowed, "MUM!"

His mum appeared in a flash, anger expressed on her face. "Charlie!" she hissed, closing the door to his bedroom, "I just got Ron to sleep."

"Sorry," Charlie mumbled, noncommittally, before pointing to the smashed piggy bank on his bed.

"Oh, Charlie, what have you done?" his mother sighed, noting the broken shards.

"I wanted to see if I had enough to buy a dragon," Charlie stated plainly. "But I don't. Can you fix it?"

"Charlie…." His mother looked at him, wanting to say more, but eventually settled for shaking her head and taking out her wand. "Reparo," she muttered.

Charlie watched on with glee as the little pig he kept his money in went back to being one piece – the knuts and sickles inside. Not even thanking his mother for fixing it, he picked it up and sat it on the only shelf in his bedroom.

"How much do you have, dear?" his mother asked after a moment.

"Not enough to buy a dragon yet," Charlie answered brightly. "But I will one day. I just need to keep saving. Mum… can I do more chores around the house to get some more?" To acquire the money in which he already had, he had taken to washing the dishes by hand, and making the beds in the house. His parents had offered him one knut per chore, which he had then converted to sickles once he had enough.

Charlie was too young to notice the grimace his mother gave before she nodded. "Of course, dear," she said. "You can start tomorrow." She left the room, waiting to be out of earshot of her son before she sighed. They were running out of knuts to give their children, but she couldn't bear to tell them so. Especially Charlie. He had a dream – albeit one that would never happen – but she could not bear to crush that dream for now. They'd just have to make it work.

…

"Mum?"

Molly had just made herself comfortable in the armchair when Charlie appeared, bleary-eyed and in his pyjamas. She had put the children to bed over an hour ago.

"Charlie!" she exclaimed, setting her knitting aside. "What are you doing up?"

Charlie rubbed his eyes, resisting a yawn as he came to sit on the second armchair in the living room. "I can't sleep," he said.

Molly set her knitting aside, taking in her son. "Why is that, dear?" she asked.

"I kept dreaming about the dragons," Charlie answered.

"You had a nightmare?"

Charlie shook his head. "No, I had a dream I was riding them. It was really fun. But I woke up wanting to ride them, and now I can't get back to sleep."

Molly couldn't help but smile. "Oh, Charlie," she sighed. "Come here". She beckoned for him to sit on her knee, which he did. "Have you saved enough for your dragon yet?" she asked him.

"Not quite yet," Charlie said. "But almost."

Molly nodded. "Well," she began, "the garden needs degnoming. If you work with your father tomorrow, would you like a sickle?"

Charlie's eyes widened at the suggestion. He nodded with enthusiasm, jumping off her knee.

Molly smiled. "Now go back to bed, dear. You need to be rested to get rid of those gnomes."

With another nod, Charlie hurried back up the stairs and when Molly checked on him an hour later, he was sound asleep.

…

Nothing could take away the wide grin belonging to the red-haired, eight-year-old boy who walked beside his mother through Diagon Alley. Clutched closely to his chest was a pouch that contained exactly twenty-three knuts and five sickles.

To Charlie, that was a lot.

Molly couldn't hide the smile that spread across her face as she watched as her son all but skipped down the alley. He had talked of nothing else apart from getting the dragon he had been saving for. When he had come to her, declaring he finally had enough and asking to go to Diagon Alley, she had agreed instantly. Although his fascination with the dangerous magical creatures did frighten her slightly, he was happy, and that counted for everything.

"So, dear, where do you think you'll find a dragon?" she asked.

For the first time since arriving via the Leaky Cauldron, Charlie stopped. His eyes gazed the shops as he tried to think.

Molly chuckled. "I have an idea," she said, before beckoning for him to follow. Charlie ran to keep up with her.

They had just reached the signpost that led to Knockturn Alley before Molly made a turn into a side alley that was lined with three rather busy coffee shops. Past all them, though, was another shop, and outside sat a rather large, stuffed dragon.

Charlie stopped, eying the toy with a mix of uncertainty and yearning.

"It says it is four sickles and six knuts… just for today," Molly explained. "You'll have some to spare."

Charlie seemed lost for words as he moved ever closer to the toy. None of his brothers had any toy as big as that one; especially not a dragon.

"Come on," Molly said, offering her hand to the boy in awe, "Let's go inside and see if they have different colours."

Charlie accepted her offer and stepped joyfully into the shop. He was getting a dragon!

I'm happy with this one! I hope you all enjoyed it! Please leave a review if you read it to let me know your thoughts. Much appreciated!