Author's Notes: I've never really written any Harry Potter fanfic before, so I decided to have a shot once this idea came into my mind. I always did like Charlie as well as dragons. My friend, nightstarz, wouldn't stop bugging me to start writing this once I told her my idea. Oh yeah, this is written in first person. I'll leave you to guess whose narrating. We'll start now since I'm sure you're tired of hearing me rant.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does. I do own this story, so no STEALING!

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Chapter 1: Little Creatures that I Love

I quickly stuffed the trunk with clothing. Finally I was going to Hogwarts. I've heard so much of it from my older brother, Bill, and from my parents. Of course, hearing is a lot different than actually going there. My clothes were being stubborn (or maybe I just overstuffed it), but either way, it wasn't closing. I growled furiously and jumped on it a few times. It finally closed and I snapped the locks. A grin of triumph formed on my face.

"Good job. Maybe when you graduate, you'll be able to close a trunk without jumping on it like an idiot." A voice behind me had spoken.

I turned around and scowled at my brother, Bill. "Who asked you?"

"Imagine… My little brother is going to Hogwarts." Bill had ignored my comment, a fact that made me frown. It earned a confused look from my brother who asked, "You don't want to go?"

I rolled my eyes. Sometimes my brother could be really clueless. "Of course I want to go, dummy." I grabbed the nearest thing, my pillow, and threw it at him.

He caught it and grinned at me. "I would throw it back, but I know better." He scoffed and paused. He glanced at the pillow and a mischievous look came across his face. "Then again, this is funner."

Next thing I knew, I was pinned to the floor by my brother's larger body. He held me down and shook his head. I struggled under him, but his heavy weight was too much for me. I was lean while Bill had some muscle.

"Lemme go!" I shouted at him, still struggling. He yawned, angering me further. "Get off me." Bill ignored me.

Desperate times count for desperate measures. I turned my head, so I was facing my brother's hand. The one that was clamped tightly around my shoulder for the moment. I leaned towards it and bit down. Hard. I could taste a bitter taste in my mouth from the blood that began dripping from Bill's hand.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" He yelled as he jumped away from me, freeing me from the crushing prison I had been in. Already, Bill was sucking on his wound. I actually felt proud that I had made my brother back off. Though we didn't actually ever fight, Bill and I occasionally got into conflicts. He always came out on top, but not this time. This time, I won.

"You were crushing me." I said in a matter-of-fact voice that I knew Bill would hate.

"Little lycan!" I flinched a bit as my brother called me a werewolf. "You're just like the animals you're always dragging home." He turned away from me and a scowl played across my face. Here we go again.

You see, I'm always bringing home animals, injured ones. I love creatures, but I love the magical ones best. They've always fascinated me and I even have a few books on them. Despite all the reading, I don't know too much about the really magical ones because you can only learn so much from reading. In Hogwarts, I will definitely take some Care of Magical Creatures classes.

"They're always hurt and just need a little care." I said quickly in defense of the various animals I brought home. Last week, I had brought in a ground squirrel that was currently staying in a comfortable box under my bed as he recovered from a blistered paw.

"Yeah, and they always end up in our room." Bill growled. "Just because of this, I'm telling mom about that brown rat you took in."

"He's a ground squirrel! And his name is Chuck!" I shouted at Bill. You would think living in a house with a big family would be hard. Well, it is. And it's even worse since I have to share a room with Bill.

"I don't care. I'm tired of you always having 'pets' that bite me at every available chance."

"That wasn't Chuck's fault. You shouldn't have bugged him." Once again, I sprang to the defense of Chuck.

"Chuck or not, I'm tired of them." Bill stomped out of the room, slamming the door on his way out.

"Grouch." I hissed. I crossed my arms and sat on my bed. Now I was regretting having bit my brother. I looked under my bed and pulled out a box where an aggravated ground squirrel was running around in. I looked at Chuck. His paw was a lot better and I had planned to let him go today since tomorrow I would be heading to Hogwarts.

I sighed. "It's okay, Chuck. Come on, let's go outside." I stood up with a heavy heart. Fighting with your closest brother does that to you. Chuck stopped running around and contended himself with looking out the side of the box.

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It was after dinner. Dinner had been fairly quiet unless you count Percy going on about how Fred and George had put newts in his bed again quiet. My mom didn't say anything about Bill and me, so I was hoping that Bill hadn't told her. Either that or she would pin me in a room all alone with her. That would be a nightmare. Mom can really go on with punishments, but she always means for the better.

I was lying on my stomach on my bed, clutching the pillow I had thrown at Bill earlier. He wasn't in our room and I was soundly afraid. What if he was telling mom now? The question striked fear in me. I listened quietly for any sign of anyone coming up the creaky staircase. We really needed to repair it.

A step creaked and I burrowed into my dark green blankets. They were warm and made me feel safe. Almost as if I was all alone in this world. Then again, being alone wouldn't be so great since I wouldn't be able to play Quidditch with anyone. Another step creaked. My hope was running out. Unless the creaks continued leading to Ron, Fred, and George's room, I was sunk. The creaks stopped and my door opened.

Quickly I started my excuse, "I didn't mean to. Bill tackled me and I wanted to get free. Please don't punish me especially the night before I go to Hogwarts. Please don't."

I heard a laugh and I realized it wasn't my mom. It was Bill. Now I could see his red head poking in through the door. I began sweating immediately. Was my brother going to make me go down to mom?

"Sorry. I didn't mean to. Please, don't let mom punish me. Wait, until… We come back for winter break. Please, I don't want to be in trouble. And I didn't..."

"I'm not telling her." His voice cut me off and I stared in wonder at Bill. He noted the confusion that was present in my face and continued. "I thought about it and I realize that I would've done the same thing."

"Wouldn't you just have pushed me off since you're bigger?" I said with a tilt of my head.

"Well yes, but if something bigger mauled me, I would've bit them too. I didn't tell mom about that squirrel…"

"Chuck."

"About Chuck… He can stay a bit longer, so long as he stops biting." He said, but I shook my head. I was pleased that he had finally realized that Chuck wasn't bad. Unfortunately, it was a bit late for love.

"Chuck's gone. I let him go." I murmured. No matter how many animals I kept, I always let them go in the end. It didn't even matter if I badly wanted them as a pet. My mom probably would go ballistic if she found out I kept a wild animal.

"Oh…" Bill lowered his head. I bet he wanted to say bye to our roommate. The thought made me grin though Bill caught it as a sign that I was playing a joke on him. Typical. "Are you sure he's not under your bed or somewhere?"

"I let him go after I bit you…" My voice was honest and Bill believed me. I wasn't known for lying. In fact, I was a terrible liar, one of the worst.

"Well that's almost a shame." I caught the small note of sadness in Bill's voice and smiled to myself. Even if he was pretending not to have liked the little critter, I knew he would miss him almost as much as me. Hey, he can't miss him anymore than I will. Chuck had been one of my favorites, but I was sure we would find him one day, nibbling on some of mom's cabbage. Silence followed.

"What's Hogwarts like?" I had asked the question a million times by now, okay maybe more like a thousand, but it was rather common in my conversations with older members of the family. It was an excellent question to break awkward silences.

"You're going to have to wait and find out." Bill answered me in the same way he answered me everyday this summer. The answer was very unsatisfying except for the excitement that I would be going to Hogwarts tomorrow.

"Tomorrow…" I said happily.

"Yeah… It seems like you're growing up so fast."

"You're not that old, Bill, so stop acting like my elder. That's more of a… Percy thing." I grinned at the thought of my younger brother. Even if he was younger, he was already becoming strict and almost boring. The only excitement with him was his reactions to the twins' pranks. We both laughed.

"Right. Now let's get some sleep." Bill walked over to his sandy colored blankets and fell down on them. "We're going to need our energy for tomorrow."

"What energy? We're going to be sitting in a train for a few hours." I snorted at the thought of having to run around while on a train.

"Just go to sleep. You'll be a lot better off if you're rested." I rolled my eyes. Bill sure sounded a lot older right now. I remember last year he had been unable to sleep for most of the night. Maybe he should understand that I won't be able to get to sleep for a while either.

"Don't snore." I called to him. His response was a grunt and I laughed before curling up in my own bed. "Night, don't let the bed bugs bite."

Tomorrow was going to be one of the best days of my life. Maybe it'll even be one of my best days ever. Hogwarts had always seemed an out-of-reach place, almost a fantasy castle, but now I would finally see it for myself. No, better than seeing it, I will experience the wonders of learning there. Another nice bonus is I won't have mom punish me though I promised myself I wouldn't get in trouble. Hogwarts, here I come.

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Author's Notes: Don't worry; later chapters will be much more exciting. I just wanted to show how much Charlie loved animals and get a chance at creating him a personality to fit his 11-old self. This was fairly fun to write. Since I have two other stories, I might take a while to update. Now, I gave you this story, so maybe you can give a bit. Go on, don't be shy. Press the little button, send a review. Hugs for all those who read and review!

Twilight Phantom Dragon