Hi all, TRPD here and i'm trying my hand at a story i started a while ago and it really sucked. It's still the general concept, but altered some and hopefully going to be a really good story. I always felt kinda sorry for Charlie because he's hardly ever mentioned and he's so quiet when he is and i find him fascinating. It's been a while since i did any Harry Potter fanfic, and I started reading one of the books a few days ago and I'm feeling some creative juices flowing....

Summary: Charlie Weasley has always been in the shadows of his brothers and on the outside of his family. It's no wonder he lives and works ten months out of the year in a remote Romanian Dragon preserve. His life gets turned upside down when he meets Althea, a Healer who doesn't always play by the rules and to his suprise will change the way he sees both himself and his family. As the months progress toward Bill's wedding, tragedy strikes Charlie's family and with Allie's help, Charlie begins understand exactly what family is capable of.

-It's sort of a corny summary but, meh...I'm burned out from school.

Disclaimer: i own nothing but my recognizable OCs

Chapter 1: Semi-charmed kinda life

"I want something else, to get me through this
Semi-charmed kinda life, baby, baby
I want something else, I'm not listening when you say good bye…"~ Third Eye Blind

"For fuck's sake!" a rather angry female voice hissed into the darkness, a darkness that Charlie Weasley couldn't remember falling into. Quickly cataloging his day so far, he could remember waking up that morning, having coffee, teaching a class on baby dragons. And now, as he struggled to open his eyes, bright afternoon light crashed straight into his face, making it feel as though it had punched him. And then something was burning his hand. Someone or something was sticking a red hot poker into his hand, right beneath his thumb.

"Hold still!" There was the angry snap. But it was too bright and Charlie couldn't find the a face to go with the voice.

"What's going on?! Who are you?!" Charlie demanded, trying to sit up. His vision began to sharpen and he realized that he was in the hospital wing of Dragon Heart Preserve, where he worked.

"Stop moving! Jesus. H. Christ!" A small person was sitting next to him on the bed and took his right hand into two much smaller ones. Charlie blinked once, twice and saw it was a woman dressed in robes of lavender, a Healer.

She glanced over her shoulder to see that he was awake now and she groaned.

"Who are you?!" Charlie demanded again. "How did I get in here?"

"You don't remember?" Her voice softened just a little and Charlie recognized an American accent. "Really?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you, would I?" Charlie muttered as he tried to sit up, but the Healer refused to let him.

"I said 'sit still'. You're going to screw up your hand even more," her voice was just a soft but it had an edge to it. "You got bit by a dracling, a small one. You fainted," she explained as she reached up for a vial on one of the high shelves. "And they brought you to me."

"I think I prefer the term 'passed out', personally," Charlie mumbled as her fingers slipped on the same vial twice. She was tiny, he realized, only five foot three at the most, maybe five four. And while he wasn't a giant like Percy or Bill, could have reached it no problem. "Do you want me to get it?" He asked, feeling just a little sympathetic despite her rather hostile bedside manner

At the last minute, she jumped and grabbed the vial and twisted around, making her mahogany curls brush across her face. "I told you to stay still," she growled and stalked back over to him. She grabbed a sharp looking object and a stack of gauze pads. "If you don't, how am I going to get that fang out of your hand?" She swept her hair up into a messy bun and out of her eyes.

"Fang?" he looked down and saw a tiny sliver of white in one of the swollen puncture wounds. "It must have been losing its first set, that's why it was so bad…."

"No shit, Sherlock," She perched herself on the bed and took his hand in her's again. For such a forceful and angry voice, her touch was incredibly gentle. "I numbed your hand as was going to pull it out when you were asleep. But you woke up and I have to pull it out anyway. So hold very still and it won't hurt so bad."

Charlie watched, and occasionally winced, which earned him nasty looks from her, as she dug the tiny fang out of his hand.

"Do you have a name?" he asked.

She smirked. "Is this how you get all your girls, Romeo?"

"I was just being polite," Charlie insisted. "But don't tell me if you don't want to."

She glanced over at him. "…It's Althea-Allie."

"Charlie."

"I liked 'Romeo' better," she pressed a gauze pad to the heel of his hand and pressed hard to stop the blood that was now oozing out of it.

He wasn't really sure how to respond to this. 'Romeo' could very well apply to Bill, or the twins, but never to him. He was too quiet, too much in the background to be considered a 'Romeo'. "So what's wrong with my name?"
"Nothing wrong with it," Allie replied as she wrapped his hand. "I just like 'Romeo' better."

"I see," he could feel his eyelids getting a little heavier. He laid back and rested, but only for a moment, he promised himself.

"Keep your hand above your heart," Allie instructed and placed his hand there. "It'll help with the throbbing."

He nodded and then promptly fell asleep.

Someone was shouting at him. Granted it was muffled shouting, but shouting nonetheless.

Charlie cracked one eye open and took in the sight of the room. Nothing was out of place; the half empty coffee cup was still there, the letters from his family were still strewn across the desk, the closet was spilling over with could-be dirty clothes.

But underneath the normalcy, his hand ached. Groaning, he rolled over to see it still bandaged up. Vaguely, he remembered how it gotten like that, but the details were still pretty fuzzy.

"Weasley, open up the damn door or I'll break it down! I swear, I will!"

Muttering to himself, Charlie got up and lumbered to the door, only to find Sean Faris there. "What are you yelling for?!"

"Oh, I don't know-you only fainted and we thought you'd died right there in front of the noobs!" Faris spat, letting his American accent as well as his long blonde hair fly. "And, then I go to see if you're okay and you've checked yourself out of the hospital wing and been asleep for three straight hours!"

"Okay, okay…" Charlie backed up, wincing as a twinge of pain shot down his hand. "You don't have to shout, you know…" He returned to the unmade bed and sat down. "What happened anyway?"

"Well, you got bit by a three week old dracling, you're eyes rolled up into the back of your head the healer shoo'd us out."

"Was she really short? Kinda mean?"Charlie could all of a sudden remember a tiny brown haired woman dressed in lavender robes.

"Tiny for sure," Faris shook his blond head. "And mean! Like a dragon wearing a pretty girl's face."

"She was pretty?"

"Dude, you are so out of it," Faris groaned.

"Yeah, thanks a lot."

"So, are you coming out to the pub tonight?"
Charlie looked up at him. "You woke me up, after I nearly got killed by a baby dragon, my hand," he gestured to his still swollen hand. "looks like it's about to fall off, my head feels like its going to explode and you want to know if I'm going to the pub?"

Faris grinned. "Six on the dot. Hera and I'll be waiting.

Charlie waved him off. "Just close the door on your way out." Charlie began to lay back down when Faris called: "Dude…"

Charlie sat back up a little. "Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're okay," He looked awkwardly at the door frame.

"Get out of here, you stupid pouf!" Charlie chucked a balled up shirt as Faris left with a laugh. Charlie rolled his eyes and then flexed his fingers, wincing at the tiny spasms of pain it brought. He needed something to take his mind off the ache and like a miracle, Errol flew through the window.

Charlie grabbed the incoming post just as Errol was about to hit the floor. The aging owl shook himself and settled on Charlie's good arm, gave a few little squawks and was quiet.

"Getting old, huh?" Charlie asked the bird as he removed the letter tied to Errol's leg. "Maybe Mum should retire you soon."

Errol gazed gravely at Charlie as if to say: "Are you talking to me?" He stretched out and nearly took off Charlie's index finger.

"Fine, never mind. Forget I gave my opinion at all." He placed the bird on the open window sill and sank down on his bed to read the letter.

As if by clockwork, Molly Weasley had sent him a letter with all the news from home including updates on his brothers and sister and of course as much gossip that she could fit in.

"Charlie, (it read),

I hope this letter finds you well. Everyone here is fine. You're not to worry about us. I am so sorry you couldn't get away for Christmas. Ron, Ginny and Harry were all home for Christmas, Lupin and Tonks even stopped by. I saved the best surprise for last; Percy stopped by too, with the Minister of Magic in tow. I do believe he and your father are on the mend. Ginny's got O. coming up soon and Ron, well, Ron is Ron. The twins' shop is going quite well but sometimes I worry about them going too far. Bill is busy at the bank with Fleur and wedding plans. By the way, let me know when you'll be home for the summer and let me know who you're brining to the wedding.

Lots of love,

Mum."

The wedding….how could he forget? He folded up the letter and sank back on the bed. He lay back down; resting his bandaged hand across his chest, hoping the throbbing would stop.

Another thing to worry about. A date for his older brother's wedding. Sure, yeah, no problem. He could take Hera, but then all of his brothers would know he couldn't get a real date. And then the teasing would never ever stop. He'd be called out on it at every other family gathering: Christmas, Easter, other weddings…this one was only the start.

But who was he kidding? Really? He was no good with social niceties, thus partially the reason why he was a dragon keeper. He didn't have to worry about what people did or thought in this line of work. He was the guy you called when you had a real dragon problem, or when a few dragons were threatening to expose themselves to the outside world. For some reason that he couldn't understand, Charlie had always related so much easier to animals, magical or not, than he did to other people.

Charlie wasn't a loner; he had always had a few close friends but he wasn't like his older or younger brothers who were always the life of the party Where Bill and the twins' natural charm kept the girls flocking after them, Charlie always watched and scratched his head in confusion as they did so. He'd had a few girlfriends of his own, but not the way his bothers had. And all of those relationships had ended the same; it was the distance thing. It was always; "I want someone I can see every day, someone who's going to be here. It's not me, it's you" which was always lovely to hear. And so here he was day after day, living the dream for most guys; no girlfriend, not married, a steady job, a decent living, and no one to tell him what to do. And somehow, something was missing.

And, like a charm, his head was now full of such musings, soon Charlie was fast asleep.

The Black Dragon Pub was situated on the edge of the Preserve, a warm welcome from the chilly spring Romanian. Golden buttery light spilled from its windows as Charlie trudged through the chill and opened the door to loud off key singing and the familiarity that Charlie had found here after just a few years.

As Charlie removed his jacket and hung it up, he could hear the worried whispers from other pub-goers. Even here, in a remote part of Romania, the threat of he-who-must-not-be-named was still bubbling under everyone's consciousness.

"…right about this time last year…"

"Dementors getting worse and worse all the time…."

"The Minister….nothing's working…."

"Look at the facts….same things that happened last time."

After working here for nearly five years, Charlie greeted the other regulars with a wave and a quick hello. Just a year ago, he'd been trying to convince as many people as possible that You-Know-Who had returned. Now, the threat was everywhere. People were beginning to fear the worst. Charlie shook his head, as if to clear all of these thoughts out of his head, the constant worry for his family who were situated in the worst war zone was a constant ache in the back of his mind and it didn't help to dwell on it.

So, he looked up to see Faris and Hera waiting for him at the bar, as they had for the past few years.

The pair of them couldn't be more different. Where Faris was tall, blonde and blue eyed, Hera was short, coco skinned and dark eyed. They were complete opposites in almost every way too. Faris was American and Hera was British, she'd actually gone to school with Charlie and they'd known each other for nearly ten years now. Faris was somewhat of a chauvinistic prick and Hera was often short-tempered and argumentative. Sometimes just for the hell of a fight.

As Charlie sat down between the two of them, Hera turned around, her long braids flying over her shoulder. "Look who finally made it. Still got your hand, then? The way Faris tells it, you nearly lost it." Hera smiled.

"Faris like to exaggerate," Charlie punched Faris in the arm with his good hand.

Hera shrugged. "True," she turned and punched Faris too.

"What?!" Faris cried, rubbing his arm where Hera had landed a punch. "So, sue me if I'm a good story teller. Jeez, the jealousy of some people…"

"You know, Faris," Hera hissed. "Most people you think are 'jealous' are really just plain annoyed."

"Whatever, babe-" Faris waved her off and then looked up as the door opened; in walked both a gust of chilly wind and a group of women giggling and red faced from the cold. "Oh, hello…"

"Down boy!" Charlie chuckled.

"Faris, leave those poor girls alone," Hera instructed at the same time. "They don't know any better; you'll get them drunk, take them home, and you won't remember their names in the morning."

"And what is wrong with that?"

"It's the quickest way to unexpected fatherhood, for one." Hera growled.

"You're just-"

"Jealous?" Charlie and Hera chorused.

"Whatever. You're loss is my gain." He tilted back the last bit of his drink and took off toward the mass of women.

"One day," Hera sighed. "It's going to come back and bite that boy in the ass. Karma's a bitch, you know." The way it came out, Hera's sentiment was almost….wistful….

Charlie gaped at her. "Hera, don't tell me that you-"

"I never said anything like that!" Hera retorted but her dark face held a telltale flush.

"Come on, he's….Faris!" Charlie gestured to him flirting with three girls at once.

"So?!" Hera shot back. "You can't control who you're attracted to."

"He's a complete knob!"

"But he's one of your best friends."

"Yes, I know! But he's a knob!"

Hera shook her head. "You guys always complain about us women being too complicated…" she drank the last bit of her beer and then smiled. "Hey, Weasley!"

"Huh?"

"You've got an admirer…"

"Huh?" Again, it was Charlie confused reply.

Hera hid her smile behind her hand. "Curly haired brunette. Really small, red shirt." She murmured. "Oh, she's coming over here."

"What do I say?" Charlie asked.

Hera rolled her eyes. "How about 'hi'? That tends to work." Then she turned slightly away and got the bartender's attention for another drink.

"How's your hand?" A familiar voice asked. Charlie turned to his right and there was the petite Healer who'd helped him. "Still swollen?"

Faris was right; she was pretty. Very pretty. She was short with long mahogany brown curls that brushed against high olive cheekbones. Her eyes were greenish hazel and seemed to catch every little movement he made, like a cat's. She tipped her head to one side, waiting for his answer, her full bottom lip pursed in thought.

"A little…what-what was your name again?" Charlie was reaching for something, anything. Goddamn she was pretty and all Charlie could think about was that she had pulled a tiny dragon fang out of his hand. Of all the rotten luck. He would have a fighting chance if he at least done something to make her notice him instead in a more positive way; instead of being deposited in her care like a little kid.

"Althea. But you can call me Allie, everyone does. And you're Charlie?"

He nodded.

"I still like 'Romeo' better. Well, it's nice to officially meet you, either way."

"You, too." Out of the corner of his eye, Charlie saw Hera get up and as she passed, she shoved him hard and hissed. "Say something else, moron!" And walked away.

"Friend of yours?" Allie asked, sitting in Faris' vacated seat.

"Yeah. That's Hera."

"Is he a friend of yours too?" She pointed to Fairs doing shots with a blonde woman.

Charlie smiled. "Unfortunately yes, that's Faris. If I were you, I'd stay far away from him."

Her eyes narrowed by a tiny fraction. "Really? Is he that bad?" There was something in her voice that caught his attention.

"….Yeah, well, I've known him forever…" Charlie put out cautiously.

"So," She glanced up at him, a phantom smile playing about her lips. "You run with a dangerous crowd then?"

That made him laugh. "Faris isn't so much dangerous as he is obnoxious and they seem to like it."

She watched Faris now focusing on one girl, a slim blonde who seemed a little tipsy. A quick smile appeared on Allie's face. "So what he's doing isn't the same as what you're doing to me?" Allie challenged.

"And what exactly am I doing?" Charlie wanted to know; all the while in his head was wondering why in the world this girl was giving him the time of day.

"Chatting me up, trying to make me fall for you." There was that challenge again that Charlie had now picked up on.

"If you'll notice. I'm not buying or making you take shots," Charlie countered. "You're here of your own accord." Somehow this had turned into….something. This banter back and forth. It was easy to challenge Allie, because she'd always rise to it. She always had a counter, a clever one too.

"Sure about that?"

"Positive."

"Allikins!!!!" a drunken voice sing-songed and then the blond they'd seen Faris flirting with earlier stumbled into Allie's lap. "Allikins!! Guess what!"

"You're smashed?" Allie retorted, moving blonde pieces of hair out of the girl's face.

The girl gave a very loud giggle that ended in a snort and then nodded sheepishly. "But…sssshhhh….I don't want anyone else to know!"

"Oh, honey," Allie sighed. "Everyone knows."

The blonde's eyes focused for a second on Charlie then she glanced back at Allie. "Allikins are you on a date?"

"No, this is Charlie," Allie rolled her eyes. "Charlie, this is Svelta. She's a junior Healer. Mine actually."

"Nice to meet you, Svelta," Charlie held out a hand to steady the swaying girl.

"How much have you had to drink, hon?" Allie asked her.

Svelta counted on both hands. "Seven shots."

"God…." Allie shook her head. "She just turned eighteen and she doesn't know how to handle her liquor yet," She explained to Charlie.

"I'm gonna go with Sean, okay?!" Svelta pointed to Faris.

"Oh, no, no, no," Allie insisted. "I'm taking you back to the Healer station and you're going to sleep it off."

"But, I like Sean. He's cute!" the girl giggled and waved to Faris who came right over.

"Something wrong?" Faris asked, looking from Svelta to Charlie to Allie.

"Yeah, she's smashed and she's coming home with me." Allie growled as she put her hand instinctively on Svelta's shoulder.

"She made it pretty clear that she wants to come home with me," Faris countered and smiled as charmingly as he could.

"Faris," Charlie warned. "Let it go, okay?"

"I got this," Allie insisted, glaring now at Charlie. She whirled around to Faris. "If I were you, I'd better move my ass out of the way, before I curse it out of the way," She brandished her wand and poked Faris in the chest.

"Faris, I'd do what she said," Charlie stood up and pulled Faris out of the way slightly. Something about her demeanor made Charlie take notice. That and red sparks were slowly leaking out of her wand.

Faris gave one last glare and then let them pass. As soon as Allie and Svelta were out the door (without the backward glance that Charlie had been hoping for), he reached over and took a swipe at Faris' back: "You stupid twat!"

"What?" And Faris was of course oblivious.

So, what did you think????

This is my second crack at this story and I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you liked it, I'm sorry you're going to have wait a few weeks for the next chapter, finals are consuming all of my time and i have to learn a semester's worth of french in about a week.

-Remember: constructive critism is always welcome and adored, flames are not tolerated at all. they are mean and nasty and have no place on this site.

some things to think about

-i had to make some stuff up becase JK never specifies where Charlie works, just that its in Romania.

-baby dragons are venemous if you remember HP&SS (or PS if you're in the UK)

-pouf- gay

-Knob=dick, stupid, moron

-twat=idiot, stupid- for those of you who are not familar with british slang. They're probably be more and I'll be sure to point it out.

-now press that little purple button and make me the happiest starving college student in the world!!!!