Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once. Unfortunately, I don't own any part of the Harry Potter franchise.
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Hermione Granger had expected the butterflies in her stomach to settle down but as she stood in an unfamiliar place, she felt anything but settled. The last time she felt this uneasy was nine years ago, when she presented her 8th year capstone project for Minister Shacklebolt and the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
After the war, Hogwarts decided that the returning 8th year students needed to create a yearlong project, in addition to studying for their N.E.W.T.S., with the promise of the top three students having a captive audience with ministry members. The theme echoed the ministry's newer, forward thinking approach, "Rebirth, Unity, and Progress." Predictably, competition spurs innovation. It surprised no one when Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, and Neville Longbottom were picked and had their projects realized. The experiment of adding a capstone to the final year's coursework was so successful that the 6th years came together and petitioned for it to be an optional course for their 7th year.
Reflecting on her capstone only made her stomach lurch in a most unpleasant way. Hermione pressed her thumb on a pressure point on her wrist to reduce the nausea and started mentally reciting dates of major Hogwarts renovations.
It was her impulsive Gryffindor traits that convinced her arriving nearly a month early was a good idea. However, for some unexplained reason, her Gryffindor courage slowly drained away as she waited in the lobby. Hermione had been expecting dirt and canvas tents, not beautiful buildings with a combination of exposed brick and white plastered walls. A small house elf outfitted in a brightly embroidered dress squeaked as she rushed to find Charlie Weasley.
It's just Charlie. You've known him since you were a teenager. She admonished herself. Yes, but Charlie Weasley was never your boss before. Should I call him 'sir'?
"You're here," Charlie said interrupting her thoughts with a sweeping hug, "I didn't believe it but here you are!"
"I'm sorry, I couldn't wait. I was supposed to be on holiday but –"
"You got bored?" Charlie grinned.
"Something like that," Hermione smiled. The truth was, she knew that if she didn't go to Romania soon, she'd talk herself out of the position and remain in London. "I hope you don't mind? I can shadow my predecessor or familiarize myself with the sanctuary between now and my start date, you don't need to pay me or anything…"
"Nonsense! When I said that we were desperate for a lead healer, I meant it. Botha left a few weeks ago to Drakensberg and we've been relying on the physio, your assistant, and the interns. Why don't I show you around Errakis?"
Charlie spent the next hour playing tour guide and introducing her to people around the compound. It amused Hermione that he kept referring to it as a compound when the infrastructure was nearly as developed as Hogsmeade Village. Unlike the Ministry of Magic or Hogwarts, the sanctuary was built one building at a time so the facilities were spread out. Because of this, it had organically grown with some shops, a dining hall, and even a town square equipped with a fountain.
Every time a house elf spotted the pair, their eyes went wide and they scurried away. So far she had counted at least a dozen elves respond similarly and it slightly concerned her. Hermione made a mental note to ask Charlie about their treatment as Romania had different laws than England. She may not be running SPEW but her interests in elvish welfare remained.
"During the work week, lunch is served in the dining hall but it's mostly used for other purposes on the weekends and evenings. If you're not up for cooking, we've got two restaurants, a café, and a pub. Over there has the best curry I've had outside of London. You'll find that Errakis is full of gems."
"Has it always been called Errakis?"
"Only recently. The Romanian Dragon Sanctuary was a bit of a mouthful so when I took over, my partner suggested christening it Errakis. I like to think that having a name makes it feel homey."
"Partner? I thought that you were the director," Hermione looked at Charlie surprised to hear about a partner.
"Director in title, really. We're two sides of the same coin and I'd trust him with my life. I really couldn't run this place without him," Charlie mused.
"Sounds like he's your better half," Hermione joked, "I can't wait to meet him."
"I'll have to talk to him first, he didn't know that you were coming."
She grinned at the comment, "No one knew I was coming, Charlie. I'm quite a few weeks early. Honestly, I'm feeling a little shell shocked. I wasn't expecting Errakis to be so… put together."
"Were you expecting pop-up tents and camping?"
"Kind of," Hermione said sheepishly.
"Don't worry, closer to the dragons, we have some permanent encampments set up. But really, Hermione, the sanctuary has been around since the 70s. You didn't think that we'd put up a few buildings by now? I wouldn't have asked you to be our healer if I expected you to give up hot showers," Charlie laughed.
Due to recent funding streams, we've been able to expand the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary by nearly tenfold in the protection and breeding of rare dragons, as well as aiding in the production of dragon based goods worldwide. In conjunction with our sister sanctuary in South Africa, we've been able to perfect techniques and share knowledge. Why, it's never been easier or affordable to purchase dragon-hide gloves for your grandson at Hogwarts."
"Grandson? This sounds a bit rehearsed," she teased bumping his arm with her shoulder.
Charlie's face flushed to match his hair as he realized what he said. "Sorry," he mumbled, "I've had to attend a lot of charity events and balls during the dragons' hibernation this winter."
"I wouldn't have pegged you to be comfortable with rubbing elbows with the upper-crust."
"I'm not, but I'm learning," Charlie smiled, "We're nearly self-sufficient but are hoping to continue expanding. My partner and I have some big plans for the next few years. Growth means needing more money."
Hermione frowned. Something Charlie said bothered her, "I thought the sanctuary was about the study and preservation of dragons. Not raising them for parts. What did you mean by dragon goods?"
"It's true, we don't. We only harvest dragons that have passed away due to natural causes and most of the materials we retrieve remain with the sanctuary. You'll be using most of those for your research.
Dragons parts are needed for countless potions and tinctures. There is always going to be a demand for them. Instead of shunning people, we've started hosting seminars and sending out some of our best tamers for onsite training. You wouldn't believe the conditions of some of these places. We're hoping to cohost a summit in Drakensberg next year, hopefully the Welsh and Swedish reserves will join."
"Better conditions for dragons means expanding an expanding dragon market, right?"
"Exactly. It's all full circle," Charlie paused, "Hermione, can I ask you something?"
"Hmm?"
"What made you take me up on my offer? Don't get me wrong, I've been trying to get you here for years. But you took the job without visiting Errakis," asked Charlie.
"I… I felt trapped. After Hogwarts, I was tired. I made a lot of… safe choices," she responded carefully.
It had hit her during Christmas when her coworkers gave the same gifts as the previous four years. Not that she minded about the gifts, Hermione knew that most people struggle with finding personalized presents for acquaintances. But it highlighted to her that she knew exactly what to expect from her career and friends. She had spent the better part of a decade picking easy options, and even her love life had become predictable.
When Charlie reached out to Hermione, her main stipulation was having access to research dragon properties for healing purposes. She yearned for being able to simultaneously work on research projects that made a difference in the world and actively treat people. St. Mungo's limited her research hours and drowned her in paperwork.
"St. Mungo's was good but became monotonous. After your last correspondence, I thought, 'Why the hell not?' And here we are."
"Here we are," Charlie repeated with a smile. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the main building, "Let's make this official and sign a few documents."
Hermione could immediately tell which side of the office belonged to Charlie Weasley. He wasn't exactly messy, it just that one side of the room looked a little windswept. It reminded her of the Burrow, jumbled with models of dragons crammed on shelves and precariously stacked folders. The sight of a flustered Charlie trying to find her paperwork made her grin.
Charlie handed her a thick parchment scroll, "Here you go. I had our lawyers draw it up the day I received your letter."
Most of the language was standard but a few things surprised Hermione.
"Charlie. This is nearly double my pay at St. Mungo's," Hermione whispered.
Charlie laughed, "That's actually one step above the entry level rate for your position. The compensation is based on your skills. Plus, you're expected to be in close proximity of XXXXX creatures."
"What's this part about a house?"
"All management members live in semi-detached houses. Freya, one of the team leaders, shares your common wall. She's on holiday but you'll meet her soon. My partner & I are the only ones with detached houses. Team members, assistants, and the rest of the lot live in the terraced houses. I'll show you your place after," Charlie explained while Hermione went back to reading the contract.
Hermione signed and dated the last page, "Everything looks good."
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yes, absolutely," Hermione gushed. "This is better than I was expecting!"
Hermione only vaguely heard Charlie respond about visiting her house. She felt giddy and lightheaded at the thought of starting a new life in Errakis. Yes, I think I made the right choice. I needed something new, she thought, Plus I have Charlie.
A loud crashing sound pulled her out of her thoughts as voice from downstairs roared with excitement.
"CHUCK, THE KITTENS ARE HERE! GET YOUR ARSE MOVING!"
"Bollocks," swore Charlie.
"WEEZY, I KNOW YOU'RE OLD BUT ARE YOU DEAF TOO?"
"I'm in the office!" Charlie called out. "I'm sorry Hermione, I was planning to have this sorted before you arrived. I'm sure it'll be fine…"
Before Hermione had a chance to question Charlie's rushed apology, his partner walked through the doorway.
"Charlie, we're burning daylight here! You don't want to know what I'll do to you if you make me miss this. Wait, who is –"
"Meet our new head healer, Hermione Granger!" Charlie said brightly while gesturing towards Hermione.
Hermione turned around smiling with her hand extended to greet Charlie's partner. Instead she found a tall man in an emerald green leather jacket towering over her. It had been years since she had seen his bright blonde hair but standing before her was Draco Malfoy.
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Author's Note:
I haven't written a fanfic in YEARS and definitely not under this account. However, TheMourningMadam encouraged me to write a plot bunny that had been plaguing me. I promised her that I'd have my first chapter up by March 1st and it looks like I missed my deadline by a few hours. Please go read all of her fics since I mad her wait for my first chapter. Also, she's a wonderful writer and deserves attention.
Just so you know, this will be a slow burn and a mystery. I've got about half of it outlined so I know where the story is mostly going. But I'm writing it as I go along, with 1-2 updates a week (I'm slow at writing and I'm busy). There's going to be a few chapters of set up but I hope that you'll have fun along the way.
I've done an insane amount of research for even things that will barely be mentioned. I've got character backgrounds, Pinterest boards, and tons of notes. Dragons, magic, Romania, etc.… I've done a lot of reading. For creative reasons, I'm deliberately deciding to either stray away from reality (Romanian weather doesn't always fit my plot development) or from established lore (there's A LOT of conflicting ideas about dragons).
Anyway, please review! I'd love to hear any theories or what you hope to see. Any guesses of what their capstones were on? My favorite part about fan fiction is the community involvement, maybe you'll inspire me to add something in a later chapter!
A/N 2: I went back and edited a few minor things to clarify that they're not farming dragons for parts. My choice of words indicated otherwise and that was not my intent. Also, some people were uncomfortable with them wearing dragon hide clothing. I've changed it to say 'leather' and you can decide if it's dragon hide leather or another animal. The main reason why I initially said it was because they used dragon hide gloves for extra protection in Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. Normally I won't make drastic edits but this was something that I didn't want to wait 5 chapters for an organic opportunity to clarify things.