A/N : This is my submission to the Charlie Challenge, posted by ToldInTechnicolour.

Musings of a dragonkeeper : a small insight into Charlie Weasley's mind.

Dear mum,

Don't worry, Harry is perfectly fine – he survived his first task! He didn't "just" survive, he was brilliant! He escaped from the Hungarian Horntail with just a small scratch on his shoulder. You should have seen him at it, he was better than the other three champions, hands down.

Anyway, I've got to go – I promise I'll write to you in more detail later on,

Love,

Charlie

Charlie folded the sheet of parchment and tied it to the waiting owl's leg after writing "Molly Weasley, The Burrow" on the envelope. He then went to the counter and deposited a handful of knuts on it, paying for his post owl. Once outside the post office, he let the barn owl fly off into the sky.

"Well, now that this is done, I think I'll go grab a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, it's been ages since I last went there!"

With that in mind, the young man made his way up the Hogsmeade main road, until he reached the crowded pub. At the sight of all these people, he couldn't help but smile, after all, this place had always been very popular, and not necessarily because of Madam Rosmerta's mulled mead.

Charlie stepped into the Three Broomsticks and went up to the bar. "Hello Rosmerta." His deep voice was relatively soft – though the place was full of people, it wasn't too noisy so shouting wasn't a necessity.

The barmaid turned around and smiled when she saw who called her. "Charlie Weasley! It's been a while since I last saw you! I heard you work with dragons now." She looked at some of the burns that showed on Charlie's skin. "Tut tut, this certainly doesn't look like a cozy job."

"Maybe not cozy, but hey, it's what I love! I wouldn't do anything else for all the galleons in the world! But enough chit chat, why don't you give me a bottle of butterbeer?" he smiled and handed her the coins required.

"Only butterbeer? I would've thought you might like something stronger."

"Not on the job, I need to keep a clear head if I'm about to deal with dragons."

"True, here you are." She handed him the bottle and he left to sit in a relatively isolated corner, in order to be able to watch the people that surrounded him without being disturbed. He had always liked to watch his surroundings; he never was one of the overly popular guys that hung out with twenty friends, but more of a loner. Not that he didn't have any friends, it's just that he liked his peace, and solitude was one way to get that. And yes, being on the Gryffindor Quidditch team had made him quite popular, especially with the girls, but he knew that these particular girls like "Charlie the seeker" instead of "just Charlie".

He looked around the pub and saw, with amusement, Madam Rosmerta whisking from one table to the other, balancing drinks expertly. He had always liked her, just as everybody else did. He chuckled slightly at the thought that he was probably part of the 90% of the male population that nursed a soft spot for the curvy barmaid.

He cast another glance at the people around him. In the corner almost directly opposite his sat two teenagers, probably seventh years, boy and girl, holding hands and discussing something.

"Ah, young love!" he thought, "They sure look happy…"

He didn't envy them, why would he? Yes, he was single, and had been for quite a while now too, but somehow, he didn't really miss having a girlfriend. His life was already so full with his dragons, that he just didn't see himself romantically involved with anyone. He didn't feel lonely, no. He had his friends at work, the dragons to keep him busy, and when he went to bed, he was so exhausted from the day's work that he didn't have time to feel lonely, seeing as he fell asleep nearly straight away.

Besides he loved his dragons more than anything in the world, except maybe his family, and he couldn't see himself fall in love. After all, a girlfriend just wasn't anything else than a distraction from work. Besides girls were demanding, asking for time, attention and affection he just didn't have to spare.

No, Charlie Weasley was single, and quite content with his situation.

A/N : I know, I know, it's not quite what was expected, but I tried to stick to canon, and JK said Charlie never married, so I tried to get his state of mind on the subject. Feel free to tell me what you thought !

/!\ IMPORTANT /!\

I'm going to be away from until my coming year at university is over (May 2011) but I WILL then answer all reviews/messages I will have received in the meantime, so if I don't answer any of you guys, no, I'm not dead, just drowning in my physics/chemistry/cellular biology/anatomy/psychology or whatever it is I'm studying right now...

Thanks to all of those who reviewed and/or faved this story, I really, really appreciate it :)

See you soon!

Marie-Caroline