Heya, Milk here, now that I've almost finished 'In time', I'm free to write this little Charlie/OC fic because Charlie really needs some lovin'
As per usual, I've got a general idea of the story but this will be quite improvised so... yeah.
*ehem* I don't own anything that you recognise only that which you don't.
Right! Let's start!
Crystal sighed as she looked out of the train window; it was her last year at Hogwarts and she felt she would miss it a lot. Nevertheless, she was excited by the upcoming events as well; there was the Tri-wizard tournament; the various tasks and the display of wits and skill of the contestants and, more importantly, the work experience opportunity she was going to get as a result of the aforementioned tournament. Needless to say, the events this year would make it the most exciting way to end her Hogwarts career.
Breaking free from her thoughts she looked over at her two best friends, the Weasley twins, and thought back to the years she had spent with them as partners in crime. They were younger than her by a year but that didn't stop her from befriending the two pranksters in their first year, sharing with them her superior knowledge of the school with the single year she had ahead of them. Soon, they became better friends to her than the people in her year and she spent much of her skills helping them with their elaborate plans. As they played exploding snap with Lee and the others, she knew that she was going to miss them too.
The train journey passed quickly and it wasn't long before they reached Hogwarts. The Great hall was filled with many people, nervous first years, excited second years and, of course, 7th years like Crystal herself. She sat at the Gryffindor table listening intently to Fred and George talking about their experience at the Quidditch cup. The conversation was cut as Dumbledore started his yearly speech, the subject matter this time was the Tri-Wizard Tournament, a topic about which that Hagrid had informed her, a month in advance. Crystal suppressed a snigger when she saw the faces of the Weasley twins at the news that the tournament was for the oldest students only, and smirked when they burst into identical grins- a sign that they were going to try to enter no matter what. When Dumbledore had finished his speech food of all assorts started piling up on the plates in front of them, the rest of the night went on as it had done every other year.
The next few days consisted of many failed attempts by the twins to enter the cup and, each time, Crystal would simply watch in amusement as their ideas get stranger and stranger. Life continued in this manner until a certain boy-who-lived and Hufflepuff Hotshot were chosen to represent Hogwarts for the tournament, much to the former's dismay. However, this turn of events did nothing to stop the twins and their attention turned towards kidnapping and replacing the champions, many of these plans, unfortunately, required Crystal's unwilling participation.
Time passed and with Harry becoming a subject for mass hate in Hogwarts and the arrival Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students, the school was even more lively than usual. Furthermore, the time had come for the dragons to be moved into the forbidden forest. Moreover, it was also time for Crystal to begin her 'work experience' with the dragon keepers.
Fred and George were following her intently as she made her way to Hagrid's hut to start the aforementioned work experience.
"come on, Crys, you know you want to." Fred said for the third time that week.
"Where are you going anyway?" George asked.
"It's almost time for curfew and the kitchen's the other way" Fred continued.
"For Merlin's sake, I'm not kidnapping Cedric OR Harry just so you can get into the tournament" She announced with a finality that seemed to pass by the twins "I'm going to Hagrid's to ask about my Care for Magical creatures homework that due in tomorrow" she lied "and you're not going to follow me."
The twins pouted but otherwise stalked off back into the castle with disappointed faces; Crystal almost felt bad for them but she was too excited for any other emotion to take residence in her mind.
Crystal knocked tentatively on the door of Hagrid's hut and was met by the sound of a pot smashing followed by a muffled string of curses; Crystal giggled as she imagined the sight. A few moments later, the door opened to reveal a rather flustered half giant who, nevertheless, greeted her with a grin.
"Crystal!" He said happily "Good timing, Crystal, they've only jus' arrived. This is so excitin' I haven't seen dragons since-" He pause with a look of sadness on his face "Norbert."
Crystal kept silent waiting for the moment to passed before he spoke up again "All right, I'll show you to the forest, then."
Crystal smiled and followed Hagrid as he made his way to the forest, her already petite body was dwarfed even further in comparison to the half giant.
They walked deep into the forest, nearing its centre. The trees grew so thick that the castle grounds were out of sight and the sounds of the lake, and its resident giant squid, were muffled and replaced by shouts of men up ahead followed by an ear-splitting roar. Crystal was led around a clump of trees to reveal four dragons rearing on their hind legs inside an enclosure reinforced by thick planks of wood. They were roaring in anger as torrents of fire shot from their mouths into the sky, like a fireworks show only multiple times hotter and more dangerous. She watched as each dragon was surrounded by seven or eight wizards attempting to control them with stunning spells. She saw a tall red-head amongst them and noted that his hair was dangerously long and most probably a fire hazard.
When they had subdued their dragons, they hurried forward to tighten the chains securing them safely to iron pegs. The red-head moved towards them.
"All right, Hagrid?" he panted, he turned to look at Crystal "Is this the one you were talking about?"
"Hey there, Charlie" they greeted each other like old friends, Hagrid then looked at the girl beside him "Yup" he confirmed proudly "she might not look it but she loves dragons, or anything dangerous, really."
Charlie looked her up and down "She's a bit small for dragons, don't you think?"
Crystal stuck her tongue out in response, Charlie laughed "Feisty enough, though."
He stuck out his ungloved hand which, Crystal noted, was rough and covered with calluses and blisters and attached to an arm with shiny burns. "I'm Charlie Weasley, nice to meet you."
She took his hand with a smile. "Crystal Elliott, but most people call me Crys."
Charlie's eyes widened in sudden realisation "So you're the 'Chris' that Fred and George talk about constantly!"
Crystal laughed at the surprise in his voice but humoured him "And you are the famous Charlie that they look up to."
A loud snore rang through the air and Crystal turned over towards the source of the noise with mild surprise."Pretty things aren't they?" she whispered softly, gazing at the beasts before her. "They're mothers, right?"
"Yeah, they asked for nesting ones, we're not sure why." replied Charlie, impressed by her identification of their gender; there were only minor differences between the male and female dragons, none of which are easy to pick up at a glance. He was about to ask how she knew when Hagrid cut in.
"Well, then Crystal now that yeh've seen the dragons, it's gettin' late so you ought to be back inside." said Hagrid finally remembering the time.
"Shit! I forgot about the time." Crystal cursed, already starting to walk away "Thanks for showing me, I'll see you around later."
The moment she finished speaking she started sprinting off back to the castle.
"Balderdash" Chrystal whispered with a smile to the Fat lady who was drifting off to sleep, she mumbled something about ungodly times but otherwise opened up reluctantly and Crystal climbed in.
"Where did you go?" said the two Weasley twins in a mock stern voice trying their hardest not to laugh.
"The forbidden forest... Did you know Charlie's in Hogwarts?" Chrystal replied holding in her giggles at the twins' mocking tone.
"What how did you know!?" they both said immediately dropping their fake tones.
"Saw him in the forest" She replied with a smirk on her face "But really, I'm tired and need my beauty sleep, see you tomorrow, boys."
With that she walked up the stairs quietly throwing herself onto her bed the moment she saw it and closed her eyes reflecting on the events of the day.
Man, this fic looks like it's gonna be pretty word heavy. I like to experiment with my fics hence why my style will generally be different from fic to fic until I find one that I'm relatively comfortable with.