A man sat at the kitchen table in front of the fire, scratching at a piece of parchment. He had big burly arms which was a result of a combination of tackling dragons and playing Quidditch. His hair was long and typical Weasley red, and was pulled back into a loose ponytail. His face was, at this present time, weary, and there were a few bags under his eyes, which still held a certain reckless youth in them.
The aforementioned man's name was Charlie Weasley. He put the second card away in the file, before pulling the third one towards him with a sigh. The dragon base had had two pregnant mothers, which had both given birth to twins within days of each other. Having slyly avoided it in the past, Charlie was given the tedious task of filling out the report card that would be that dragon's for the rest of its life. He had already completed the first set of twins, and was now getting started on the second pair of twins. He glanced up at the clock on the mantelpiece and read that it was almost 10:00. Groaning, he looked at the card.
Name:, he read. If he weren't so tired, he would've laughed out loud. The bubbly, teenage woman, Lena, who worked on the base had excitedly chosen her name, and let's just say that Charlie felt very sorry for the poor dragon.
Name: Antherellani or Anty. Born to: Fadwir. Siblings: Charlie sighed and rubbed his aching eyes, willing himself not to go to sleep. Anty's twin brother, Anty's twin brother…. What was he called? He yawned widely, and then chastised himself. Think Charlie. Think! The boy's name hadn't been nearly as outrageous as Anty's name, because Lena had felt sorry for the poor dragon. What was his name? Albee? Anna! No, that wasn't a male name…
He heard footsteps outside the kitchen and looked up to see his mate, Hubert, walking in.
"Mate, you're gonna be spent tomorrow if you don't get to sleep."
"Hey Hugh…" he said, leaning back and stretching.
"Those cards are still gonna be there tomorrow morning, you know." said Hugh, smiling.
"I know, Hugh, but I'd rather get them done now, rather than spending a perfectly good afternoon that could be spent with dragons inside doing paperwork…"
"At this rate, that's exactly what you're gonna be doing, but you'll be asleep." Charlie sighed.
"Thanks mate, but I'll get them done" Hugh peered at him over his glasses.
"If I help you, we might still get a chance to be asleep by 11:00…" Charlie chuckled and slid a card over to him.
"Thanks," he said gratefully. Charlie was rather grateful to have Hugh here. Out of everyone at the base, Hugh was the only one to really understand Charlie. They had gone to school together at Hogwarts, and had both left their families in London and come to Romania to work with dragons. Apart from Bill, Hugh was the only person in which Charlie confided in everything, because he understood.
They'd both left their families while they were still growing; Hugh's little brother was born a year before he came to Romania. Even though everyone at Romania knew about the war going on in England, only Hugh and Charlie really knew the details, because they both had family there. Hugh was the only one who understood Charlie's regret that he hadn't spent more time with his family, and that they'd forgotten him, because Hugh was in the same position.
Hugh was the only one apart from Bill who knew just how helpless Charlie felt being away from everyone. He always knew the news last, and even when he knew, he couldn't do anything. Just sit in bed and worry. That was what had happened when Ginny was possessed, when his dad was bitten, when Ron was poisoned, and the thing he feared most was that one of his siblings would die in the war, and he barely knew any of them.
Hugh understood, and for that, Charlie would always be grateful towards Hugh, and love him just like a seventh brother.
It was at that particular moment that there was a beeping and loud shouting filled the kitchen, loud enough to wake the whole house.
"WHOEVER IT IS, YOU NEED TO GET CHARLIE RIGHT NOW, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF HE'S ASLEEP-"
"Bill?" he asked, frowning. He hurried towards the fireplace and crouched in front of it. "What're you doing here?"
"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SITTING THERE? DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO GET CHARLIE NOW?! IT'S URGENT, IT'S AN EMERGENCY, HE'S GOT TO COME NOW-" shouted Bill in distress, evidently not realising that the very Charlie he was yelling for was right in front of him.
"Mate, I'm here, what's going on?" Bill stopped shouting and looked at him.
"Charlie!" he yelled with relief. "Mate, Bro, you've got to come down here, it's an emergency!"
There were loud steps outside the kitchen, and Kevin Bole came crashing into the kitchen, looking harried.
"What's the emergency? Is the house on fire? Did a dragon escape? What on earth was Lena doing on duty? I knew we should've sent Lance down there with her!" he looked around and spotted Charlie, Hugh and Bill staring at him as if he was a maniac.
"So anyway, what's going on Bill? What's such an emergency?" Bill looked at him square in the eyes.
"The battle has started." said Bill in a deathly quiet voice. Charlie felt goose bumps erupt all over him, and a strange tingle went down his spine.
"Battle?" he whispered in terror. "You mean what Du-Wulfric warned us about?" asked Charlie, using the code name they'd developed for Dumbledore, whilst talking about him in floo at the dead of night.
"Yes, Charlie. The Club," said Bill, putting stress on club so Charlie knew it was meant to be Order. "Is gathering at Hogwarts now. I-I don't know what to do Charlie!" cried Bill, suddenly distressed. "I feel like it's my fault!"
"What? Why?" asked Charlie, feeling extremely confused.
"Because this morning, Harry and Ron and Hermione and a Gringotts Goblin left my house, and from what I heard, they broke into Gringotts! And now they've gone back to Hogwarts, and- and don't they know what type of danger they're in?!" Charlie sat, dumbstruck at this new piece of news. There were more footsteps outside the kitchen, and Lance and Tim walked in, rubbing their eyes, and looking grumpy.
"What's all the fuss about at this time of night? Don't tell me Lena let one of the dragons go!" said Lance sternly. They all ignored him.
"Bill, mate, that's not your fault. It's their decision. However, I completely agree with you when you say that they are in complete danger at Hogwarts."
"So will you come and fight for them? Fight for Harry?" asked Bill, ready to pull out of the floo, so Charlie could floo in.
"Ye-no." said Charlie. Bill and Hugh stared at him.
"What?" asked Bill, shocked.
"No, Bill, Wulfric told me to stand guard at Hogwarts if-if anything happens." Bill's eyes glinted dangerously.
"Charlie, Wulfric is long dead. If you don't fight, then Ron and Harry and Hermione will be too. Fight for them Charlie."
"Bill, you've got to understand, Wulfric left me with a job. He told me, no matter what, if something happens, stand guard. I have to Bill."
"So you're not going to fight?"
"No bill. I'm sorry. But if they break the ranks, then of course I will join the chaos." Bill nodded.
"Fine. You coming Hugh?" Hugh crouched down next to the fire as well.
"Of course I am. My sister and her family live in Hogsmeade itself. I have to be there." Bill nodded again, and turned back to Charlie.
"You bringing the dragons mate?" asked Bill.
"Hang on!" cried Lance, suddenly. "You can't go gallivanting off to who knows where with our dragons!"
"Shut up Lance." growled Charlie. Lance stopped talking; Lance and Charlie were very good friends, so when Charlie spoke like that, it was urgent.
However Charlie looked at Bill apologetically.
"Can't bring the dragons mate. Sorry."
"I was just thinking cos You-Know-Who's got giants and Acromantula and all sorts of things-"
"Yeah, I know Bill, but Dragon can't think for themselves. They wouldn't tell the difference between Good people and Bad people, and they'd kill everyone. Not to mention the trouble Hogwarts Castle would be in with dragons running amok. And we couldn't keep tabs on them…" There was silence in the kitchen.
"I'll expect you here in five minutes Charlie." said Bill finally. Charlie nodded, and Bill broke the floo connection. He turned back to Lance, Kevin and Tim.
"There's a war going on at my old school, and even though it sounds small, and stupid, I've got to go. I don't know when I'll be back, or if I will ever be back. Please tell Jake." The other three nodded. And as Charlie waited for Hugh to go through the floo, he had to admit that indeed, he knew his family very well, and despite what he had told Bill, he was indeed going to fight for his family.
He just prayed that none of them would die.
Hello people! This is the second in my 'Weasley' series. Percy's 'Big Boy Now' was the first one. Just to clear a few things up; this was indeed the 'Big Hogwarts Battle' at the end of the seventh book. Jakes is the director of the dragon base. Hugh, Lance, Tim, Kevin and Lena are all OCs. There is a woman's house and a men' house at the base. And for anyone who actually cares, the other twin dragon's name was Alfee. Don't know why you would care, but there you go
ranDUMM