Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Warnings: Totally made up things about Dragonologists, Romania, Charlie's work, and Dragons in general. OMG the fluff (and some pining).

Dating and Dragons

(Neville/Charlie)

"But I wanted that one!"

Charlie hated family days at the dragon sanctuary. It was all fun and games when he had shown the kids around, but it was always at the souvenir shop those little brats went all crazy. He didn't mind it too much though, a tiny souvenir of a dragon cost enough to feed a Hungarian Horntail for three days.

"Come on, then. Say hi to your uncle first."

Charlie heard a familiar voice as he turned around to find Neville Longbottom with Harry, Draco, Hermione and Ron.

"What are you doing here?" Charlie tore his gaze away from Neville to look at his brother who was holding baby Hugo in his arms. Rosie was holding Neville's hand and she'd looked up at him, mumbled a 'Hi, Uncle Charlie,' and pulled Neville away from the group.

"She's a bit shy, sorry about that," Hermione said to Charlie, who nodded.

"We wanted to surprise you and well, Draco didn't want to come alone," Harry said at which Draco immediately stiffened up. "He doesn't have the best luck with creatures." Draco scowled at him and Harry quietly chuckled before squeezing his hand.

Charlie watched his exchange quietly, and again, wished how his job didn't always keep him away from his friends and family that he would miss all the new developments in their lives. Last he'd heard, Harry was pining over Malfoy, and now they were an actual couple. It was good to know Malfoy wanted Harry back just as much.

"Rosie's been chatting up with Neville ever since he came over and brought her a book on dragons—"

"Isn't that my job?" Charlie asked Ron.

"Yeah, well, this one's different. Anyway, we had no idea he knew so much. He's actually been really good with her, teaching her and even Malfoy new things about dragons. We all wanted to be on the tour with you, but we'd all planned it too late, especially since we wanted Neville to come with us, you know. Anyway, we got a great tour from Robin…that's his name, yeah?" Ron stopped to breathe for a moment when Hermione nodded at him.

"Anyway—"

"How long do you all plan on staying?" Charlie asked, before Ron could go on for mile a minute again.

"Just tonight. We wanted to know if you are free to have dinner with us. This was supposed to be a surprise and all. We have reservations at the Inn, except…" Hermione trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"Except…?"

"They were all booked up and unless Neville rooms with Harry and Draco—"

"He can stay with me," Charlie said, and tried not to cringe at how quick he was at responding to that. "In fact, you all could have stayed with me. I have enough room, you know."

"We know, but we just thought given how you'd be around kids all day today—" Harry stopped talking when Rosie came rushing back and slammed into his side. "Watch it there, big girl," he said laughing, and picked Rosie up.

She was showing him a miniature Chinese Fireball. "Neville said that they love eating pigs," she told him and looked at Charlie for confirmation.

"It's true," Charlie said, nodding. He took the mini Fireball from her hand and mumbled a spell, the dragon moved his head and started to cough. It snorted out colours from its nose and Rosie squealed in delight.

Charlie laughed and looked at Ron and Hermione again. He was very aware of how close Neville was standing next to him. The last he'd seen Neville was at Christmas when he'd arrived late with a boyfriend in tow. Over the years, Charlie had had only a few interactions with Neville, but he'd always admired him, even if from afar. He would have said something to Neville, but it seemed whenever they were around, one of them wasn't single.

Even if Charlie could admit he had a bit of a crush on Neville, he would never try to pull him when he was with someone, or if Neville was. This time, there was no boyfriend, and the last one, Stefan, he'd heard was a bit of a drama queen.

"I'm about done in thirty minutes here, so if you all want to go to the Inn and freshen up and we can meet at the restaurant for dinner. Or you can wait here, look around, and we can leave together."

It was almost as if on cue, Hugo started to cry.

"The baby's being a bit fussy today, so I think we might head over there," Hermione said. Then, she looked at Neville, which gave Charlie an excuse to do so, as well. "Neville, if it's all right with you, you'll be staying with Charlie."

"Oh, okay," Neville said with a hint of surprise in his tone.

They'd brought him on the trip and hadn't told him? Charlie found that to be highly suspicious.

"Good to see you again, Neville," Charlie finally spoke to Neville and offered his hand. Neville shook it immediately with a 'you too'. His hand was soft but his grip was firm and commanding. It sent shivers up Charlie's spine.

"We can keep Neville company while you work, Charlie," Draco said, finally speaking ever since they'd arrived.

"No, you don't have to," Neville said quickly, as Charlie was just about to thank them for doing so. "You two must be tired, as well and I don't want to be a bother—"

"But I'm not ready to go!" Rosie chimed in.

Charlie was quickly getting pulled away from the group as one of his co-workers asked him a question. "I'll be right back," he said to the group and went to speak to Natya.

"Alexandru is late for his shift again," Natya informed him, as they were huddled in the corner of the room. "I'm just about to leave and there's no one to watch Siivo—"

"That's all right," he said quickly, trying to calm her. The last thing he needed was an agitated dragonologist. If she were to start freaking out then Charlie would pick up on that negative vibe, and before they know it, Siivo would have a hissy fit. "It's just about a matter of feeding him, yeah?" he asked and she nodded.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it. I know Alex is having some family trouble, but he'll be here. Just do me a favour and try to schedule two people on days he is working so we don't have to do this again?"

She looked at him with an abundance amount of relief and then hugged him. Charlie found it so amazing that people who worked with such fierce creatures were always so warm hearted.

He headed over to where Harry, Draco, Neville, and Rosie were and decided to break the bad news to them.

"Unfortunately, I have to work longer than I'd expected. The shops are closing in thirty minutes, but I have to go and take care of some dragon business," he said, smiling. Neville was staring intently at him, and it made him just a bit nervous. "So, what we can do is, if you all want to head over to the Inn, Neville can just go to my flat without me. Harry can take you there as he's been there and wards will let him in. Or—you can wait here with me and watch me work with a Hebridean Black."

"Work with him?" Neville's blue eyes nearly popped out of his window as the strands of his blond hair fell onto them. He raised his hand to push his hair back, and Charlie followed the trail of his fingers.

He really hadn't had human contact in such a long time that he was going crazy for his desire for Neville. Surely, that had to be the reason.

"It's nothing major. He'll be resting. I just have to go into his territory, it's magically warded so he can't fly away in case he does wake up and drop off his food. The bloke that's supposed to cover the shift is running late and I'm the shift manager so…"

"Can I watch too?" Rosie asked, sounding excited.

"I'm sorry, love," Charlie said, making a sad face, "but kids aren't allowed that close to a dragon. No matter how safe we are. You have to be at least fifteen to—"

"Uncle Harry was only fourteen when he battled a dragon," Rosie said, and it was incredible how just like Hermione that little girl was.

"And you're not fourteen, either," Harry thankfully chimed in. "Come on, we'll go to the Inn and you can take a nap with Hugo."

Rosie made a face but didn't argue. And a moment later, they were all gone, leaving Neville alone in the shop with Charlie, and the fifty other kids that were running around like the place was on fire.

Siivo, was thankfully very much out of it when Charlie and Neville entered his area. The idea of keeping animals in cages, as once how Harry had described it, horrified Charlie. They liked to keep all of the dragons in check, but never placed them in any cages. They simply placed a charm on the dragon so he wouldn't fly off too far from the reservation but never did they ever contained the beautiful creature in such a way that made them feel like a prisoner. Or at least Charlie hoped not. He was pretty good at reading his dragons, and he loved working with them, and he never felt as if any of his lovely creatures were unhappy.

"He's beautiful," Neville said as Charlie placed the deer meat in Siivo's area.

Siivo had recently hurt himself with a harsh landing so Charlie had also mixed in the potion that coated the meat. Usually, Siivo didn't mind hunting for himself, and Charlie didn't object to it either, but since the dragon was getting older and healing slower, he had to take care of him on his own.

"He's been here since I started working here," Charlie said in a hushed tone as he watched Siivo sleeping. "He's almost like…I feel like he belongs to me, you know?"

He looked at Neville who was watching him with great intensity again. He nodded, and Charlie didn't miss how Neville had licked his lips. It was as if he'd not realised he'd done so.

As they walked away from the creature in his slumber state, Charlie thought of asking Neville questions. Anything to get rid of the awkward silence he felt between them. Most likely because it was Charlie who was being completely weird around the man. Creatures he was great with. People? Not so much.

"Hey, Charlie. I'm so sorry I'm late again," Alex came rushing towards them, and Charlie was glad for the distraction.

"Hi Alex, glad you could make it in. Is everything all right with your mother?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, I'd taken her to the healers but the appointment ran late, and again I'm so—"

"It's fine," Charlie waved his hand in the air. "You know I like looking after Siivo." He laughed before he turned to Neville and made the introductions. "Alex, this is Neville, he and my family are visiting me for today. Neville, this is Alexandru, the best dragonologist in training."

Alex blushed slightly and he looked at Neville and nodded. "Charlie's too nice to me," he said before he shook Neville's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Same," Neville said, his voice was coarse, and he averted his gaze quickly away.

Charlie felt a bit of tension coming from Neville but couldn't place his finger on why.

"Anyway, we're off then. I'll see you in the morning, Alex." They walked away towards the office and Charlie told Neville they'd take the Floo to his flat. Neville shrugged an okay.

When they arrived at the office, the night shift manager was looking down at his ledger.

"Hey, Jonas. This is Neville," Charlie said, as he continued to make introductions with Neville with people that were in the office. Jonas, Danya, Melina, and Edmund. Neville was polite with all of them and he still looked like he was a bit tense.

"This way," Charlie said, placing his hand on the small of Neville's back and guiding him to the other room where the Floo network was set up. He tried not to roll his eyes at himself at finding an excuse to touch Neville.

"Great meeting you all," Neville said, throwing his head back, and Charlie thought he'd slightly leaned into the touch.

As they were standing in front of the Floo, Charlie decided to ask. "Is everything all right with you?"

"Yes, of course. Why?"

"Just…I thought I felt some…tension maybe? I mean, I'm sorry. I might be reading into it too much. Just, with dragons, they can't communicate so I have to read them very closely, learn things about them, and know what they're trying to tell me. It's a habit that's crossed over towards people now too."

"Oh," Neville said, clearing his throat. He ran a hand through his hair and looking sheepish.

"I…just… that bloke, Alex, he's just really good looking, is all."

"Oh? Your type?" Charlie asked, his heart slightly sinking. Here he was thinking he might actually be able to say something to Neville – what, he'd no idea, but – make some sort of a move. Now that they were both single. And he fancied Alex?

Sure, Alex was good looking. Very good looking, but he was a kid. He supposed Alex was closer to Neville's age, anyway so it'd make sense for Neville to find him attainable. Charlie was done trying to shag twenty-two year olds now. He was done with casual fucks, and especially with the ones that worked with him.

"No. Not at all," Neville said, shaking his head. He seemed adamant about it. "I like older men."

"Oh," Charlie said again. That was good to know.

"I just…do you see the way he looks at you? I swear, it's either you've already went to bed with him and didn't want a repeat or he really wishes to take you to bed."

"You got all of that from just one polite exchange?" Charlie asked, surprised. Was Neville…jealous?

Neville threw his head back and laughed. He exposed his long lean neck, his perfectly blemish-free skin, and when he looked at Charlie again; his blond hair was back in his eyes.

Charlie resisted the urge to reach over and tuck it back behind his ear.

"I'm good with people too. I know that look."

"What look?"

"The look of when someone wants to be in your pants. Badly," Neville said, shrugging. "I've seen the way some of Harry and Draco's friends look at you. Men and women. You attract this attention with your presence in the room. I mean, you'd seen the way Rosie was blushing and all shy when she was around you today. Everyone is mesmerized with you and—"

"And you?" Charlie asked immediately. He didn't care what everyone else thought.

He wanted to know if Neville was equally mesmerised.

"What about me?"

"Where's your latest boyfriend? Every time I'd seen you, you had someone hanging off your arm. I mean, you can deny it, but Alex is just your type. I don't remember any of your boyfriends being older than you. If they were, they couldn't have been more than a year or two years older."

"You've keep tabs on my boyfriends?" Neville asked, sounding amused.

Charlie shrugged. "You're not answering the question."

"Stefan and I broke it off six months ago. He was very jealous and possessive and I couldn't deal with it."

"And after that? You've not dated anyone?" Charlie knew how it sounded, but during his weekly Floo-calls with his mother, she liked to tell him gossip of everyone that was around her. One gay son, and she'd thought she'd hit gold. Especially since Ginny was never interested in gossip. She was far too busy being a Quidditch celebrity.

Neville gave Charlie a smirk, but didn't comment on his question. "It was a few weeks after I realised the kind of relationship I want. And…I also realised I liked someone. I mean, I never gave it a go with this man, but I wanted to. I just didn't know how to approach him. He's always been too intimidating for me."

"So what did you do?" Charlie asked, curious. Did he dare think Neville was thinking about him? When Neville and Stefan had broken up, Charlie was with Deepak, but Deepak wanted to move to India, and Charlie wasn't ready for that big of a commitment. Had Neville heard of him and Deepak, just like Charlie had heard of him and Stefan?

"I've been waiting for a chance. I reckon speaking to Rosie about her favourite uncle helps."

"George?" Charlie teased.

"Even though Angelina would gladly hand George off to me, I have to say he's not my type."

"What? Too funny? Not older enough?"

"Well, he doesn't give me one look, and makes me forget my own name. Or what day of the week it is. When he places a hand on me, I don't shiver all over my body and wish I could feel more than just a fleeting touch," Neville said, his gaze heated and fixed on Charlie.

"Merlin, I wish we weren't talking about this while I'm still at work," Charlie said, and pulled Neville close to him, wrapping his arm around Neville's waist.

"What are you doing?" Neville asked, his face almost buried in Charlie's neck.

"Apparating us home. Less messy," Charlie said, and a moment later, he'd Disapparated them from his office.

When they arrived in the sitting room at Charlie's flat, Charlie didn't immediately let go of him. He had half a mind to have Apparated them to his bedroom, but then thought better of it. He didn't want to give Neville the wrong idea. Even if he wanted Neville now. More than ever. Especially since Neville had just confessed his own desires for Charlie.

Neville looked up at Charlie, his eyes fixed on Charlie's lips. "Um…" he began to say and then licked his lips again.

Charlie leaned down and kissed Neville. He couldn't wait anymore. He'd wanted this man for so long and if he didn't get that kiss now, he'd probably go stir crazy. He needed to be calm and collected for his work, and part of that included not having a stressful life outside of the job.

He sagged into the kiss more when Neville kissed him back with his hands tightening around Charlie. There was a small moaning sound and Charlie didn't know if it was him or Neville that'd reacted so. But he wanted it to continue. He pushed Neville back and they started to walk towards the sofa, eventually, plopping down on it.

They kissed for what felt like only a few minutes, but Charlie knew it'd been a while. He didn't want to stop, but they had to be somewhere else. This wasn't the end of a really good date that now he could take his time with Neville.

"We have to go…" Charlie panted, still managing to steal a few kisses from Neville.

"I know. Fuck…" Neville sighed against Charlie's lips. "Merlin, I feel loads stupid for not doing this months ago."

"Me too," Charlie said. "I mean, me doing it, not that you're stupid or…come here." They started kissing again, each lick, bite, and suck wasn't good enough. Charlie wanted more. Needed more.

Finally Neville was the one that had been strong enough to pull away from Charlie. "We should really stop before they come knocking here asking why we haven't arrived to dinner yet."

"Right. Shite. I have to take a shower," Charlie said. He quickly untangled himself from Neville and stood up. "I'll be ten minutes tops."

"Okay. Great. I'll just wait here," Neville said, awkwardly laughing.

It was probably too early for Charlie to ask Neville to come and take a shower with him, so he just smiled. "Yeah, don't go anywhere, or I'll think this was all a dream."

"Yeah. I'm just about ready to pinch myself, as well," Neville replied, running a hand through his hair.

"If you've got any stuff, well, the guest room is through there," Charlie said and Neville nodded, following the direction of Charlie's hand. "Okay, I'll be right back." Then he was out of the sitting room and headed over to his own bedroom.

He hoped telling Neville to put his things in the guest room was a good idea. He didn't know what the etiquette was in situations like these. They both wanted it each other, maybe even wanted more than just casual kissing, or eventually fucking. Did Charlie want to go out with Neville? Like a boyfriend? Could they actually do long distance thing if it came down to that?

Charlie remembered what Neville said about Stefan that he was too possessive and jealous, so maybe a long distance thing with someone who always kept himself calm like Charlie wouldn't be such a bad thing.

When he was dressed and ready to go, Charlie returned to the sitting room. Neville was sitting on the sofa at the same spot Charlie had left him, but he looked as though he'd changed clothes.

"I didn't realise you had actually brought something," Charlie said.

"I had a small suitcase I'd used the shrinking charm on. It was in my robes. Hermione made sure we were all packed and prepared for the night."

"Of course," Charlie said, laughing. "I should have realised that."

He took a tentative step closer to Neville, wondering if what he'd felt had been real or not, when Neville took a step closer to him too. They kissed again. It was gentle, unlike the snogging session they'd shared on the sofa, but it was great just the same. If anything, it simply reassured Charlie that there was something there and he'd not been crazy to have imagined it.

"Ready to go?" Charlie asked a moment later.

"How do you know which restaurant we're going to?" Neville asked.

"There's only one fancy restaurant in this tiny village, and it's always the same one Ron likes to go to," Charlie replied.

He placed his hand on Neville's shoulder and Neville leaned into him. Charlie Apparated them to Inimă și acasă.

When the walked in through the front door, Charlie was surprised to find only Harry and Draco at the bar.

"Where's Ron and Hermione and the kids?" Neville asked before Charlie could get a chance.

Harry looked sheepish but Draco spoke evenly and with composure. "Hugo was having trouble and was crying uncontrollably. So Grang—I mean Hermione and Ron decided to stay at the Inn and call it a night. They wish to come over for breakfast, if that's all right with you, before we head back home."

"Uh-huh," Charlie said, narrowing his eyes at Harry, who shrugged.

He would have taken the excuse as valid, if Harry wasn't acting so strangely. He looked over at Neville who looked equally puzzled and annoyed.

"We should get a table," Harry said finally, going to look for the hostess.

Draco shook his head at Harry and returned his gaze on Charlie and Neville. "Potter is a terrible liar, so please, do be kind to him. I for one, had thought this whole double date idea was ridiculous but some people don't like letting nature take its course."

"So you and Harry, that was nature taking its course?" Neville asked. "You all but announced it in the Daily Prophet you wanted Harry to ask you out on a date. You dropped hints with everyone—"

"Potter is a bit thick," Draco said coolly. "I for one have seen the way the two of you looked at each other today, when the other wasn't looking. I knew that it'd be in no time—"

"The table's ready," Harry said as he returned to the group and made an announcement with much too much excitement.

"Okay, so at which point of the evening, do you two feign illness and leave?" Charlie asked.

"What—" Harry said with honest surprise. He was still blushing, though.

"This is so embarrassing," Neville said, hiding his face in his hand.

Charlie stepped closer to Neville and placed his arm around him. "You know what, it's your first night in Râmnicu Vâlcea, why don't the two of you enjoy a nice evening at the restaurant and then go out for a walk. We'll see you in the morning."

"Charlie, I—" Harry began to speak but Draco cut him off.

"See, I told you. Thank you, Charlie."

Charlie shook his head at both Draco and Harry and left the restaurant with his arm around Neville.

"Where are we going?" Neville asked, once they were outside Inimă și acasă.

"There's a cute little place called Beca's just around the corner from here. The woman's like over a hundred years old, Muggle, and makes the best homemade stuffed cabbage rolls and ghiveci…" When Neville gave him a look of confusion, Charlie added, "it's a stew. Just trust me."

They walked into Beca's and the place was overcrowded as always. Beca's daughter who ran the place greeted Charlie and Neville in her broken English and found them a corner table. Charlie never brought anyone over at Beca's, anyone he was interested in romantically that is, because this place was almost like a second home to him. Except with Neville, he wanted to share it with him.

"This place is amazing," Neville said after they finished off the stew, and Beca's daughter had brought over far too much food than they both needed.

"Yeah, Jonas turned me on to it. I love it here," he said.

Neville smiled at him, and took a sip of the wine as if he were stalling about something.

"How do you suppose they came to the conclusion about bringing us together?" Charlie asked once he'd finished off his glass of wine and decided to not have another.

Neville smiled shyly. "I reckon with me it was obvious. The dragon books I brought over for Rosie. Your mother always talking about you and I was the only one who was eager to listen to what was going on in your life. And when they discussed the trip with me, I couldn't say yes to coming fast enough. I mean, I saw the looks Hermione and Ginny gave me whenever I was over – I should have known that I was too easy to read. Always have been."

"Shit, Neville. I've fancied you too. For so long that I can't even remember. It always just felt like the tim—"

"The timing was always wrong. I know," Neville said. "Maybe that's why they wanted us to push towards each other. Draco has a hard time settling into the lifestyle where everyone's a Gryffindor."

"Will you…um…will you stay longer?" Charlie found himself asking before he could stop himself. He knew he wanted this, but the idea that Neville might simply leave tomorrow with the others was nerve-wracking.

"With you?" Neville asked, and then rolled his eyes, as if he'd realised it was obvious. With Charlie.

"Yeah. I've to just work tomorrow for a few hours, but I'm free for the next two days after. I mean, I could show you around and I mean you don't have—"

"Yes," Neville said quickly. "I'd like to stay. I mean. I want to stay. A lot."

"Brilliant," Charlie said with a huge grin that he couldn't hide if he'd tried.

They took a long walk around the village as Charlie showed Neville a few things he loved about it. When they finally arrived at his flat, Charlie placed his hand on Neville's lower back again and ushered him in. And again, Neville had leaned into the touch.

They stood in the sitting room, almost on the exact spot as before and Charlie kissed Neville again. He didn't want the night to end, but it was getting late. Everyone was supposedly arriving for breakfast in the morning and then Charlie had a long shift at work ahead of him. He didn't want to be too tired for any of it, because he wanted to be able to enjoy his time off with Neville, and not sleep it off as he always did.

"I think it's probably a good idea if we take this just a bit slow. Don't you think?" Charlie asked.

Neville nodded. "Yeah. It's a good idea. I mean, I want more…loads more, but we have the next three days ahead of us. We can take our time…" Neville kissed Charlie's lips quickly. "Discussing what we want…" He kissed right under Charlie's right ear, and then started to leave a trail of kisses down his neck. "I want to have all the time in the world to be able to enjoy you."

This time when he looked up at Charlie, Neville's hair was back in his eyes. And this time, Charlie didn't hesitate pulling them back and touching Neville's face.

"I think that's a great idea."