Title: Dragons bane
Rating: PG
Ship: Charlie/Cho
Summary: At the end of her 7th year Cho Chang is sent to spend her summer holiday in Romania, where her Great Uncle works at a Dragon Reserve. There she meets-up with one of her uncle's assistants, Charlie Weasley who amazingly manages to brighten up her holiday.
For Ray because I said anything worthwhile that I ever do will be for her.
"I can't believe you're doing this to me"
Sighing, Jing-Mei Chang paused in her packing and turned to see her 17yr old daughter standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. Cho Chang was a fairly small girl for her age but that by no means prevented her from looking intimidating or from making herself heard. She had sleek, raven- black hair that reached to just above her waist and large, almond-shaped chocolate brown eyes that tended to give away her emotions. A small smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks gave her face character as well as the dimples that were revealed every time she smiled. Overall, her daughter was the type of girl who possessed natural beauty and who tended to make a lasting impression on people. Right now though, her face was a picture of complete betrayal and she was wearing the half-angry, half- sulky look that only she could perfect.
Willing herself not to lose her self-control Jing-Mei smiled at her, "Sweetheart, it's only for a couple of weeks and-"
"You think it's a couple of weeks?" Cho cut her off, the look now going to complete anger, "You're packing me off for the whole bloody summer mum!" She shook her head in disbelief, "Some of my friends, their parents are sending them to Ibiza for a couple of weeks, others are going to Spain and others are going to other equally nice spots in the world but me" She paused before continuing her speech in a slightly hysterical tone, "I'm being sent to flipping Romania!"
"Now Cho really, it'll be a good experience for you" Jing-Mei replied soothingly as she resumed her packing, "You'll get to see your Uncle again and he'll show you all the nice dragons and you'll have a wonderful time and come back all tanned and begging me to let you go back"
Her daughter stared at her for a minute as if trying to work out if her mother was being serious or not. Finally she replied, "I highly doubt it"
"Nonsense, Romania is a wonderful place"
"You've never been mum"
"Yes but I've read all the tour guides and-"
"I'm not going to stay in some five star hotel mum" Cho replied, the hysterical note creeping back into her voice, "I'm going to some middle of nowhere dragon conservation that'll probably be full of pervy old men who walk about in nothing but shorts all day and-"
"Cho Mulan Chang!" This time it was her mother who did the cutting off, "If I ever hear you speaking like that again." Trailing off Jing-Mei shook her head, eyes blazing with anger as she muttered under her breath in Chinese and went back to her packing ritual.
"Why can't I go to China with you to see pappy?"
The abandonment in her little girl's voice almost broke Jing-Mei's heart. The last time she'd heard Cho use the same hurt, lost little girl tone was when at five years old she'd been told her daddy wasn't coming home ever again. Cho had just looked up at her with big, sad, brown eyes and asked quietly, "Where'd he go?"
"Mum?" She was snapped out of her reverie as the same girl -now seventeen- shook her shoulder gently, "I asked why I can't come to China with you"
"Cho, we've been doing everything together since your father died" Taking her daughter's hand in her own she sighed, "I'm worried you're not getting the independence that someone of your age should have"
"But I like spending time with you" The 17yr old protested, "You're fun to have around and half the time people think you're my older sister or my friend which makes it even better"
"My point exactly" Jing-Mei replied softly, "Honey, you're a wonderful girl and I love 'hanging around' with you too but I think it's best we spend some time apart. Otherwise when you leave to go play for the Apples in the autumn you're going to find the separation much harder"
"So you're sending me to Romania?"
Jing-Mei glanced up and smiled with relief when she realised her daughter's old grin was back upon her face and the bitterness in her voice was finally gone. Shrugging nonchalantly she replied with a playful grin, "What can I say? It was the cheapest I could find at the last minute"
"I feel so loved" Cho remarked with a snort before beginning to giggle at the whole situation.
Chuckling Jing-Mei pulled her daughter into her arms, "Honestly, what am I going to do with you eh? Cold one minute and hot the next, I pity the man that ends up with you"
"Yes well, I doubt there'll be much talent at a dragon reserve in the middle of Romania. So don't bother worrying about me getting swept off my feet" Cho replied with a sigh as images of 60yr old men clad in nothing but bathing suits as they tried to control Hungarian Horntails ran through her mind. Nudging her mother she added with a wink, "You on the other hand."
********************************************
"Did you have a nice flight?"
Fighting the urge to roll her eyes at the curly haired, bleached-blonde, blue eyed, air hostess Cho just nodded her head, "Wonderful" Eyeing the nametag she added, "Thanks Marcy"
"No problem! Enjoy your stay!" Marcy replied with a giggle before moving on to the next passenger.
"Oh I'm sure I will" Cho muttered before walking off the plane and into the airport. Her mouth fell open as soon as she caught sight of all the muggles running around, she'd always thought Kings Cross had been busy but the airport was about ten times busier and maybe even more at that. Catching sight of a man wearing the same navy blue as the flight attendants she quickly walked over to him, "Excuse me! Excuse me!"
Pausing mid-step the man turned around and grinned at her, "Can I help you Miss?"
"You speak English, thank God" Cho remarked and then smiled as the man's grin got even bigger, "I was wondering if you could tell me where baggage claim is? This is my first time in an airport and I'm sort of.well."
"Lost?" He supplied helpfully, "Don't worry, you'll soon get the hang of it Miss. Now, to get to baggage claim go right round that corner and then you'll see a big sign directing you to it"
"Thank you" She replied gratefully before picking up her back-pack again and marching off in the direction he'd advised.
"Uncle Cheng!" Cho squealed, immediately dumping her bags and running forward to be swept up in his arms, "God it's been-"
"Far too long firefly" Cheng replied as he swung her around one last time before setting her down on the ground, "Now, let me get a good look at you"
"I think she looks pretty darn good" A voice commented casually from behind them.
"Weasley!" Cheng barked turning round to glare at the young red-head, "You keep up like that and one of these days that mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble" Studying the man before her, Cho concluded that based on looks alone he was around twenty-four or twenty-five years old. He was fairly tall, with shaggy red hair and bangs that kept falling into the most beautiful pair of emerald green eyes she'd ever seen. Spending so much time out in the sun had obviously worked wonders for him seeing as he was so freckled he looked almost tanned.
"Oh it already has"
Cho was startled out of her daydream just in time to see the stranger give her a suggestive wink before he grabbed her bags and headed out the nearest exit.
"That boy, that god damn English smart ass" Her uncle muttered as he stood glaring at the spot that man had occupied. As if suddenly remembering why he was in the airport in the first place, Cheng turned back round and smiled at an amused looking Cho, "I'm sorry firefly; you must excuse the idiocy of some of my staff"
Giggling she impulsively hugged her uncle again, "I've missed you so much since you moved out here"
"I can assure the feeling is mutual" Cheng replied giving her a peck on the cheek before asking, "So, how is my dear sister? Has she found herself a man yet?"
"Uncle Cheng!" Cho squealed indignantly, "You're not supposed to ask those kind of questions" Grinning she added after a moment, "Not yet but I get the feeling she'll be doing a lot of looking while she's in China. Speaking of men, who exactly was that? He looked quite familiar but I can't place him"
"He's a Weasley" Cheng remarked flippantly as they began walking towards the same exit his assistant had left though, "They all look the exact same, you're probably just getting him mixed up with a classmate"
Well if that's true, Cho thought to herself with a smile; then Ron Weasley is certainly going to be one hell of a looker in a few good years.
*****************************************************
"I said fifth gear! Not god damn second you ignorant twit!"
"Well excuse me but I've never driven a stick before!"
"Of course Weasley, always the simplest of things for the simplest of brains isn't it?"
It took all of Cho's resolve not to burst out laughing, apparently it seemed that Weasley -she still hadn't learned his first name- was the scapegoat of all her Uncle's workers and tended to get on her Uncle Cheng's nerves very quickly. It obviously wasn't very fair on the red-haired gentleman but it amused Cho to no end. "Right, that's it boy. Pull over!" Cheng ordered angrily as his assistant swerved again to avoid another pedestrian.
Blowing one of his bangs out his eyes the young man chuckled, "Now really Cheng, we're nearly there and we've avoided hitting any muggles"
"Just barely" Cho quipped from the backseat.
"Ah-ha, you see? Even my own niece agrees you are a menace on the roads and she's only seen about ten minutes of your driving. Lord knows why England ever wanted you on their team Charlie; if you can't drive a car then I don't understand how you can fly a broom" Cheng muttered angrily as he glared out the window.
"Wait a second, you're Charles Weasley? The Charles Weasley?" Cho asked in surprise, leaning forward to get a better look at him.
Wincing he turned to look at her, "Just Charlie if you don't mind, can't stand the fact that I share the same name as that bloody idiot Pr-"
"Eyes on the road! Eyes on the road!" Cheng shouted hysterically as he smacked Charlie's knee for good measure.
"Alright, alright! Keep your hair on mate, the guy was miles away" Charlie replied with a chuckle as he settled back in his seat to focus once again on the road.
Muttering obscenities under his breath, Cheng Woo hurriedly made the sign of the cross as he scowled at Charlie out the corner of his eye.
"You're not Catholic Uncle Cheng" Cho pointed out as she looked at him, her face showing that she was completely confused.
"That may be firefly but when this one is driving" He glared at Charlie for effect before continuing, "I pray to whatever Gods will listen. That way one of them has to hear me, yes?"
Laughing Charlie shook his head, "He makes it out like I'm on bleedin' drugs or something"
"You bloody well better not be" Cheng warned, "Now just hurry up and get us to the conservation before you manage to cause anymore accidents"
Rating: PG
Ship: Charlie/Cho
Summary: At the end of her 7th year Cho Chang is sent to spend her summer holiday in Romania, where her Great Uncle works at a Dragon Reserve. There she meets-up with one of her uncle's assistants, Charlie Weasley who amazingly manages to brighten up her holiday.
For Ray because I said anything worthwhile that I ever do will be for her.
"I can't believe you're doing this to me"
Sighing, Jing-Mei Chang paused in her packing and turned to see her 17yr old daughter standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. Cho Chang was a fairly small girl for her age but that by no means prevented her from looking intimidating or from making herself heard. She had sleek, raven- black hair that reached to just above her waist and large, almond-shaped chocolate brown eyes that tended to give away her emotions. A small smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks gave her face character as well as the dimples that were revealed every time she smiled. Overall, her daughter was the type of girl who possessed natural beauty and who tended to make a lasting impression on people. Right now though, her face was a picture of complete betrayal and she was wearing the half-angry, half- sulky look that only she could perfect.
Willing herself not to lose her self-control Jing-Mei smiled at her, "Sweetheart, it's only for a couple of weeks and-"
"You think it's a couple of weeks?" Cho cut her off, the look now going to complete anger, "You're packing me off for the whole bloody summer mum!" She shook her head in disbelief, "Some of my friends, their parents are sending them to Ibiza for a couple of weeks, others are going to Spain and others are going to other equally nice spots in the world but me" She paused before continuing her speech in a slightly hysterical tone, "I'm being sent to flipping Romania!"
"Now Cho really, it'll be a good experience for you" Jing-Mei replied soothingly as she resumed her packing, "You'll get to see your Uncle again and he'll show you all the nice dragons and you'll have a wonderful time and come back all tanned and begging me to let you go back"
Her daughter stared at her for a minute as if trying to work out if her mother was being serious or not. Finally she replied, "I highly doubt it"
"Nonsense, Romania is a wonderful place"
"You've never been mum"
"Yes but I've read all the tour guides and-"
"I'm not going to stay in some five star hotel mum" Cho replied, the hysterical note creeping back into her voice, "I'm going to some middle of nowhere dragon conservation that'll probably be full of pervy old men who walk about in nothing but shorts all day and-"
"Cho Mulan Chang!" This time it was her mother who did the cutting off, "If I ever hear you speaking like that again." Trailing off Jing-Mei shook her head, eyes blazing with anger as she muttered under her breath in Chinese and went back to her packing ritual.
"Why can't I go to China with you to see pappy?"
The abandonment in her little girl's voice almost broke Jing-Mei's heart. The last time she'd heard Cho use the same hurt, lost little girl tone was when at five years old she'd been told her daddy wasn't coming home ever again. Cho had just looked up at her with big, sad, brown eyes and asked quietly, "Where'd he go?"
"Mum?" She was snapped out of her reverie as the same girl -now seventeen- shook her shoulder gently, "I asked why I can't come to China with you"
"Cho, we've been doing everything together since your father died" Taking her daughter's hand in her own she sighed, "I'm worried you're not getting the independence that someone of your age should have"
"But I like spending time with you" The 17yr old protested, "You're fun to have around and half the time people think you're my older sister or my friend which makes it even better"
"My point exactly" Jing-Mei replied softly, "Honey, you're a wonderful girl and I love 'hanging around' with you too but I think it's best we spend some time apart. Otherwise when you leave to go play for the Apples in the autumn you're going to find the separation much harder"
"So you're sending me to Romania?"
Jing-Mei glanced up and smiled with relief when she realised her daughter's old grin was back upon her face and the bitterness in her voice was finally gone. Shrugging nonchalantly she replied with a playful grin, "What can I say? It was the cheapest I could find at the last minute"
"I feel so loved" Cho remarked with a snort before beginning to giggle at the whole situation.
Chuckling Jing-Mei pulled her daughter into her arms, "Honestly, what am I going to do with you eh? Cold one minute and hot the next, I pity the man that ends up with you"
"Yes well, I doubt there'll be much talent at a dragon reserve in the middle of Romania. So don't bother worrying about me getting swept off my feet" Cho replied with a sigh as images of 60yr old men clad in nothing but bathing suits as they tried to control Hungarian Horntails ran through her mind. Nudging her mother she added with a wink, "You on the other hand."
********************************************
"Did you have a nice flight?"
Fighting the urge to roll her eyes at the curly haired, bleached-blonde, blue eyed, air hostess Cho just nodded her head, "Wonderful" Eyeing the nametag she added, "Thanks Marcy"
"No problem! Enjoy your stay!" Marcy replied with a giggle before moving on to the next passenger.
"Oh I'm sure I will" Cho muttered before walking off the plane and into the airport. Her mouth fell open as soon as she caught sight of all the muggles running around, she'd always thought Kings Cross had been busy but the airport was about ten times busier and maybe even more at that. Catching sight of a man wearing the same navy blue as the flight attendants she quickly walked over to him, "Excuse me! Excuse me!"
Pausing mid-step the man turned around and grinned at her, "Can I help you Miss?"
"You speak English, thank God" Cho remarked and then smiled as the man's grin got even bigger, "I was wondering if you could tell me where baggage claim is? This is my first time in an airport and I'm sort of.well."
"Lost?" He supplied helpfully, "Don't worry, you'll soon get the hang of it Miss. Now, to get to baggage claim go right round that corner and then you'll see a big sign directing you to it"
"Thank you" She replied gratefully before picking up her back-pack again and marching off in the direction he'd advised.
"Uncle Cheng!" Cho squealed, immediately dumping her bags and running forward to be swept up in his arms, "God it's been-"
"Far too long firefly" Cheng replied as he swung her around one last time before setting her down on the ground, "Now, let me get a good look at you"
"I think she looks pretty darn good" A voice commented casually from behind them.
"Weasley!" Cheng barked turning round to glare at the young red-head, "You keep up like that and one of these days that mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble" Studying the man before her, Cho concluded that based on looks alone he was around twenty-four or twenty-five years old. He was fairly tall, with shaggy red hair and bangs that kept falling into the most beautiful pair of emerald green eyes she'd ever seen. Spending so much time out in the sun had obviously worked wonders for him seeing as he was so freckled he looked almost tanned.
"Oh it already has"
Cho was startled out of her daydream just in time to see the stranger give her a suggestive wink before he grabbed her bags and headed out the nearest exit.
"That boy, that god damn English smart ass" Her uncle muttered as he stood glaring at the spot that man had occupied. As if suddenly remembering why he was in the airport in the first place, Cheng turned back round and smiled at an amused looking Cho, "I'm sorry firefly; you must excuse the idiocy of some of my staff"
Giggling she impulsively hugged her uncle again, "I've missed you so much since you moved out here"
"I can assure the feeling is mutual" Cheng replied giving her a peck on the cheek before asking, "So, how is my dear sister? Has she found herself a man yet?"
"Uncle Cheng!" Cho squealed indignantly, "You're not supposed to ask those kind of questions" Grinning she added after a moment, "Not yet but I get the feeling she'll be doing a lot of looking while she's in China. Speaking of men, who exactly was that? He looked quite familiar but I can't place him"
"He's a Weasley" Cheng remarked flippantly as they began walking towards the same exit his assistant had left though, "They all look the exact same, you're probably just getting him mixed up with a classmate"
Well if that's true, Cho thought to herself with a smile; then Ron Weasley is certainly going to be one hell of a looker in a few good years.
*****************************************************
"I said fifth gear! Not god damn second you ignorant twit!"
"Well excuse me but I've never driven a stick before!"
"Of course Weasley, always the simplest of things for the simplest of brains isn't it?"
It took all of Cho's resolve not to burst out laughing, apparently it seemed that Weasley -she still hadn't learned his first name- was the scapegoat of all her Uncle's workers and tended to get on her Uncle Cheng's nerves very quickly. It obviously wasn't very fair on the red-haired gentleman but it amused Cho to no end. "Right, that's it boy. Pull over!" Cheng ordered angrily as his assistant swerved again to avoid another pedestrian.
Blowing one of his bangs out his eyes the young man chuckled, "Now really Cheng, we're nearly there and we've avoided hitting any muggles"
"Just barely" Cho quipped from the backseat.
"Ah-ha, you see? Even my own niece agrees you are a menace on the roads and she's only seen about ten minutes of your driving. Lord knows why England ever wanted you on their team Charlie; if you can't drive a car then I don't understand how you can fly a broom" Cheng muttered angrily as he glared out the window.
"Wait a second, you're Charles Weasley? The Charles Weasley?" Cho asked in surprise, leaning forward to get a better look at him.
Wincing he turned to look at her, "Just Charlie if you don't mind, can't stand the fact that I share the same name as that bloody idiot Pr-"
"Eyes on the road! Eyes on the road!" Cheng shouted hysterically as he smacked Charlie's knee for good measure.
"Alright, alright! Keep your hair on mate, the guy was miles away" Charlie replied with a chuckle as he settled back in his seat to focus once again on the road.
Muttering obscenities under his breath, Cheng Woo hurriedly made the sign of the cross as he scowled at Charlie out the corner of his eye.
"You're not Catholic Uncle Cheng" Cho pointed out as she looked at him, her face showing that she was completely confused.
"That may be firefly but when this one is driving" He glared at Charlie for effect before continuing, "I pray to whatever Gods will listen. That way one of them has to hear me, yes?"
Laughing Charlie shook his head, "He makes it out like I'm on bleedin' drugs or something"
"You bloody well better not be" Cheng warned, "Now just hurry up and get us to the conservation before you manage to cause anymore accidents"