Written for The Hunger Games: Fanfic Style III - prompts: unexpected, The Forbidden Forest, soulmate AU, "I'm not so sure about this."/"Just trust me/", Charlie/Draco
Written for the Build A Zoo Challenge - prompt: Dolphins - Forbidden Forest/Hogwarts Ground
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Charlie looked at the—finally—sleeping dragons with concern. Tomorrow four students would have to fight these creatures. It would be dangerous and life-threatening and Charlie really wondered what idiot had come up with this task. Who in their right mind would let a child battle a dragon?
He could keep asking himself that question, but it wouldn't change that it was going to happen. And no matter how opposed Charlie was, these dragons needed someone to take care of them—and that person was him. So he started preparing their food, whistling a light tune while cutting up meat with something that mostly resembled an axe.
The sound of what he thought was a branch breaking disturbed him from the task. Immediately Charlie got quiet and listened, but he heard nothing except the natural music of the forest and the resting dragons.
He almost got back to his task, almost. What if it's a student? The possibility caught up with him. A student roaming around the Forbidden Forest in itself was dangerous, but with the dragons here… Charlie didn't want to think what would happen if someone got to close to one of the creatures.
Charlie took out his wand and abandoned the freshly cut meat to investigate the woods. Mentally preparing himself for what he would find. A student or a creature from the forest.
The further he got from the camp, the darker and scarier it became. Wind howling through trees that seemed to come to life. Branches filled with leaves blocking the afternoon sun lighting his path.
"Lumos." Charlie cast the spell when it got too dark.
And when his wand started burning, he saw a figure hiding between the roots of a giant tree. The undergrowth almost hiding the person from sight.
"Hello?" Charlie called out. No answer came, so he tried again: "Hey. I'm Charlie and you are?" Carefully, he walked closer. Only stopping when he could see the figure was a boy in Slytherin school robes. The kid had blond, almost white, hair and a pale complexion, though Charlie suspected that was partially thanks to fear.
The boy looked up at him with big grey eyes. Relieve crossed his features when he realised Charlie wasn't a monster coming to eat him. "I'm Draco."
"Hey, Draco. What are you doing here?" Concern settled in Charlie's eyes. This wasn't a place for kids, Draco shouldn't even be here.
Nervously, probably afraid of punishment, Draco answered: "I saw Hagrid going into the forest. I knew he was hiding something so I followed him." He paused for a moment. "Then I saw the dragons and then you heard me and I kind of panicked and ran away. And now I'm lost."
Charlie took a moment to process the rambling. So Draco had come here out of curiosity. And then fled out of fear. He understood, but he also needed to get the kid somewhere safer. "It's alright. Let me take you back to the castle, Draco." And Charlie extended his hand to help the boy on his feet.
What Charlie—nor Draco—had expected was the flash of light that sparked when their hands touched. It's brightness blinding them until it had subdued.
Draco... Draco is my soulmate?!
They let go of each other. Each taken aback by the revelation, not believing their eyes. But as the light faded and settled into their hearts, they knew it was true.
Unexpected, that was one way to put it. But it also felt real and warm and weird. Really weird because Charlie was about seven or eight years older than Draco, who was just a kid. How the hell were they going to do this? What were they even supposed to do?
Charlie banned the thoughts to the back of his head—for now at least. "Let me take you back to the castle. We can talk after that."
Draco didn't look certain but still nodded his head. "Okay." And this time he let Charlie pull him on his feet and guide him to the edge of the forest.
The walk was quiet. A bit awkward at first, but it soon settled into a comfortable silence. Both taken aback by the unexpected development. Draco didn't fully understand what was going on. He'd never expected his soulmate to be male, let alone ten years older than him. And Charlie. Charlie just couldn't think of a way to explain this to someone that was about the same age as his brother Ron. And the worse was that it was mostly because he couldn't explain it to himself either. He'd known that he would eventually meet his soulmate, probably marry them and maybe even have children. But it happening here and with Draco?—he needed time to think.
It was too soon when the sun shone through the leaves again, signifying they had reached the end of the forest. When after three more minutes they stood on Hogwarts grassy fields, they kept quiet, just staring at the ground.
Draco was the first to take the word. "How can you be my soulmate?"
It hit Charlie hard, sounding somewhere between baffled and irritated. He could see where Draco was coming from. He, most likely, had never thought his soulmate would be someone like him. He was a kid after all—and a Malfoy.
So he mustered up some of his Gryffindor courage and spoke. "I know I'm not what you'd expected out of your soulmate." Draco's look more than said that he was right at that. "But I'd also never thought this would happen. I just want you to know I don't want to force you into anything. If you want I'd like to get to know you—as a friend. Just a friend, nothing more."
Slight crinkles appeared between Draco's brows. "I'm not sure about this."
"Just trust me."
The boy contemplated for a while before his face broke out in a smile. "Okay. We'll be friends." He turned his gaze back on the ground and shuffled his feet. "Do you think I should tell my dad?"
O shit. Charlie hadn't even thought of that. He came from a more progressive family himself, but Draco's was rooted in the old traditions. Him having Charlie as a soulmate would not make life easier on Draco. And Charlie was so not made to make this sort of decisions. "If you want, you can tell him. He might get angry, but it will be good to tell the truth."
"And if I don't want to?"
Charlie looked Draco in the eyes. "Then I'll be your secret."
"I like that. A secret friend." And there that smile was again. A smile that lightened the boy's entire face. "A secret soulmate."
Charlie returned the smile. "Yes, a secret, for as long as you like." Three students running across the field caught his attention. "But you should get back to the school. Before anyone misses you."
"Okay." Draco waved goodbye and made his way back to the castle. Just when Charlie thought he would disappear, the boy turned back around. "When will I see you again?"
He thought for a moment and shouted back. "I'm here the entire week."
Draco nodded but didn't seem satisfied yet. "Can I write you when you're not here anymore?"
"Yes, of course." Charlie grinned at the boy. Was it weird to feel this happy about getting letters?
And that was exactly what happened. For years, they were friends, writing each other owl after owl. Charlie told his parents a few weeks after he discovered Draco as his soulmate. Draco, he told his parents when he was twenty and about to ask Charlie to be his boyfriend. Lucius and Narcissa weren't too happy but wished their son all the luck he needed. That luck still hasn't run out, for he and Charlie are married after five years of being together and have found there happily ever after with each other.