Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Written for Hogwarts Assignment 12 - Gardening 6. Someone taking care of a winged beast.
Word Count - 1296
Beta'd by the lovely Lo
For Sam, who is the reason that Henrietta was ever brought into existence.
Dragon Heartstrings and Other Adorable Things
"You can't be serious!"
Charlie looked up to see his older brother looking watching him, a look of abject horror on his face.
"Bill, I-"
"Have a dragon's egg? Yes I see that!"
"Bill, listen -"
"Charlie, what on earth are you thinking?!"
"Well if you hush your mouth for a minute, I'll explain," Charlie snapped, rolling his eyes. "I went out for a fly this morning -"
"And come back with a dragon egg!"
"Bill! Anyway, I was flying through the woodland over the other side of the river, minding my own business -" Charlie was cut off once more as Bill snorted, but he continued before Bill could open his mouth. "And I saw poachers. It was horrible, Bill! And you know the bastards only hatch the dragons so that they can use them for potions ingredients and what if they were the ones who are doing the illegal dragon fights? I couldn't just leave the egg with them to abuse -"
"So, not only do you have a dragon egg, but you stole it from poachers? Are you insane?"
"It's not like I actively went looking for them!" Charlie replied, his hand passing over the rough shell of the egg in front of him. "You know I like flying when it's sunny out. But… Bill. What was I supposed to do?"
Bill sighed, dropping to his knees so he was sitting beside his brother. "You're a reckless idiot, Charlie. What are you going to do with it anyway?"
"Erm… I was gonna hatch it."
Bill blinked. "Charlie… we're in a wooden shed. Did you leave your brain behind to trick the poachers into thinking the egg was still there?"
Charlie scowled, and Bill shook his head. "Come on. You can't keep it here."
"Are you going to tell Mum?"
"Of course I'm not," Bill muttered, rolling his eyes. "You might be an idiot, but Mum's more likely to breathe fire than that bloody thing!"
…
They flew in the opposite direction to where the woodland was that Charlie usually flew over, Bill leading the way, until they came up upon a stone hut. It was in the middle of nowhere, and as they touched down, Charlie looked around with undisguised curiosity.
"What is this place?"
"I found it last summer… you know, when I was seeing Abigail."
Charlie snorted. That answered why Bill hadn't shown him the hut before.
They entered the hut, and Charlie carefully placed his backpack down. He'd put the egg inside it to make it easier to carry.
"Are you sure I can't talk you out of this?" Bill asked, glancing at the bag.
Charlie shook his head. "It's ready to be hatched, Bill. If it's left much longer, it could die before it's even born."
Closing his eyes for a moment, Bill nodded. "I'll go and collect some firewood then. You better find a way to make us comfortable. This is probably going to take a while."
"You… You're staying?"
"Never abandoned you to do stupid shit alone before, have I?"
…
"What did you tell Mum and Dad?"
"That we were camping. I'm off to Egypt in two months, and you go back to Hogwarts in less than that. I said it would be the last time we got to spend some real time together for a while."
Charlie nodded glumly. He'd been trying to avoid thinking about Bill's impending extended trip.
"What kind of dragon is this anyway? I assume you know?"
"I. Erm. Yeah, I do know."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"What kind is it, you plonker."
"..."
Bill frowned. "What? Speak up, I can't hear when your whispering like that."
"It's a Horntail."
Bill facepalmed. There wasn't really any other response he could give to that.
…
"Bill!" Charlie hissed, nudging his brother none to gently with his elbow. "Bill, it's hatching!"
Bill blinked awake, leaning forwards immediately to see the large crack through the top of the shell. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he groaned. "I better go and find something for it to eat, hadn't I?"
Charlie nodded. "Brandy and chicken blood, Bill."
"What? Where the fuck am I supposed to get that from?"
Charlie grinned. "Use your imagination."
…
"Here, you pain in the ass," Bill said, throwing Charlie an apple. Charlie caught it without looking away from the egg.
Bill's eyes widened when he noticed that the crack in the egg had gotten much bigger, and as he lugged in the bucket of Brandy and chicken blood, the shell suddenly broke and Charlie gasped.
"Oh my god."
Bill stared at the winged creature. It looked… odd. Not at all what Bill would have expected from the pictures he'd seen of fully grown Hungarian Horntails. It was almost -
"It's so cute!"
…
Bill was slowly losing the will to live. Charlie hadn't been home for four days, and their parents were getting suspicious.
The dragon, whom Charlie had cheerfully dubbed Henrietta to Bill's never ending amusement, was… a handful, and couldn't be left alone for a minute. Bill was on parent duty, and also food duty, for both Charlie and Henrietta.
He was running out of excuses though. And places to find chicken blood.
Thankfully, he'd received a reply from the reserve he'd written to the day he'd found Charlie with the egg. Now he just had to make his little brother understand that as much as he loved Henrietta, keeping a dragon in a tiny hut wasn't a very good plan.
Not to mention that Charlie had to go back to Hogwarts in just a few weeks.
He hated feeling like he'd betrayed Charlie in some way, but he had hope that Charlie would see that this was best for all involved.
…
Charlie did not think it was the best thing for all involved.
"How could you do that without telling me?!"
"Charlie… You know I love you. You know I'd do anything for you. But what in Merlin's name were you planning to do with it when September rolls around? Were you just going to leave a baby dragon to fend for itself?"
Charlie glared at him for a moment before he slumped against the wall.
"I don't know what I was planning to do. I just… I love her."
Bill rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. "I know, mate. Maybe you'll be able to visit the reserve when you leave school?"
Charlie shrugged, despondent. "Maybe."
…
Charlie fussed around the people from Romania, questioning the harness, the crate, the strength of the brooms, everything he could think of to delay their departure.
They seemed impressed with his knowledge though, and Bill watched on proudly as Charlie matched them fact for fact about the little dragon.
As the dragon keepers mounted their brooms, the older of the two smiled at Charlie.
"Come and see us when you graduate if you're still this passionate about Dragons. We have internships."
Bill hugged Charlie against his chest as they took off, and the two of them stayed by the hut until the shape growing smaller in the sky disappeared completely.
"Why didn't they just Apparate?" Bill asked, his brow furrowing.
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Why do you think the poachers were travelling by land, Bill? You can't Apparate with a dragon!"
…
"Henrietta?"
Nineteen year old Charlie stood at the side of the gates, watching the three year old dragon with caution. The trained keepers stood with him, ready in case she reacted badly.
Henrietta sniffed then growled, turning her sharp eyes onto Charlie.
They all held their breath for a long moment before she laid her snout down by the gate, lazy smoke rings huffing from her nose as Charlie pushed his hand through the bars to stroke her.
She closed her eyes and…
"Is she purring?"
Also Written for;
Character Appreciation - 9. Apple
Seasonal - Summer - Sunny
Seasonal - Gryffindor - Reckless
Insane House - 526. Whispering