Originally written for the 2017 HP rarefest on LiveJournal. Prompt: #53-Hermione nurses Charlie back to health after a nasty dragon burn and made by the lovely articcat621.
Many thanks to my alpha, xxdustnight88, for their help otherwise this wouldn't have turned out as long as it did because she fed my plunny. Many thanks also go to my beta, Meiri, for her help whipping this tale into shape. If there are any errors after they went through it, they're my own.
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.
The silence that had descended over the medical building was shattered by the sound of the front door slamming open.
The bang of a metal handle smacking against the plaster wall was quickly followed by a familiar voice shouting, "Hermione! We need your help. Now!"
The witch in question darted out from her office in the back. Her breath left her and she stopped short at the sight that greeted her. Adrian Pucey and Teodor Negrescu* were holding a nearly catatonic Charlie Weasley between them. His shirt was hanging from him in shreds, tendrils of smoke curling up from the burnt material.
"Granger!" Teodor yelled.
Hermione jolted at the sound of his voice. "I'm sorry, um—" She took a second to regain her bearings before letting her professional side take over. Hermione vanished Charlie's shirt. "Lay him down on one of the beds. What happened?"
The two wizards lowered the redhead face first onto the empty bed. He groaned at the movement.
Hermione blanched at the first glimpse she had of the damage done to Charlie's back. During the war, her Healer training, and now working here on the reserve she had seen many nasty wounds, but this was one of the worst.
A large burn covered most of his back. The red and mangled skin started on his right shoulder and went down most of the right side before crossing over to the left side of his lower back.
"Vipe got him," Adrian replied. He turned to the other wizard. "Neg, go back and see if they need any help. If my help is needed there, send word, otherwise, I'll stay here and help Hermione."
While Adrian was speaking with Teodor, Hermione ran diagnostic spells over Charlie to determine the severity of his burns before quickly turning around and pulling out what she would need to help him. By the time she was done gathering supplies, the other keeper was gone.
Now, that they no longer had an audience, she struggled to keep her emotions under control as she prepared to attend to her patient. One glance at the terrified look on Adrian's face sent large fat tears over her eyelashes and rolling down her cheeks. "Ades, I can—"
"Yes, you can, Mia," Adrian interrupted. He stepped forward and kissed her forehead. "You will have Charlie back up and keeping dragons with the rest of us in no time. You've been here long enough, and we all know how brilliant you are. We have seen you in action more than once saving our fellow keepers. You can definitely do this. Think of it as just another day on the reserve."
Hermione took a deep breath and smiled up at him. "Thank you."
"Anytime, love."
She shook her head to clear the last of her unease and walked over to Charlie's bed. Holding a vial of pain reliever to his lips, she used her wand to help him swallow the potion. "If you're staying here then I'm putting you to work."
Adrian chuckled. "That's the plan. What do you need me to do?"
"He has mostly second and a couple of areas of third-degree burns. I need you to put on gloves, and after I clean the burns and surrounding skin, you can start applying this paste." She handed him a large jar and then donned a surgical mask. "I'll stun him while we work so he doesn't feel anything. Stupefy."
Over the course of the next couple hours, Hermione, with Adrian's help, cleaned and dressed Charlie's wounds. She knew he had a rough road to recovery, but he would only have minimal scars once he was healed.
Hermione was quietly storing the materials they had used, when Adrian spoke up, "I'm not sure where Pereche^ went, but it looks like he wasn't injured in the blast. Charlie will be happy about that."
She frowned and turned around at Adrian's words. "Wait, I haven't seen Pereche since you brought Charlie in, where is he?"
"Is he hiding?"
"He has to be, magical tattoos don't just up and disappear for no reason. Maybe he's hiding on Charlie's chest. Do you mind looking?"
"Not at all."
"Wingardium Leviosa." Hermione gently lifted Charlie from the bed as Adrian bent down and looked.
The dark-haired wizard stood back up. "Yeah, he's hiding on Charlie's chest, curled in a ball over his heart."
Hermione lowered Charlie back down. "Did it look like he had any damage?"
"I'm sorry, I couldn't tell," Adrian replied.
"That's okay," Hermione said. "I'll work on coaxing him back where he belongs while I stay with Charlie tonight."
"If you're going to spend the night here, then why don't you go eat and change clothes. I'll stay until you return," Adrian offered.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. If anything happens, I'll let you know." He moved to escort her to the entrance. "Now, go."
Adrian didn't give her a chance to argue because as soon as she was across the threshold, he closed the door behind her.
Hermione turned around and stared at the dark stained wood, an amused smile tugging at her lips. Normally, something like that would upset her, but she realised that he was right. A change of clothes and something to eat was just what she needed to be able to get through spending the night taking care of Charlie. A book to read later on might not be a bad idea either.
She quickly made her way across the reserve grounds to the home that she shared and changed before she heated up leftover chicken, rice, and vegetables from the previous night.
As she was finishing her dinner, Ylenia, one of her housemates, walked into one of the large buildings the reserve staff shared.
Ylenia sat down next to her. "How is he?"
Hermione set her fork on her plate and turned her attention to her friend. "He will make a full recovery, it's just going to take him a few days to get to where he can go back to work."
"How are you doing?"
She shrugged. "As well as can be expected when a witch has to heal her husband's severe burns. Thankfully, Adrian was there not only to help me with Charlie, but he got me back on track when I had a small freakout, even though he is just as worried."
"That definitely sounds like Adrian," Ylenia mused. "He doesn't care who you are, as long you don't screw with his friends and family."
"You're so right, Leni," Hermione agreed. "That's one of the many things I love about Ades and his parents is that they didn't fall into the trap that many of the other Pureblood families fell into. They stayed neutral through the first war and when Voldemort returned they joined the Order. Although, it was kept quiet for his younger siblings protection since they were still in school." She looked down at her watch and stood up. "I really should get back to the medical building. Ades will need to get back to the office building to finish his paperwork for the day, and I have a tonne to fill out myself."
Ylenia stood up and gave her friend a hug. "If you need anything tonight do not hesitate to send me your Patronus. And take care of yourself."
"I will," Hermione replied, returning Ylenia's hug.
"You go ahead, I'll take your plate back to the kitchen."
"Thank you." She kissed her friend's cheek and quickly left her home, making her way back across the grounds where her husband was resting. As she moved through the reserve, she was stopped by a few of the other keepers, asking about Charlie's condition. Once she finally made it back to the medical building, she found Adrian sitting in the chair next to Charlie's bed, his eyes closed and his left hand entwined with Charlie's, wedding bands glinting in the candlelight.
She grinned. "Where's a camera when you need one?"
"Never anywhere accessible," Adrian murmured as he opened his eyes; a smirk tugging at his lips. "Did you eat?"
"Yes, I did," she said as she stepped over to the bed. "I had leftovers from last night."
"Good." He slowly released Charlie's hand as he stood up and watched her run her wand over him to collect updated information on how the redhead was healing.
She set her wand on the bedside table and looked at Adrian, a pleased smile tugging on her lips. "It looks like my new salve is already pulling the heat out of the burns, which will help him heal faster."
"That's wonderful news!" Adrian walked around the bed and pulled her into his arms. "I knew you could do it, Mia."
"Thank you, Ades," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Anytime, love. You know I'm here for you." He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "Keep an eye on our Charlie, but don't wear yourself out. You need to keep your strength. Message me if you need anything."
Hermione laughed. "Ylenia said the same thing before I left the house. You would think I was the injured one or even dying."
"Well, we want these little ones to be happy and healthy," Adrian said, placing a hand on her swollen belly.
She swatted his hand away and stepped back. "Stop that, you troublemaker. They are perfectly healthy, which we all know. Our husband, on the other hand, needs me, so go do your paperwork for the day and go home and then rest."
He grinned. "Yes, Madame Pucey."
"It's Pucey-Weasley, you know that." She pinched his arm.
"Such abuse, and from my wife no less!"
"Get out of here, you cheeky wizard," she laughed, picking her wand up from the table.
Adrian started for the door, but stopped after a couple steps and turned back towards her. He crossed back over to her and placed a quick kiss on her lips. "Take care of him for me, Mia."
"I will, Ades," she whispered back as she leaned in for one last kiss.
Hermione watched as Adrian slipped out the front door, leaving her alone with her other husband. She quietly made her way over to the chair the dark-haired wizard had been occupying only moments before and sat down. Shifting, she turned to look at Charlie. His face was pale and slightly pinched, telling her that he was still in some pain.
"Tempus," she whispered as she flicked her wand in a small clockwise circle.
A bright blue light flickered for a moment before settling into the current time. Three minutes until nine. The numbers disappeared as she placed her wand back on the table.
She reached out and carded her fingers through this coppery, red hair. "I'm sorry, my love, you've still an hour and a half to go before I can give you more pain potion."
As her fingertips trailed down the side of his neck, she watched as some of the tension eased from the lines in his face and his left shoulder.
"Yes, I'm here, love," she whispered. "You can rest now."
At the sound of Hermione's voice so close, a small, black nose appeared over the top of Charlie's shoulder.
"Pereche!" Hermione whispered in excitement. "There you are!"
She moved her hand down to brush a finger over the twitching nose. More of the lifelike inked creature became visible as his red and white head also appeared over Charlie's shoulder.
Hermione took one look at his left ear and frowned. "Oh, Pereche!" She reached for the ear in question but stopped when the little tattoo flicked it away from her. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to see what damage Vipe did." She crooked her finger, beckoning the tattoo closer. "There may not be much I can do until the rest of Charlie's back is healed, but I can at least look."
Pereche studied her for a moment before he moved closer.
Hermione slid to the end of the seat and leaned forward to inspect the damage done to Charlie's red fox. The edge and top of his left ear had been burnt and she even noticed that the whiskers on the same side of his face were blackened and curled at the ends.
"Is there anywhere else?"
Pereche flicked his tail the rest of the way into view, allowing Hermione to see that the tip of his tail was also burned off.
Hermione frowned. "There's not much I can do for you right now, but once Charlie's back is healed, I'll make sure we get you patched up."
The fox's expressive face showed his displeasure at Hermione's announcement.
She brushed her fingers over the undamaged right side of his face. "I know it's not what you want to hear, but…" she trailed off as she stood up and walked over to her storage cabinets. 'It probably won't help any, but he doesn't need to know that,' Hermione thought to herself as she pulled out the container holding her salve along with her facemask and a glove. When she returned to the bed, Pereche had curled up high on Charlie's shoulder. She donned the mask and glove before opening the jar and scooping out a small amount of the salve and spread it over his ear, whiskers, and tail.
She closed the container and then banished the glove to the rubbish bin before she removed her mask and returned it to its place in the storage cupboard along with the salve.
Pereche yipped silently at her in thanks and closed his eyes.
"You're welcome," she whispered once she sat back down next to her husband.
Hermione summoned her book from where she had placed it on the table by the front door. She settled down for the evening to read and keep watch over her favourite Weasley.
Hermione was quietly dozing on the chair she had conjured the night before when the front door opened.
Adrian popped his head around the door. "How's he doing?"
She sat up and looked over at the still sleeping wizard. Picking up her wand, she ran diagnostic spells to see how he was healing. She placed her wand back on the table. "He's doing okay. There were a couple moments where I could tell that his pain potion was wearing off so I gave him a little more. He's due for another round in a little bit."
"Has he woken up yet?" He entered the building and closed the door behind him. Making his way over he noticed that the little red fox was back where he belonged and was curled up sleeping on Charlie's shoulder. "I see that you were able to talk Pereche back around."
"It didn't take much convincing, but yes, he showed up not long after you left last night. As for Charlie, he's been asleep this whole time. I was going to do that this morning." She picked her wand back up from the bedside table. "Rennervate," Hermione muttered as she touched the tip of her wand to Charlie's temple.
Her patient slowly woke up, revealing feverish hazel eyes. He started to move, but Hermione placed a hand on his uninjured left shoulder.
"No, please don't move. It will be worse if you do," Hermione explained.
Charlie cleared his throat, wincing as the movement pulled on the bandages covering his back. "What happened?" His voice thick and deeper than normal.
"Vipe," Adrian supplied from his position standing behind Hermione.
Charlie moved his head to look at the other wizard, but the motion drew his attention to his back as pain raced down from his shoulder.
"Ah! Bloody hell!" He exclaimed before he started muttering under his breath. A long string of whispered curse words the only thing Adrian and Hermione heard for a few moments.
She looked over her shoulder at Adrian, an amused grin tugging at the corner of her lips.
Adrian smirked. "Us dragon keepers have such colourful language, don't we?"
Hermione chuckled. "You definitely do. Although, I would like to remind you all to watch your colourful language around the children."
"I'm sorry, Mia," Charlie whispered, doing his best not to disrupt the bandages on his back.
Hermione leaned down and pressed a kiss to his temple. "It's okay, love. I know you're in immense amounts of pain. Let me measure it out and I'll give you your next pain potion."
"That would be brilliant."
As Hermione prepared the dosage, Adrian sat down next to the bed. "What the bloody hell happened?!" He hissed.
"I honestly don't know, Ades," Charlie replied. "Vipe was knocked out per regulations so I could go in and clean around the tear in his wing before healing it and the next thing I know there's a searing pain in my back. I blacked out after that."
"Is it possible your stunning spells weren't strong enough?" Hermione inquired.
"I highly doubt that," Adrian responded. "Neg said they both stunned Vipe with the normal dragon stunner we all use, but either he's become immune to the spell, which is highly unlikely since he was put back under the spell to get the two of you out of there. Or one of you didn't do the spell properly."
"It was Neg," Charlie said.
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked as she placed the cup containing the measured pain potion on Charlie's bedside table. "You could've just as easily used the wrong spell."
"No." Charlie shook his head but hissed as a mumbled string of expletives left his mouth a second time. He took a couple calming breaths before trying to speak again. "No, I know it wasn't me. I didn't think anything of it at the time because he said the incantation so quietly, but it was definitely him. He was also quite a bit away from Vipe and I as I was tending to the tear."
Hermione gasped. One hand covering her mouth as the other reached out to grasp onto Adrian's shoulder. "Why would he do that?! You could have died!"
Charlie looked up at her sadly. "I think that was the point. He's been after my job as second in command since before I was promoted. He thinks that it should be his since he's been at the reserve longer than me."
Hermione frowned. "Yes, your time worked on the reserve is taken into consideration for promotions, but it's only a small portion compared to work ethic and how well you all get along with the dragons."
Adrian reached up and grasped her hand in his as he traced his fingers up and down Charlie's bare arm. "You're right, love, but some people don't see it that way. They think that because they've been here longer that they're entitled to promotions."
Anger flared through Hermione's body at Adrian's words. "You better be planning to turn him in," she demanded.
Adrian squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, Mia. He won't be getting away with this."
"Good, because if I get my hands on him a pissed off dragon and boss will be the least of his worries." She paused for a second. "You know what bothers me the most? After you left last night, he came by about an hour later and played the part of a concerned coworker. If I had known then what I do now…"
Adrian chuckled at his wife's protective streak. "What would you have done?"
She poked him in the shoulder. "Nothing to get myself arrested of course, but it would've served him right to be bound and silenced until the proper authorities arrived after I called them." She smirked. "This morning."
"There's our feisty wife," Charlie mused. He reached out and grasped her free hand.
Hermione squeezed his hand in return. "I've not gone anywhere, just been tired." She chuckled. "You try carrying these active little ones around and tell me you don't want to sleep all the time."
"No bloody way," Adrian said, laughing. "I would've given up already."
"If I remember correctly, you're the one that nearly passed out when I told you."
"Squeamish little Slytherin," Charlie teased.
"Yes, I am," Adrian agreed, "but I'm your squeamish little Slytherin."
"Oh kiss already you two." Hermione laughed as Adrian leaned forward and pressed his lips against Charlie's. Before it could get too heated, she cut them off. "Now, I've got a patient to attend to, so take your sexy, squeamish arse out of here and go report Negrescu before I have a second one."
Adrian pulled back from Charlie and raised an eyebrow at her. "Would you really attend to him?"
She smirked as she reached for the cup on the bedside table. "Oh yes, I would, because I know what methods take the longest to heal."
"Are you sure you were sorted into the right house?"
Charlie snorted. "Slytherin house wouldn't have been able to handle her. Look at the two of us! There are twice as many of us and she still runs circles around us."
"That's because you both love when I take charge."
"That is very true." Adrian stood up and wrapped her in his arms. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Will you take charge of me tonight?"
"Only if you're a good boy," she replied.
"I'm right here, you know," Charlie muttered from the bed.
Hermione slipped out of Adrian's arms and returned her attention to her patient. She sat down in the chair Adrian had just vacated. "We know, love. Once you're healed then it will be your turn, which should only take a couple of days with the new salve I'm using instead of the usual couple of weeks."
"Damn dragon," Charlie muttered before he winked at her to let her know that he wasn't upset.
"You're lucky to be alive," Hermione reminded him. "Now, take this and get some rest."
"Yes, Doctor."
"See, demanding."
Hermione smacked Adrian's chest. "Out, you troublemaker."
"Yes, Mistress."
Hermione hummed. "Mmm, now we're talking."
Adrian laughed and kissed her bushy head before quietly slipping out of the building.
"I love you, Mia," Charlie whispered as he started to nod off.
Hermione smiled softly as she reached out and carded her fingers through his shaggy red hair. "I love you, too, Charlie. Now, get some more sleep and you'll be back to dragon keeping before you know it."
She waited for Charlie's eyes to close before she settled back into the chair. Hermione knew that he would have a rough couple of days, but rough days were part of the job of a dragon keeper. Her ability to help lessen the pain they had to endure was part of her job and just another day on the reserve.
Translations:
*Teodor Negrescu: Teodor is the Romanian form of Theodore, Negrescu means "son of the black-haired person" in Romanian.
^Pereche is Romanian for mate.