For Laura, because who else would I write Red Dragon for? And what better pairing than this to be my 200th? Enjoy darling.
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Charlie stands in front of his superior, some of the best Dragon Tamers next him. His superior is an older man with a stern face. His best friend, Zoelie, has told him that his blond beard is greying now, but all Charlie sees is grey. All Charlie's ever seen is black and white and grey, but Zoe, ever since meeting Jason, has seen color.
"As you may know," he says, in a thick Romanian accent, "the Triwizard Tournament is taking place at Hogwarts."
Charlie has heard about the event from his brother. He's sure there isn't a person on the Reserve that hasn't heard about it. Zoe raises a questioning hand. "Sir, with all due respect, what does that have to do with us?"
"Well the officials have decided the first task." He hesitates before continuing. "The champions must get past a dragon."
"Sir," one of the other Tamer says, "they can't!"
Charlie steps forward, outraged. "You can't be serious! It's far too dangerous. Even for people with training."
Damien raises his hand. And the room immediately falls quiet. "I don't like this as much as you don't. Trust me when I say I argued against it. But the officials wouldn't budge on it."
Glancing around the room, Charlie takes in the Tamers and their regular dragons. "We're the ones transporting the dragons," Charlie says as realization dawns on him.
"Yes," Damien nods. "Tomorrow is the task. Tonight, you'll make camp in the forest. And you'll return on Monday. All of your shifts have been deferred until your return."
Blakely steps forward. "Which dragons are we transporting?"
"A Common Welsh Green, a Chinese Fireball, a Swedish Short-Snout," he lists. He hesitates, and Charlie knows he not going to like the next dragon choice. "And a Hungarian Horntail. I know, I know, but the officials specifically asked for that one and wouldn't take no for an answer."
Beside Charlie, Zoe rolls her eyes. "Then those officials are either trying to get their champions killed or they are complete morons."
Damien doesn't comment. "Weasley, you are the only one here that knows the grounds. Therefore, you are going first to set up a location within the forest large enough to hide the dragons and far enough away from the students."
Charlie chuckles. "Students won't be a problem, sir. The forest is forbidden so students don't go in it. It's Dumbledore sending students into the forest for detentions that you have to worry about."
He gets a few questioning looks for the comment, but he doesn't say anymore. Damien nods. "So Apparate to the forest -"
"That's not possible."
"Excuse me?"
Charlie scratches the back of his head. "Err, you can't Apparate in or out of Hogwarts. For security reasons," he adds quickly.
"How do you propose us to get the dragons onto the ground without anyone noticing then, Weasley?"
"The only ways in or out of Hogwarts is through the Floo network or through Hogsmeade. Students aren't allowed in Hogsmeade except for special, planned weekends, so we bring the dragons through the town," Charlie suggests.
Damien narrows his eyes, studying Charlie intently. "Not a half-bad plan. What about the people in the town?"
"Silencing charm?" The suggestion earns Charlie a nod.
"All right. Go ahead. Inform Dumbledore of the plan. Once you've found the location of where the dragons will be held, meet up with everyone else in that town," his superior orders.
There's a glance around the room. "You all have an half an hour to pack your bags. Tell no one of what you are about to do. This task is to remain under wraps until it over. Understood?" Once everyone nods, they are dismissed.
"You ready?"
Charlie turns around to see Zoe standing in his bedroom doorway, a bag on her shoulder. "One of these days, you're going to learn to knock," he says. He zips his bag closed and follows Zoe towards his front door.
"So Hogwarts," she says, trailing off.
He smiles. "Yeah Hogwarts. You're going to love it."
She smiles back at him. "With what you've told me of it, I'm sure I will. Are you going to see your siblings while you're there?"
"Maybe when it's over," he replies. "But you heard Damien; we can't let anyone know we're there. It'll ruin the whole surprise."
She shrugs. "Well, even if you're not going to see your siblings, you at least owe me a tour of the castle."
"You got yourself a deal."
Finding a spot in the forest is a little more difficult than Charlie originally thought. It had to big enough to hide the dragons, especially seeing as Elyria is fifty-four feet. Eventually he finds an area that he thinks is suitable enough, and marks it. And he makes his way to Hogsmeade.
"About bloody time," Zoe growls. "Don't know how much longer my silencing and repel charms were going to last."
Charlie just jerks his head and leads the way. It takes them a while to make it back to the location that he's picked and even longer to get the dragons' cages situated. He offers Zoe his drink, and watches as the dragons spit fire at the Tamers.
Zoe has told him it's a brilliant red, like his hair, but all he sees is dark greyish-black. He wishes he could see the color. Zoe makes it sound so beautiful. But seeing color means soulmates have met, and Charlie just hasn't met his yet, or so Zoe says. He's twenty-two and still hasn't met them. And he doubts he ever will.
He feels Zoe's hand on his shoulder. "Come on. We've got first shift on Elyria tonight."
"This is going to be a long seventy-two hours," he says.
And she just nods in agreement.
"This is stupid," Charlie growls.
The silencing charms that they have on the dragons are barely enough. Charlie is surprised that the fire they are producing isn't being seen either. He's sitting against the tree, taking a breather from keeping Elyria in line.
Zoe is sitting next to him, her chest rising and falling quickly. "I know," she agrees.
"It's like these officials are trying to get these champions killed or something," Charlie mutters. "They don't know how to handle dragons. They are more likely to get killed than to succeed if they don't know what's coming."
"I know," she repeats. "But you heard Damien."
Charlie turns to her, a grin crossing his face. "Would you cover for me?"
"What are you planning on doing?" she asks, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. And then she shakes her head. "You know what? Best if I don't know. Just don't get caught."
He leans over and kisses her cheek. "Thanks. I owe you."
"Damn right you do."
Charlie hears footsteps behind him, but he purposefully ignores them. He sends his own silencing spell towards the source. He doesn't need his fellow Tamers to know that he tipped off Hagrid.
He could get in major trouble if anyone found out but he couldn't stand by and let those people walk into the first task blind. So he chose Hagrid, knowing that he would show at least Harry and Harry would tell the others.
"That was close."
He glances up to meet Zoe's eyes. "Anyone else notice?"
She shakes her head. "I don't think so. But that's a risky move."
"I just couldn't let them get themselves killed."
She laughs, ruffling his hair. "I know. Such a hero."
All she gets is a glare.
"Oi, you two," Charlie calls out. The two people in question look back at him. "You are helping accompany Kei to the stadium."
"They can handle Kei," the girl responds, nodding towards the Swedish Short-Snout. There's two guys already there, holding the chain. Charlie has no doubt that they can handle Kei, but he wants no mistakes today.
Charlie narrows his eyes. "I wasn't asking you; I was telling you to. Get on it." When they still don't move, he adds, "Now." He watches them scurry away.
Zoe comes up next to him. "She was right, you know."
"I know. But there's students here that don't know how to handle a dragon. We don't need any mistakes today," he replies. "When is Elyria going?"
"Last," she answers. "Your brother's best friend pulled her."
At that, Charlie grimaces. "Figures," he mutters.
"Well, no one died today."
Charlie looks up from his plate. Zoe takes a seat across from him. Her face is dirty from their time in the forest. "I suppose that is a good thing," he agrees.
"By the looks of the officials, I think they were surprised there was no casualties," she comments.
He snorts. "I would've loved to see that look. But I'm more anxious to get these dragons back to the Reserve."
She nods in agreement. "Maybe then you'll relax. You've been on edge since you've gotten here."
"Elyria broke free. It could've been a disaster, Zoe. There were hundreds of students there. They could've died and we would've supplied the dragons that would've killed them. We're just lucky that Elyria was focused on Harry."
Zoe takes Charlie's hands in her own, squeezing them comfortingly. "But no one did die. We contained the situation."
He closes his eyes and sighs. "I know, but -"
"They would've died and you would've felt responsible."
"Exactly. This is why this task should've never happened," Charlie whispers.
When Monday comes, Charlie is in better spirits. The dragons are being transported home. But as Charlie goes to Apparate with them, Zoe shakes her head. "I'm sure that the others can inform Damien of how the trip went. But I do
believe that we have tomorrow off and you promised me a tour of the castle."
Charlie can't help but grin. "Well, come on then. If we hurry, we should be able to make breakfast."
"So tell me about Hogwarts again," Zoe says.
Charlie entertains her with stories of his years at Hogwarts during the walk. He talks about the Houses and the competitions and the Quidditch. By the time that they make it to the Great Hall, the breakfast crowd is slowly filling in.
Charlie grabs Zoe's hand and leads her up to the Head table. He wants to make sure that it's all right with Professor Dumbledore before they tour the ground for the day. As soon as that is done, he glances for a spot at the Gryffindor table, looking for one of his siblings.
"This is amazing," she whispers to him.
He just grins. "You should see it during Halloween. It's even better. Ah! There's Ginny."
The two of them makes their way toward mid-Gryffindor table, where Ginny is currently sitting. "Charlie!" she exclaims, throwing her arms around him.
Charlie chuckles and ruffles her hair affectionately. He takes a seat next to her, motioning for Zoe to do the same. "You remember Zoe?"
As breakfast progresses, Charlie glances around the Great Hall. So much has changed since he was a student. He kind of misses it, but he wouldn't change his Dragon Taming for the world.
Something out the corner of his eye catches it, and he turns to look. There's a boy, maybe a fourth year at most, exiting the Great Hall with a Slytherin crest-adorned bag. And his vision just explodes. He can't see straight. And there's more than just black and white and grey. He turns back to his plate and digs his palms into his eyes.
"Charlie!" Zoe whispers urgently. "Are you okay?"
"'M fine," he murmurs.
"Oh Merlin no."
He nods, knowing she knew. And he pulls his hands away from his eyes.
"Okay, it's going to take you sometime to get used to it," she assures.
At that, Ginny turns towards them. "Get used to what?" she questions.
Charlie shakes his head, with a weak smile. "Nothing, squirt. Don't you have class or something?"
She glares at him. "Stop calling me squirt," she growls. "I'm thirteen now; it's embarrassing. Besides, I'm almost as tall as you." She picks up her bag and swings it onto her shoulder and leans down, placing a kiss on Charlie's cheek. "I'll see you at Christmas, hopefully?"
"Hopefully," Charlie echoes.
And with that, Ginny leaves Zoe and Charlie alone.
"Do you even know who caused this?"
Charlie squints at her. "No. It was just a brief glimpse. Pretty sure they're Slytherin?" He drops his head into his hands. "Why did this happen now?" he moans. "I was perfectly happy with just black and white and grey."
"And now?"
Charlie lifts his head. "I want to know what these colors are. And who caused it."
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A/n - so many thanks to my darling Tedz for beta-ing this. She's such a dear!