Chapter One: Return to Romania
Lifting the fabric cover of the window, Charlie looked out from his seat on the plane into the open clouds, which were beginning to disappear to give way to land. The city of Bucharest, capital of Romania, was coming into view slowly as the airplane descended from the sky. The large buildings and roads were growing larger as Charlie buckled his seatbelt and waited to land at the airport to finally be reunited with his second home and extended family.
After his summer vacation at the Burrow with his parents and siblings, Charlie was ready to get back to work in the field with the Romanian Longhorns and Norwegian Ridgebacks. It wasn't that being at home in England was a strenuous activity because he liked to be with his family and catch up with all that was happening with his brothers and sister, but he'd missed the dragons and co-workers over the break, and was more than thrilled to be returning to see them again with another year of work. For many weeks he had been longing to run along the terrain, use every muscle in his body, and feel the rush of adventure and excitement in caring for dragons again. The mere thought of getting back into his job was a thrill in itself.
The scene outside was inching closer as the flight attendant went over the message system and informed everyone that the plane would be touching on Romanian soil in only a few moments time. There were a few reminders about luggage and safety precautions, but Charlie barely listened as he watched the graceful descent of the plane, swiftly moving onto the runway and landing perfectly like a Peruvian Vipertooth on flat ground.
He was back.
- - -
After a short walk through the airport security and a flash of his working visa from the Ministry, Charlie wandered down the corridor towards the open arrival atrium, his eyes scanning the crowds of people for a familiar face. His employer had promised to send someone from the reserve to claim him from the airport, so it was a mere matter of trying to find out who it was. With his bag on his shoulder, he aimlessly let his brown eyes do the work while his mind tried to imagine who would likely have been sent to fetch him.
"Velcome back Veasley," a voice from nearby called out.
Remembering that strong unmistakable Bulgarian accent, Charlie spun around to his left to greet the familiar friend that matched the memorable voice. There next to him with a chocolate bar wrapper crinkling in his closing fist was a thin young wizard. Though quite slim at a moment's glance, there was the discreet look of well-toned muscles beneath his black T-shirt, which highlighted the pale glow of his skin and the darkness of his brown shaggy cut hair that fell over his equally dark eyes. At first sight, the young sorcerer was a very mysterious and shady character to be looked out for and wary of, but Charlie knew better than to judge him. This was the closest friend he had in all Romania.
"Good to see you again, Simeon." Charlie greeted his co-worker and pal with a hard pat on the back, knowing that his friend wouldn't receive a hug very well. "Have a good summer?"
"The usual," Simeon replied casually shrugging his shoulders, throwing the used chocolate wrapper into the dustbin nearby. "Vorking, reading, and keeping up vith news from the Quidditch Vorld Cup."
"So you know that you owe me ten Galleons," Charlie laughed, giving Simeon a small nudge on the arm with his fist. "I told you Ireland would win. They have seven strong players in that League."
"But ve have the best Seeker," Simeon argued, beginning to stroll along the airport floors, walking and talking at the same time with Charlie. "It is a shame that Krum could not vait for twenty more points to be scored. Ve vould have von that vay, but at least he caught the Snitch."
"I suppose you heard about all the chaos at the cup as well?" Charlie inquired as he recalled the incident in his head, strolling beside his friend as they made their way towards the parking garage.
"I did," Simeon replied coolly without much effort or emotion. "Very surprising. You saw the Dark Mark in the sky?"
"Unfortunately," Charlie sighed, readjusting the weight on his shoulder as he ran a hand through his red mane and brought it down to rest on his extremely freckled cheek. "My brothers and I were there to restore some of the order when it happened. Tried to catch some of those involved, but once the mark was above our heads, everyone scattered. No one was caught."
"Shame." Simeon shook his head with disappointment, brushing some of his own hair off of his eyes. "Whoever vas involved should be punished for their actions. Ve do not need reminders of vhat happened those many years ago."
Charlie nodded in agreement with Simeon, but neither of them could bring themselves to say another word about the topic. It had been a shock for the whole wizard world to be reminded of the followers of the Dark Lord who were still at large. The scary thought had made every headline of every public press company, increasing the frenzy around the mysterious mark. Talking about it was certainly not a pleasant piece for conversation.
"So, am I the last person to get back from holidays?" Charlie asked to change the subject subtly.
Simeon stopped dead in his tracks as they reached the sliding doors that led outside. Slapping his forehead with a loud smack, he groaned with frustration as Charlie turned around, puzzled as to why they had stopped at the door.
"I forgot," Simeon stated plainly with a heavy sigh. "Ve are to vait for von more person. They are coming from Gatvick Airport."
"Who?" Charlie asked retracing his steps alongside Simeon as they went back to the arrival area of the airport. Charlie hadn't recalled any of the other English workers living near him. Barely any of them had even gone home for a holiday, or they would have returned already.
"Some new person," Simeon replied with a scoff. "A Healer."
Charlie looked at Simeon quizzically. The Romania International Dragon Reserve had never had a Healer working in their midst before. In past, it was their boss who had taken care of all their broken bones and scrapes and burns in the tiny infirmary; a Healer was never needed to do that.
"Why is a Healer coming?" Charlie asked with a puzzled tone, trying to keep up with Simeon's hurried pace.
"Ask Herb vhen ve get back," Simeon answered sarcastically, stopping in front of a board with the list of airplanes arriving to check for a flight from Gatwick. "He just tells me to pick up a Healer Ridges. He did not say vhy. The plane is arriving now. New person should be out in a minute."
Simeon led the way towards the arrival gates where they had just come from, letting Charlie trail after him as they swiftly made their way back through the crowds and ended up standing at the door, looking for a person whom neither had met before.
"Do you know what this person looks like?" Charlie asked as people began to pour out of the arrival doors and disperse into the masses. "A hair colour? An eye colour? Maybe what they're wearing today?"
"Nothing," Simeon answered with a shake of his head.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Simeon rustled through the storage in his pants and finally pulled out a fistful of Muggle money. Glancing over it briefly, he counted the change silently with his lips moving and turned to Charlie.
"I am going to get something to eat," he announced as he turned to leave. "The Muggles have very good chocolate, cannot buy in wizard stores. Something called, Kit-Kat Bar."
Before Charlie could object to Simeon leaving him alone to look for their new co-worker, he had already vanished in his search for a vending machine or snack bar. Charlie sighed, and went back to watching the doors, hoping that if he yelled out the name, Ridges, enough that someone would answer.
The name Ridges was ringing a bell in Charlie's mind. Somewhere in the back of his head, he had heard the name before. It was quite possible that he had heard the name from school before, as so many students wandered the halls of Hogwarts. It would have been no surprise if he had come across the name before, but he just couldn't put a face to the recognizable name.
"RIDGES!" Charlie called out as people streamed out of the doors. "RIDGES!"
Feeling silly calling out the name while others had welcome signs or meeting places, he regretted letting Simeon get away so easily. It was his job to claim the new Healer, and now he was playing the fool by calling out the name.
"CHARLIE!" an unfamiliar, but excited female voice called from the crowd of people. "CHARLIE WEASLEY!"
Charlie looked into the crowd for the person who had called his full name, not seeing anyone who stood out in particular against the droves. It was hard to see anyone with everyone walking in any which direction they pleased, waving and calling out over others. Still, he looked out, hoping he would see a sign.
"CHARLIE!" the voice called again, getting louder, clearer and closer, and beginning to seem familiar. "OVER HERE!"
Squinting for a better look, he tried to make out where the voice was coming from, seeing a single hand waving towards him, though no face was attached over all the other merry travellers and locals.
Then he saw her, beginning to shift through the crowds and making her way through. Long light brown hair hung loose from her scalp to border a slender child-like face that looked around her surroundings through large dark green eyes. Standing straight and tall, it seemed odd that Charlie had missed her that whole time she had been trying to flag him down. With a large smile breaking out instantly, she bolted right for Charlie as he realized who this young woman was.
"By Merlin, it can't be," he gasped in shock, though he couldn't help at the same time to smile. "I haven't seen you since Hogwarts."
"It's so good to see you, Charlie," she exclaimed as she wrapped her long slender arms around his neck and embraced him like the old friend he was to her.
"I should have known," Charlie laughed into her shoulder. "Abigail Ridges."
A/N: Some people got it wrong last time, so I'll state it now. Simeon's name isn't pronounced like Simon. The "e" does need to be heard. Sim-EE-un is the proper pronunciation for this character's name.
Also, actors were selected to portray these characters in images, such as the one from the prologue and any other sort of ads that are released over the trilogy. For interests sake: Charlie Weasley is portrayed by gold medal gymnast Paul Hamm; Simeon Slovensky is portrayed by the actor Edward Furlong; and images for Abigail Ridges use actress Amanda Bynes.
Keep looking for more chapters in the future and enjoy!
