A/N: This story is a continuation of Charlie's War. –Rita.
Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling.
Chapter 2—New Year's Day
Eleven pairs of eyes were glued on Charlie waiting on his signature grin and cheery smile. But he was stony faced. He clenched his jaw.
The truth was, American wizards had never experienced the influence or control of a dark wizard like Charlie and his friends and family had. During the reign of Lord Voldemort, Americans were blissfully unaware of the years of torture he and his Death Eaters had inflicted. The American Department of Magic turned a deaf ear and failed to warn its citizens of the potential dangers.
There were a few brave souls who listened to the warning and recognized the signs of the coming of dark Magic to America. Those witches and wizards banded together and swore an oath to protect muggles and fight the evil forces. Finally, though, the Department of Magic began funding its Auror Division, finally realizing the threat was real.
Department of Magic Secretary Silas Roundtree decreed that the Department of Magic was now dedicated to the protection of their muggle friends and protection of American wizards against evil tyranny. Charlie wondered if it was too little too late, but at least it was a start.
A very evil wizard calling himself Ares, a former Death Eater, came to America with the single goal of subjugating muggles and wizards and ruling in an Age of Dark Magic. Ares had a very beautiful witch at his side named Muireann, whose job was to recruit gullible young people into their coven. She used her sex appeal and she was very good at using her body to attract and enlist a few hundred young boys to join the fight. This was an easy task since American wizards didn't understand the concept. Using the weak minded had been a useful tool. Ares wanted an army of devotees dedicated to the dark arts. Ares's secret weapon was triplet wizard vampires whose mission was to turn wizards into an army of vampires loyal to Ares. Ares felt America was ripe for the invasion because very few even believed in the existence of dark magic.
Charlie finally smiled, and the group visibly relaxed. He waited patiently as the group finished their meal, then, as promised walked them over to the nursery, where they were given a special VIP tour. Fortunately, they were able to witness the hatching of a very special American Red Dragon. The group were amazed how quickly the little Red clawed his way out of the shell. Reds had very small undeveloped wings, and while they are able to fly as babies, they soon become too heavy for flight as they reach adulthood. It was Charlie, in fact, that discovered the Reds' ability to fly. No one had ever seen a Red fly and it was believed it was impossible.
The Red flapped its little wings and blew a small circle of smoke from its nostrils. It coughed a few times and spewed methane gas, clearing out the blocked gas portal in its mouth. Another cough and it ignited a flame. The tourists laughed and clapped with delight. Baby dragons were so cute.
Charlie raised an eyebrow when one brave (stupid) tourist asked if she could pet the dragon. The nursery worker looked at Charlie in horror. Charlie smiled and politely told the woman it wasn't a very good idea. The next moment the Red belched a flame that ignited the egg shell reducing it to an ashy outline of the former shell.
"We don't encourage human contact," the nursery worker explained.
The ten tourists nodded and stepped away from the dragon and followed Charlie, Ricardo and Dustin back to their camp site.
The rest of the evening was spent with the promise of a fun- filled party bringing in the new year. The witches were excited about celebrating in the desert away from the usual crowds and were still trying to talk Charlie and the others to join them. Maybe he was being unreasonable. He promised that he and the other guides would join them. His melancholy mood over the past couple of days was beginning to grate on his nerves. He needed to snap out of it and relax. There was something that he just couldn't name that was nagging at him and it just wasn't right.
As the revelers pointed their wands into the air, counting down the seconds, Charlie thought about his family in England. He had made the conscious decision not to go home for the holidays and he was missing his mother and father and the loud boisterousness of their home. Theirs was a home full of love and he needed to connect. That evening he got the feeling he would never see his family again. He tried hard not to show how sad he felt and even let the witches give him a New Year's kiss. After the toasts were made and the fireworks gone, he felt slightly better.
Around the campfire the tourists were beginning to drink too much of the wine they brought and became a little cocky. Each had to give their resolutions for the coming year and encouraged their guides to participate.
Dustin, who had drunk a wee bit too much, boldly told the group, "I'm going to finish school and come back here and be a wrangler full time."
Everyone applauded and he grinned confidently.
Ricardo wasn't comfortable telling the group of strangers what his resolution was but said that he hadn't made any and would have to think about it and to get back with him later.
"Charlie?" one of the women began. "What could you possibly resolve? I mean you are more famous than anyone in the world, and I know you have everything you could possibly want. Your life is, well face it, perfect." The women giggled.
Charlie gave them a resigned look. "Not even, no way. Let's see," he said, rubbing his hands together like he was trying to keep warm. "This year, I will discover a new species of dragon; take my team to the Quidditch World Cup; find a cure for spattergroit, and marry my girlfriend, settle down and have lots of babies."
The group, along with Ricardo and Dustin, who must have imagined themselves unstunnable, were clearly stunned. Charlie, the eternal bachelor, who had major commitment issues, was talking about getting married and, the man who didn't even like children wanted to have babies? Who was this wizard and what had he done to Charlie Weasley?
The pretty blond witch sitting close to him turned and looked at him. "You have a girlfriend?" she asked incredulously. "I thought you broke up with your girlfriend, Minerva."
He nodded, taking another swig from the bottle of wine that had been passed to him. "I did."
"So you're not going to marry Minerva?" Another girl asked hopefully.
"Fuck no. Sorry." Charlie said, blanching at the idea.
"If Charlie Weasley gets married, then you have to check out hell because I know it must have frozen over," Ricardo said, laughing.
" Exactly. See ladies, the first step in my ingenius plan is to meet the witch of my dreams, which obviously hasn't happened yet. Then I have to get her drunk enough to marry me, that'll be hard because, honestly, I'm a real bastard when it comes to women, so she'd have to be really drunk or better yet, confunded. Finally if I do talk the unfortunate woman into marrying me, I have to figure out a way to get her to agree to have a baby. Face it; most women aren't crazy about the idea bringing a child into the world without the moral support of the father. I'd definitely take off during Quidditch season or if they discovered a new species of dragon leaving her and the baby totally alone. And, I'm thinking it would be terribly cruel to bring another red head into the world, especially a boy. People like Boo here would spend their lives torturing the poor kid and stealing his wand."
Charlie sincerely expected the women of the group to be put off by this rather dismal assessment of marriage to Charlie Weasley, but apparently he didn't know women as well as he thought he did.
"Oh you poor, dear." The rather short witch, with a large gap between her teeth said. "You're crying out for love. I know those other women, Minerva, Joanna, Diane, and that muggle bitch must have turned your heart to stone, but believe me, Charlie," she said touching his hand. "There are good witches out there; you just need to find the right one."
Charlie looked at her somberly, and then cracked a smile. "I was just pulling your chain," he said. "I'd rather get spattergroit than get married. I can't believe you bought that bullshit. And for the record, I never slept with Joanna; she's like a sister to me." He was referring to Joanna Morgan-Kingsley, one of the chasers on his Quidditch team. The press had been speculating about their relationship for quite some time. The gossip got worse when she went off and married the seeker for the Hamilton (Ontario) Horntails, Jordan Kingsley. The rumors got more ridiculous when Joanna got pregnant. Several of the more silly celebrity reporters spread the rumor that Jordan and Charlie were lovers and Joanna was having the couple's baby, while some actually reported that Jordan married Joanna because Charlie refused to acknowledge that the baby was his.
He didn't appreciate Jessica being described as that muggle bitch, either. The fact was they had gotten back together over Christmas, but that was their little secret and he swore no one from the wizarding world, especially the press, would find out about it. She had broken up with him the first time because of a wizard celebrity magazine cover story.
Everyone seemed a little uncomfortable about that time and one by one the group wandered off to their tents. It was well past midnight; Charlie and Ricardo went to check the perimeter.
"Are you all right?" Boo asked.
"Sure. I'm a little pissed off. Did you happen to notice that everyone seemed to know my life better than me? I mean who would know I broke up with a girlfriend? Who would even care?" He shook his head. "This whole thing is getting so fucking old."
"But you're famous, Charlie. You can't help that. You are a professional Quidditch player. People want to know you. Hell, people want to be you. They don't have lives of their own, so they live through you. You knew what you were getting into when you started playing Quidditch." Ricardo said.
"I guess I did, but I had no idea people would find my life interesting. Why can't I just play fucking Quidditch? I don't understand it sometimes. I'm not feeling sorry for myself, well, maybe a little, but really don't get the fascination of wanting to know everything about me. Why do they only pick up the stupid stuff? Like the women I date or what kind of trainers I wear? Or the fact I like to party? I wish more people knew about my commitment to fight dark magic and how much it has affected my life."
"You tell them, bro. You are the perfect spokesman. People listen to you."
"Bullshit, Boo. Nobody wants to hear about what's really going on." Charlie ran his hands through his hair. He let out a sigh of frustration. Then he shook his head. "Fuck it. I'll be all right."
By the time the group had been hustled into the front office the next day, Charlie seemed to have snapped out of his melancholy. He was flying today and that always made him happy. He would also be away from the tourists and management for a whole week, and that prospect made him happier.
Ricardo checked out and was on his way to Camilla's room for a delayed New Year's celebration. Charlie stopped by the dining hall and ate breakfast. He needed a shower then he would be back on patrol.
Surprisingly there was no activity along the muggle intersection the whole day. Charlie figured most people were too hung over or stayed at home watching their televisions. He enjoyed the patrol that day. The weather was clear and just enough coolness in the air to make it pleasant. At the end of his shift, at sunset he saw the very rare sight of a herd of winged horses flying in perfect formation flying into the sun. He decided to spend the night under the stars and wait on his companions to start his weeklong tour of census taking. He was finally at peace. Unfortunately, that wasn't to last.
