Chapter four: Sunflower

I turned to see Charlie standing there in black swim trunks, lined with green. He has his shaggy hair moved back out of his face and though he just arrived, he was a bit sweaty. "I... sure," I mumbled, handing him the body.
"Cool. Just sit down and relax," he murmured, opening the bottle and squirting some on his hand and setting the bottle down.
I quietly sat cross-legged on one of the towels and braced for him. The lotion was cool and actually felt rather nice. I wasn't sure what it meant to sun burn still, though this sunscreen cooled my skin easily. Charlie's hands were someone what rough and even they felt good on my back. I watched Tonks playing with Teddy in the shallows, gently dipping his felt in and out. I smiled fondly at them as Charlie continued putting more lotion on my arms and shoulders. "You like children?" he inquired after a moment. "They're... nice. Some are. Teddy is," I mumbled with a small shrug. "Do you?"
"Eh, I guess. Teddy is a good example of cute, nice babies, but I've seen some pretty nasty ones," he replied giving a light laugh.
I nodded in agreement. After a little longer, he came around front and gently rubbed some onto my cheeks and forehead. I looked down at his burn with admitted curiosity.
He must have noticed, for he murmured, "I study dragons in Romania from time to time. I've had my fair share of close calls."
"Do you... like dragons?" I inquired softly, watching him pour some more lotion on my legs and rub it in.
"Of course! I think they're very misunderstood and majestic creatures. I enjoy studying them as much as possible," he responded, offering me a grin, green eyes sparkling.
I paused. "What about shapeshifting dragons?"
"Shapeshifting? I haven't had much experience with that kind, though I heard they prefer isolation and don't much care for humans," he sighed, "I wish I could get one to agree to talk to me, though. All information is valuable."
I watched him for a little bit longer. Should I tell him? Is he lying? What if he was simply saying these things to lure me into a false sense of security. Maybe he really just wanted to kill me. I started when a green hair tie was put in my face. Charlie quirked a playful eyebrow. I tentatively took it and put up my hair in a loose pony-tail.
"Thank you," I murmured quietly.
"No problem! You look amazing with your hair pulled back, you know," he commented.
I paused, but then just awkwardly looked down.
"Hey, come on. You like swimming? Good! Then let's go swim," he suggested, standing and offering his hand.
I looked up at it with uncertainty, but then took it and allowed him to lead me into the water. It felt amazing on my hot feet after treading across the sand. I turned to say something to Charlie, but it seemed as though he'd disappeared. I frowned a little and waded more into the water, towards the other four, but suddenly Charlie popped up in front of me. I jumped back and being unable to find my footing after wards, fell into the water. Coming back up quickly, I sputtered out the water that had entered my mouth, throat burning from the small amount that I couldn't quite catch.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Avelyn!" Charlie exclaimed, looking me over.
I glared at him for a few seconds before abruptly splashing him. He paused, but then just laughed and splashed me back. We continued playing in the water, Remus and Bill showing up a little bit later. We played Marco Polo, and chicken and even though the names made little to no sense to me, they were a lot of fun. It wasn't until three more red-headed people arrived that I even remembered that we were having a picnic.
We all climbed out of the water and dried off with various towels.
"Everything ready?" Remus asked a tall red-headed man that I could only assume was the Weasley father.
"Yup! Oh! And this must be Avelyn! It's good to meet you, my name is Arthur Weasley and almost all of these kids are mine," he chuckled, holding out his hand for me to shake.
I quietly complied and murmured a small greeting. I blinked a few times when I saw the same red-headed woman from before.
"And I'm Molly Weasley. We've met before, haven't we, dearie?"
I shook her hand as well and nodded.
"Ava here works in Pomona's flower shop now," Remus commented, unpacking several items from the van and laying them on the top picnic tables that were pushed together.
"Of course! I bought flowers from you the other day," Molly commented.
I nodded in confirmation. "Yellow roses."
"For friendship and joy," she finished, lovingly, giving Arthur a peck on the cheek before helping Remus.
Arthur put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a thumbs up, before also helping to unload.
Once everything was unpacked and set out on the table, we took out seats. Charlie plopped himself next to me as Remus, Tonks and Teddy sat across from me.
"So how are you liking the flower shop so far?" Hermione asked as everyone started eating.
I offered a small shrug, nothing on my plate.
"I've only worked yesterday, though it's nice... quiet, I murmured.
Neville nodded in agreement. "It is quiet, but sometimes it can get busy, especially around the holidays."
"Well, save holidays like today," Hermione pointed out. "It's Easter vacation."
Ron nodded. "Gotta love a week holiday," he mumbled. "This is Percy, by the way, Avelyn," Charlie informed me, looking at the somewhat scrawny redhead. I nodded slowly, starting to feel a little bit warm.
"So, where do you come from, Avelyn? I've never seen you around here before," Arthur commented, eating some chicken.
I simply shrugged. "I don't know."
"We've... had to erase Avelyn's memories for her own good," Remus quietly added, drinking some water.
"Oh? Well, that's unfortunate," Molly said softly, eyebrows furrowed up in concern.
"How old are you?" Ginny inquired, looking at me with wide eyes, sitting next to Harry, towards the end of the two tables.
"Three-hundred and fourteen years," I mumbled shifting quietly.
"Really?! H-how?" George exclaimed, leaning back with his twin to stare at me.
I looked at Remus, unsure of what to say now. I honestly didn't mean to say that; I was told to say I was twenty-six if asked, but my age was one of the only things I was allowed to remember and it made me happy, so sometimes I don't remember the rule. Remus just sighed.
"She's a shapeshifter," he informed the group. They're heavily hunted by magical folk, so we've been trying to keep it a secret, but the cat's out of the bad now."
"Sorry," I mumbled uncomfortably, shoulders hunching as I lowered my gaze.
"No, no, it's okay. I was going to tell the others eventually, but Molly, Arthur, Bill and Charlie already know," he explained.
I snapped my head up and looked at Charlie in surprise. He gave a sheepish grin and an apologetic look.
"Sorry, but I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I was hoping you'd tell me first," Charlie explained quietly, rubbing the back of his head.
"So you can shapeshift into anything," Harry asked.
"No. Just a dragon," I answered, finally tearing my gaze away from Charlie.
"Just a dragon, she says," Fred snorted. "because so many people can do that."
"What kind of dragon?" Hermione asked excitedly.
"Ice," I replied.
"So I've been reading up on dragons in _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ and it says that Ice dragons have a filter in their esophagus that allows you to breathe ice because you don't have an ice sack, you have a fire sack like the others! Is that true?" she asked in one breath.
I paused, trying to put together everything she said.
"I... yes on the filter, but I have two fire sacks," I responded.
"What?! Where?" she exclaimed.
I glanced down when Remus placed some macaroni salad on my plate, but looked at Hermione again.
"I have one next to my heart and another where my appendix should be," I murmured.
"Wow... Somebody should tell the author," she murmured.
"I'm not sure if it's the same for other dragons," I admitted.
"Yeah, shapeshifting dragon and dragons have somewhat different anatomy," Charlie piped up. "Though, because shapeshifting dragons are being hunted, they're hiding extra hard and we already have little to no information on them," he sighed softly.
"But, now that Avelyn is here, can't you find out a little bit more about her kind?" Ron pointed out.
"Only with her and Remus's approval," he responded with a small shrug.
"Why do you need Remus's approval," he responded with a small shrug.
"Because I'm her lawyer, basically and there are some things that she still doesn't understand. Like what if someone other than Charlie claimed to know him and be apart of Charlie's study group and asked her to go with them to do testing?" he offered.
Hermione still didn't seem too happy, but finally agree. Several questions and a good hour later, we were back in the water. I was happily swimming around with the others while Molly, Tonks and Teddy were on the sand, apparently sunbathing, though the baby was under an umbrella. In the midst of playing Marco Polo again, I looked on the beach by the picnic tales where we had lunch and froze. Literally, there was ice all around me now. My heart was beating a hundred beats an hour.