A/N: Here's the newest chapter. Enjoy! JKR owns Harry Potter.
Spitfire
Things changed after Hermione got hurt again. This time, she had purple burns running up one of her legs. She was in the infirmary at the moment, reading a book.
She had been going about her usual routine, cleaning her dragon's enclosures for the third time since she had started working officially at the reserve. She had thought that the dragon was asleep, but it turns out that she hadn't been. Hermione had gotten a little too close to her and had startled her. Hermione had been hit with the fire, and if Charlie hadn't been walking by the enclosure at that moment, then she probably would have been killed.
This incident prompted a change of policy, two Dragon Tamers on the job. They had been pushing for the Romanian Ministry to change the policy for months now, but only now did they listen and allow a change. Eric had been livid and actually went to the ministry to demand that they let him take on more Tamers. They were bringing in more every day, and Hermione was just waiting to find out who they placed her with.
Hermione was about to fall asleep, the book wasn't quite holding her attention, when Charlie walked in.
"Hey there Spitfire." He said, and she laughed. Her friends had dubbed her Spitfire after the incident. She actually liked the nickname. "They finally assigned partners." He told her, and she sat up. She sucked in a sharp breath as her healing skin stretched under her bandages. "Hey, hey take it easy alright?" He said, setting his hand on her shoulder and pushing her lightly back onto her pillows.
"Okay… Um who's my partner?" She asked, looking at him. He went a little red before answering.
"Me. I asked Eric to make me your partner. I was the one who got you when you were hurt, so it just seems right. I hope that's okay? It means that we will have a few more dragons to look after, but I don't really trust anyone else to watch your back." He said nervously, she gazed at him thoughtfully for a moment before smiling.
"That's brilliant Charlie, I'm not sure your mum would let you hear the end of it if you didn't demand that you were my partner anyway." She said, and Charlie laughed.
"Well I'm glad you're okay with it. Um… there is one other thing though." He said, and once again he looked nervous.
"What is it?" She asked him.
"Well, since we are taking in more Dragon Tamers, they are making all of the cabins for two people to live in. And.. they kinda want the partners set to share the cabins." Charlie said, and now it was Hermione's turn to go red.
"Huh, well that'll be interesting. Shouldn't be too weird though, we've stayed in the same house before." Hermione said, although she did think that it was going to be slightly awkward. They had stayed in the same house before, but this seemed less like a temporary situation.
"Okay, well they are moving people's cabins today… Would you like me to move your stuff into the new room in my cabin? I would move my stuff to yours, but I think I might have more to move." He said, and after a moment, she nodded her agreement.
"Yeah, that makes sense. Oh hey, I think they said that I was going to be discharged today, so if you need any help?" She said, and Charlie shook his head.
"Naw, it's fine. You need your rest. You have another week off until you start working again. I can handle moving you in, okay? Don't you worry about it." Charlie said.
"Okay, well will you let me know when you're all done so that I can get out of here, it's so boring…" Hermione said, and Charlie nodded with a slight laugh.
"You got it, Spitfire." He gave her a gentle hug goodbye and proceeded to walk out of the infirmary. He made his way through the reserve and to the cabins, making a beeline to hers. He took the front steps two at a time and stepped into the cabin. It was so bare, he couldn't help but notice how little she really had. It only took him two trips to move everything she had, though it helped that he could just levitate it right across to his cabin. He looked down the road and noticed that many other people were also moving their cabins. Everyone seemed surprisingly pleased with the new arrangement, they all knew that it would help everyone stay safe, that they would have someone to watch their backs now when they were in a dangerous situation.
He finished putting her things into the new extra room, the ministry had come along earlier and magically made each cabin a two bedroom. He also put her toiletries in the bathroom. It was odd, he hadn't lived with someone in a while. Sure, he would visit home a bit, but other than that he had been alone for years.
One he was completely finished, he sent a talking patronus charm to Hermione saying that the cabin was set up for her. He then went out to sit on the front steps to watch the sun start to sink while he waited for her. He wasn't sure if she would feel up to going to the cantina tonight or if she would like to eat here at the cabin, so he thought he would just ask once she got here. After about ten minutes, he saw her making her way down the narrow road, she was definitely walking slower. He stood up and walked out to meet her.
"Hey, I was wondering, cantina or the cabin for dinner? I wasn't sure which one you would prefer." He asked her, she stopped walking, and placed her hand gingerly on her thigh, she was wearing shorts so that the scars didn't get irritated, while she thought. Charlie's eyes landed on her leg, they had taken the bandage off. When a dragon spit fire at you the best thing to do was to let it breath, if it was covered it always took much longer to heal that was normal. If uncovered, they typically healed up quite quickly.
"Don't stare." She said, visibly uncomfortable with the amount of time he had spent looking at her newest wound.
"I'm sorry." He said, shaking his head. "So what'll it be?" He asked her.
"Let's go to the cantina. I wanna see why Will and James never came to see me, the gits." She said, her eyes narrowing slightly. Charlie laughed and gestured for her to lead the way. They walked together, taking it slow so that Hermione didn't hurt herself even worse. They entered the cantina to find no line at the kitchen, everyone was already eating. They got there food, the leftovers that nobody had wanted. Hermione had apologized profusely as they walked over to where James and Will were sitting for being so slow that they missed getting the better food. Charlie just shrugged it off with a smile. He waited until she sat down at the table to take a seat just in case she needed help before taking his own. James and Will both stared at Hermione until she said anything.
"So, you better have a good reason for not coming to make sure I was still alive." She said, and both men grimaced.
"I didn't want to puke on you." James said simply. "Blood doesn't settle well with me." Hermione stared incredulously at him for a moment.
"How you became a Tamer is a question I fear I will never find the answer to." She said, shaking her head. She then turned and faced Will. "What about you then?" She asked him, and he turned bright red.
"Well.. I uh.." He stammered a bit and Hermione let out a sigh.
"Will?" She asked a little impatiently. Charlie laughed a bit before helping his friend out of the awkward situation.
"Poor Will here found out that the medi witch that was helping you was his ex. They didn't exactly end amicably. Trust me love, it's not you." Charlie explained, and Will nodded a bit in defeat. Hermione stared at him for a moment before laughing.
"You are both so ridiculous. Next time I get hurt, I expect both of you to come see me." She said, and they both nodded sheepishly. She then ate her meal while the men talked about everything that was happening at the reserve, she was just too tired to talk anymore. The pain killing potions she had been given when they discharged her made her extremely tired. After a bit, she looked at Charlie and waited for him to finish talking before catching his eye.
"Hey, I'm gonna head back to the cabin, you coming?" She asked, trying to sound nonchalant about the fact that they were sharing a cabin in front of the other two at the table.
"Yeah, let's go. See you lot in the morning." He said to James and Will, and they both waved goodbye before Charlie and Hermione started walking. She had the feeling that Charlie could tell she wasn't in the chatting mood, so he was silent as well. They walked in silence until Hermione stumbled and fell on the ground, her eyes drooping.
"Woah, hey are you okay?" She heard Charlie say, she felt extremely tired, too tired to walk apparently.
"Yeah, just really tired." She said, starting to stand up. Suddenly, she felt herself be scooped up, and knew that Charlie had just picked her up. "Hey, put me down. I'm not going to make you carry me all that way." She said, though she said it halfheartedly. She heard Charlie chuckle, and felt his chest move against her cheek.
"All that way? You really are tired, we're like three cabins away from ours." He said, but Hermione didn't respond. He looked down at her face, she had her head rested on his chest and it seemed as though she had fallen fast asleep. He looked up the steps at the door, he wasn't sure how he would open it without setting her down. He looked around and saw someone across the road.
"Oi, can you open this door? She's out cold and I don't want to wake her." He asked the man, who nodded and crossed the street without a word to open the door for him. "Cheers mate." Charlie said, and he walked into the cabin, using his heel to shut the door behind him.
He carried Hermione to her room and set her down gently on her bed, he slipped her shoes off of her feet and set them down by her bedroom door before taking one last glance at her, she looked so relaxed when she was asleep. He smiled and exited her room, shutting the door quietly behind him.
