Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling

Chapter 10

Charlie sat on his broom overlooking the nest of American Reds. He had just released a baby that was incubated in the preserve's nursery. The little Red had been scented, which meant that he had been sprayed with his mother's scent, so both would recognized the other. It was now only a couple of weeks before he was due back at the Reds' training camp for another season.

The past months had whirled past him in a blur. He couldn't believe this time last year he was just reporting to the preserve for duty and only spent a couple of months before reporting to the Reds' training camp. The Reds only had one loss this past season and that was against Hawai'i. The final tournament for the USA Quidditch League championship was a heart stopping game against the Reds who had defeated the New Jersey Flyers and Hawai'i beat Florida to face each other. In the end, Charlie managed to snatch the Gold Snitch away from Garret Machado in a ferocious battle that took both seekers high above the playing field to inches above the grass. The final score was 150-0. The game lasted 12 hours. Once again the American Red Dragons became the USA Quidditch League champions.

The Salem Cats offered Owen a better contract and a chance to play first team, and Charlie told him he'd be dumb not to take it. He was one of the best players Charlie had ever seen and was ready for the starting team. Owen said he liked playing with the Reds, and wanted he'd think about the offer during the off season. Charlie got the feeling he wouldn't be returning to the Reds next year.

"As much as I love you, mate, I'm not giving up my slot for you," Charlie told him.

When he returned to the dragon preserve, he was thrilled to discover that Jonas had, indeed returned, and Daniel Schleif was no longer a part of the organization. All over-night camping was barred from the site and the only tours that Jonas allowed were day trips where the tourists (and school children) got to see the nursery and a tour of the facility escorted by Jonas personally.

Charlie spent most of his on duty time working the dragons and only occasionally had to fly the perimeter, ensuring that the dragons and other magical creatures didn't collide with the muggle population. Once again, Charlie was at peace.

Charlie was working a double shift; during the day he was working with the dragons and this evening he had to guard the perimeter. It was Friday night and a lot of muggle traffic was expected. He was working with Ricardo, one of his best friends and they were planning a trip to Mexico on their next days off.

"Pretty quiet so far," commented Ricardo when they met up at 10 o'clock. "Nothing unusual. What'd you do today?"

Charlie yawned and stretched on his broom anxious to get some flying time this evening. "I released that baby American Red to its mother today. She took to him right away."

"How many were released this month?" He asked.

Charlie smiled. "Four this year. There are seven eggs incubating now. It's been a good year for harvesting."

Ricardo nodded. "It helps when the director is more interested in dragons than gold."

"Absolutely," Charlie agreed. "So we still on for Mexico? I think I'm off tomorrow and Sunday."

"Bueno. I know a couple of girls. Are you interested?" He asked.

"Sure. Wait, where'd you meet them?" He asked, cautiously.

"Don't you trust me?" Ricardo asked. "I'm insulted."

"No, you're not. You know damn well why I asked you. Remember a couple of months ago when you talked me into going out with the girls who turned out to be men?"

"Hey, amigo, they were beautiful," he said defensively.

"Only because you were drunk."

Ricardo shrugged. "Well, I was pretty drunk. But this time, you'll see. They're on vacation. I think they're from England, or somewhere like that. Just say you'll go."

Charlie sighed dramatically. "What the fuck. Okay, I'm in. Where were you planning to meet?"

"How about the Turquoise Iguana? Ten o'clock?"

"Sure."

They were quiet for a while. They watched a car approaching from a distance. They could hear the car radio, mostly bass and the head lamps showed the car weaving from side to side across the road.

"Oh, shit," Charlie said. "Drunks."

The car finally pulled over and two women and a man spilled out of the car and ran toward a small ditch. One of the women kneeled and began vomiting. The other woman held her hair back while the man peed against a boulder. Obviously the man heard a noise from behind the boulder, and probably without zipping his pants, walked around to see what the noise was.

Charlie and Ricardo looked at each other and shook their heads. Taking a deep breath, they waited for the inevitable screaming. Once it began, they swooped in and found exactly what they were expecting: the muggle man had become entangled in an enormous spider web. By panicking, he had wound himself tighter into the web, and the giant arachnid had come to see what the web had captured.

Charlie landed on top of the boulder and called out, "Don't move, you're just making it worse." The man continued to struggle. Charlie pointed his wand and stupefied the spider, throwing it back at least fifty feet so Ricardo could get at the man.

Ricardo used an untangling spell and cut away the web. It took him a while because the man continued to struggle. Finally, Ricardo threw a paralyzing hex on him so he could cut him out. The paralyzing charm helped to get the man away from the web and carry him to the women. For some reason, they hadn't heard his screams, but started screaming as soon as they saw Ricardo and Charlie carrying their friend.

"Shut the fuck up," Ricardo said menacingly. "You'll draw attention to yourselves."

The women clung to each other, still drunk, but decidedly afraid that these two men had killed their friend and were about to do the same to them. In a panic, one of the women ran off into the desert. Charlie let her run for a while until she started to run into a magical fog, which probably contained sirens. He took off on his broom and swept her up grabbing her around her waist. He held her very close and whispered, "I have you. I won't hurt you." His voice was very reassuring and she went completely limp.

He set her down gently next to her friends.

"Is he dead?" the woman asked.

"No, but he might have been. What the fuck were you doing in the middle of the night in the desert? Were you trying to get yourselves killed? It's very dangerous out here in the best of times." He spoke quietly, but was very irritated. "I would tell you to leave immediately, but no one's in a position to drive. Get back in your car, now!" He herded the three back into the stilling running car. He magically shut off the engine.

"You'll be safe in you stay inside. The car's not going to start until you're sober, then you can drive out of here. The car won't start now, so don't try. You're not going to remember any of this, except that you won't travel into the desert at night." Charlie said in a soothing voice.

Ricardo and he put a protective charm over the car after giving them a memory and sleep spell. They would wake up in a couple of hours and drive off confused but at least alive.

The rest of the evening went fairly quietly. More drunks, but no spiders. At dawn, Charlie and Ricardo flew down to the parked car and watched the car drive away. After checking in at the headquarters building Charlie wrote their report. They went to the dining hall for a quick cup of coffee and breakfast before going to bed..

Charlie was getting a cup of coffee when he spotted his friend, Mike just sitting down. He waved to him and Mike motioned for him to join him.

"I haven't seen you in a long time," Charlie said. "We always seem to be missing each other. How's things going with Lindsey?"

"Much better. Thanks for asking. Oh! Before I forget, you've got a package at the house. We've had it for ages. Some gallery delivered it. Lindsey put it away and I've been meaning to tell you we had it, but it slipped my mind."

Charlie froze. Jessica's painting. "Have you heard from Jessica lately? I take it she did run off to the artists' colony? I've tried getting in touch, but nothing."

Mike reddened. "Lindsey talks to her."

"Is she back? Where did she go?" he asked.

"Uh, Charlie, don't get the wrong idea, but Jessica doesn't want to see you any more." Mike said.

Charlie looked at him. "Why? What did I do?"

Mike squirmed in his chair. "I'm sorry, Charlie. I promised Lindsey I wouldn't tell you."

"Tell me what? If I did something wrong, I'd like to know. You know I really care about her." Charlie said. He thought about the last time he saw her. She might have been a little distant, but he didn't believe that's she run away just to get away from him.

Mike blew out a loud breath. "I'm sorry, man. I love you, but I love my wife more. I really want to stay married."

"Well," Charlie said, confused. "Is Lindsey still pissed off at me?"

Mike laughed. "Oh yeah."

"Why? Does it have to do with Jessica?" he asked.

"Of course it does. Look, I can't tell you, but if you guessed, then I'd be off the hook." Mike reasoned. "See, technically, I didn't tell you, but you figured it out yourself."

"Mike, I'm too fucking tired to think. Why can't you just tell me? Give me a hint." He said, getting more irritated. "And will you at least tell me where she is so I can talk to her myself?"

Mike took a sip of coffee and thought about it for a moment. "A hint, huh?" He said, ignoring the rest of what Charlie asked. "I guess I could give you a hint." He scratched his chin. "She's not at an artists' colony, but she did move. She bought a house with the money she made from her show. She's really happy now."

"Fuck, Mike. Did she meet someone and get married?"

Mike shook his head. "She's not married, but she did meet someone."

"Oh," he said quietly. "Okay." He nodded to himself. He felt a painful, funny feeling in his chest "Right. Well, it's only fair. I wasn't much of a boyfriend, was I?" He said more to himself than to Mike. He blew out a breath. "I'll send Minnie round for the painting. I guess Lindsey doesn't want to see me, huh?"

"No, you come by, anytime." Mike said. "Lindsey will get over it. I think she should talk to you anyway. It's not fair to you."

"How about after work on Monday? Boo and I are going to Mexico this weekend." Boo was Ricardo's nickname because he had the ghastly habit of just popping in out of no where.

"Sure. That'll give me enough time to settle Lindsey down. She still loves you in her own way, you know."

"I guess. So, I'll see you Monday evening, then."

Charlie went back to his room at the bunk house. His roommate, Jack had already left for the day. He magicked the room to go dark so he could sleep. He was very tired, but he kept thinking about Jessica. By the time he drifted off to sleep, he decided he was glad that Jessica met someone. He was absolutely no good for her and their lives were totally different. She deserved a chance to be happy. Sadly, he thought, he could never have made her happy in the long term.

The trip to Mexico turned out to be the shag-fest Charlie was hoping for to get his mind off Jessica. The girls weren't from England; they were from New England, but it didn't matter. He stayed drunk the whole weekend. His "date", Lisa, was as passionate as anyone would have dreamed of. He actually danced with her, which was more like shagging with their clothes on standing up. He knew he'd probably regret being so demonstrative in public, but he was in a 'what the fuck' mood.

So, it didn't come as too much of a surprise, when he saw his nearly pornographic display splashed across the cover of several celebrity magazines on Monday morning. It didn't help matters either that the pictures had to be the one where Lisa's top kept dipping exposing a very ample breast. He was just very glad it wasn't Quidditch season. By the time the season started, everyone would have forgotten about the pictures and the fans would have moved on to other salacious gossip.

Unfortunately, Lindsey saw the photographs, and whatever forgiving mood she may have been in soon vanished in a tirade that would have scared off a werewolf. He let her rant, while Mike took his kids and went outside.

Finally, after about a half hour, Charlie held up his hand. "Okay," he said. "You made your point. But I'm not the one who walked out on Jessica. She took off on me."

"Well, can you blame her?" she said, just warming up again.

"Look, I don't know what I did, and since she ran away, I can't find out. I would have loved to have known so I could apologize, but that's a little too late."

"You arrogant, selfish son of a bitch!" She screamed at him. "You wouldn't know, would you? You heartless bastard."

"Then tell me what the fuck I supposedly did to her!" he yelled back. Charlie very rarely lost his temper, but he thought Lindsey was over the top.

"All you wanted from her was sex," she countered.

"So? It was mutual. And it wasn't just sex. Is that what she told you?"

"No," Lindsey waved the magazine in front of his face. "You humiliated her every time you cheated on her."

Charlie snatched the magazine from Lindsey and threw it against a wall. "How was our relationship any of your fucking business, anyway?"

"Because she is my cousin and my best friend, that's why. And there's no excuse for what you did to her." She yelled back.

"What the fuck did I do, Lindsey? Tell me why I'm such a lousy son of a bitch!"

"You got her pregnant, that's what!"

Charlie could not have been more stunned if someone had told him he mother was a death eater. "What? She what? Are you, what?" He kept repeating.

Lindsey stood in front of him with her hands over her mouth. Charlie grabbed her by her arms. "Where is she?" He shook her hard. He heard someone come up behind him. It was Mike. He spun around sharply.

"Did you know about this?" Charlie asked angrily.

Mike had his wand out. "Charlie, you need to let go of my wife," he said very calmly, but in a dangerous tone. "Calm down. Jessica made Lindsey swear she wouldn't say anything to you. This was her decision. Lindsey tried to talk her into telling you; hell we both did, but she wouldn't hear of it. God knows why. That's why she went off. She gave birth to a little girl. She's determined to raise the child herself. She said it would be for the best. She knew that you'd do the right thing and marry her, but she didn't want to 'obligate' you, is what she said."

Charlie let go of Lindsey and sat down, still stunned. It wasn't possible. He had a daughter? "What's her name?" he asked.

"Ingrid, after our grandmother," Lindsey said quietly. "She's beautiful."

"I need to see her, Lindsey. Is she magical?" he asked.

Mike shrugged. "Too soon to tell."

"How old is she? When was she born?"

"November 4th." Mike said.

"Mike, please. I need to see Jessica. Please. Tell me where she is." He begged in a voice that sounded full of pain. "I can't live my life not knowing her. Please."