Disclaimer: I don't own anything except a pet rabbit.
Warnings: There isn't anything too bad in this chapter. Tell me if I'm wrong
My tumblr is still spankthebatchild. This weekend I uploaded a Grindelwald/Dumbledore one-shot. I think I'm going to start doing one-shot weekends. Sound good? Next one-shot will be Cato/Clove from the Hunger Games. I'll take submissions as well. Please review. It only takes a second, and it always makes my day. Enjoy the chapter. I'll update again on Monday!
Stephen's goodbye to his parents wasn't tearful. He hugged his mother, but it wasn't the same kind of hug that it had been before. It was a hug with forced emotions. Stephen wrapped his arms loosely around his mother and held her there for only a second before letting go.
"Please don't go," Dmitri begged. "I'm not ready to take care of her myself." Stephen glared at his father.
"Of course you aren't," he sneered. "I don't believe that you ever will be. I'll continue writing the letters to her." He turned and walked out of the door of the bookshop without giving Dmitri so much as a goodbye handshake.
"He'll come around," Charlie said awkwardly. He swung his arms back and forth, looking for something else to say. He didn't want to leave the way that Stephen had.
"No he won't," Dmitri said with finality. "What I did is unforgivable in his eyes." Dmitri held out his hand.
Charlie shook it. He turned to Bronwyn and tried to give her a hug. Her arms didn't open to him.
"Paulette," she said. Charlie nodded.
"Mom!" Stephen called from outside. "Hug him please!" Bronwyn gave Charlie a quick hug.
Charlie gave one last look around the little book shop and walked out. Stephen was standing outside with their suitcases, ready to go.
"I'm going to be glad to get back to work," Stephen said as Charlie walked out. "It'll be a good distraction from…" he waved his arms, "everything."
"Yeah," Charlie agreed. He grabbed Stephen's arm and his suitcase. They disappearated and appeared on the Dragon Reserve.
Charlie took in the fresh mountain air. He felt at home. It felt good to be home. He took Stephen's hand in his own.
"We should go get our schedules," Stephen said trying to turn away.
"Wait," Charlie protested. "There's something that I want to talk to you about." Stephen felt apprehensive.
"It can wait until later," he argued. "We should get back to work. I'll meet you in your tent later. I think I'm going to just give mine away. I'll move in officially tonight". With that, Stephen was off in the direction of one of the infirmary tents. Charlie stared in exasperation. He had wanted to tell Stephen about the doubts he had at the Three Broomsticks. He had wanted to get it all out in the open, but Stephen had probably sensed his nervousness. Stephen probably didn't want to know. Charlie knew that he had to tell him though. It didn't feel right to keep it inside.
Stephen pushed his way into the infirmary tent. He was immediately hit by an enthusiastic hug.
"You're back!" Vanessa squealed. "I wasn't expecting you! How was your trip? Where did you guys go? How are you feeling?"
"Slow down, Vanessa," Stephen said pushing her away. "I'm tired out by your questions already!"
"Sorry," she apologized. "Just, tell me everything." Stephen told her about the Denmark, meeting his father, India, and visiting his mother. He left out the majority of his feelings and made it sound like the entire trip was enjoyable.
"That sounds great," Vanessa said when he had finished. "So, there isn't really a schedule filled out for you today, but if you want to work you can take over my shift. I have a date, and I don't think he'd mind if we lengthened it a bit."
"Sounds good," Stephen said nodding. "I need to start working again soon, or I won't want to."
"There's a dragon back there," Vanessa said pointing behind Stephen to another room of the enormous tent. "There's some kind of sore on the bottom of its foot that needs checking out." She gave Stephen another hug and left for her date.
Stephen pulled on his protective leather and pushed open the tent flap into the room. Inside there was a green Romanian Longhorn. Most people would assume that dragons only roared, but the noise that this dragon was making was somewhat of a whine. Stephen looked down at his ankle tag to read the name Balder.
"Ok, Balder," he said taking a step closer. "Relax and let me look at that sore of yours." Stephen had learned quickly when he first entered the dragon field that his voice had a calming effect on them. Most wizards and witches would put up some kind of a shield spell when approaching a dragon, but Stephen trusted that he wouldn't need one. Balder made no move to attack.
Suddenly, Stephen remembered his injuries. He stopped walking towards the dragon. He shook his head trying to remind himself that he hadn't had a chance to talk to the Hungarian Horntail that had injured him. Plus, they had much nastier tempers than Romanian Longhorns.
Stephen started to approach the dragon once more. It reared its head, half in surprise and half in fear.
"Balder," Stephen spoke again. His voice did not hold its usual calm. It shook as he spoke, and he could see that it unnerved the dragon. He cleared his throat. "Let's see that sore."
He took a final step towards the dragon. Its right rear foot had an enormous boil. It looked angry and red with puss oozing out. Stephen immediately knew what it was. Balder had an ingrown claw. He turned around to get the right potion.
Charlie didn't have a schedule that day either, but he found work. A Peruvian Vipertooth was living in the wrong area of the dragon sanctuary. She lived far too close to the Hungarian Horntails. Normally the dragons would be left alone if they moved closer together. Some ended up creating hybrids that brought more discoveries to the dragonologists. Hungarian Horntails are particularly vicious and territorial though. They didn't interbreed, and the Peruvian Vipertooth was in danger.
Ten dragon keepers were needed to move her. Five would shoot harmless sparks from their wands at the dragon's feet. The other five were needed to hold a shield charm around both themselves and one of the spark shooters. One of these ten dragon keepers had slept in sick that day. Charlie was to replace them and put up a shield charm.
"Ready! go!" called a young witch chosen to shoot sparks. Five shield charms went up. Charlie cast one around himself and the witch who had just spoken. The dragon was reluctant to move. They didn't even get her to take a step back until five minutes into the endeavor. It was slow moving. Not once did she take more than one step backwards at a time. After two hours of tedious work, she had been moved to a safer location.
"Put down your shields!" called the witch. "We'll take a break for lunch, and then we'll see if we can move her any further away to deter her from trying to go back.
"Nice work," Charlie complimented her. He sat down next to her and pulled a sandwich out of his leather messenger bag. "I'm Charlie Weasley."
"Thanks," the witch said nodding to him. "My name's Becca Turnbull."
"It's nice to meet you Becca," Charlie said smiling. He liked making friends with the younger dragon keepers. It wasn't that he wasn't young himself, but it seemed like every day new younger witches and wizards were coming in.
"Aren't you Stephen Mabriant's boyfriend?" she asked suddenly. Charlie nodded as he took another bite of his sandwich. "I sure hope that you're smarter than him." Charlie glared at her, all wants of making a friend forgotten.
"Stephen is smart," he said with clarity. He didn't like this girl's attitude. She easily could have been burned by a Hungarian Horntail. She had no right doubting the intelligence of her senior. "He was caught off guard."
"My point exactly," Becca said flipping her short black hair. "You should never be caught off guard while working with dragons."
"He wasn't on duty," Charlie argued.
"Guess you're pretty dumb too," Becca laughed. "In Romania, you're always on duty, even when you're not." Charlie stood up abruptly. Becca snorted with laughter. He stormed away. He didn't care that Becca didn't have someone to cast a shield charm around her. She could burn for all he cared.
Stephen took one last look around his tent. He had reported that he would be moving in with Charlie. The cot was folded up, and the desk that was usually covered with sketches, spell books, potions, and ointments was now clear. All of Stephen's things were packed neatly into suitcases. He flicked his wand and made them levitate. He left his tent and headed for Charlie's.
When he got to the tent, Charlie was already on the cot. He wasn't asleep, but his hands were folded behind his head while he stared at the ceiling. He had an infuriated look on his face. His nose and forehead were nearly scrunched together, and his eyes kept sliding back and forth.
"What's wrong," Stephen asked. He let his suitcases dropped to the floor and climbed onto the cot with Charlie. He rubbed his nose.
"New bitch," Charlie said. He didn't even look at Stephen when he joined him. He continued to stare at the ceiling of the tent.
"Don't let her get to you," Stephen said pulling Charlie into his arms and forcing him to look at the wall of the tent instead of the ceiling. Charlie snorted.
"You should talk," he protested. "You let those homophobes get to you. You let your injury get to you. You let not only your past but your mom's past get to you."
"Hey," Stephen said sitting up but not letting go of Charlie. "What's gotten into you?"
"I don't know," Charlie said shaking his head. 'I just didn't expect all of this…"
"All of what?" Stephen asked forcing his voice to stay calm. He could feel himself getting angry.
"I didn't expect your family or your injury or your incapability to stay strong through anything," Charlie said. His voice got louder as he spoke. He tried to bring it down, but it ended up sounding like an angry whisper. "Stephen, I love you, but you can't break down the way you have." Stephen gave him an incredulous look and pushed him out of his arms. He stood up and started pacing.
"Let me get this straight," he snarled. "What I've been through isn't enough for me to be upset. Charlie, my face is gone, and no one respects me anymore. People don't recognize who I am at first, and when they do they remember me as an idiot who let his guard down. My mom is mentally insane, and I have never felt motherly love from her. Do you want to know what I've been thinking about all day?" Stephen was yelling at that point. Charlie looked down at his hands and didn't say anything. "Do you want to know, Charlie my love?" he spit out the word love. "Well I'm going to tell you anyway! I was thinking about whether or not I should check her into the mental ward of St. Mungo's! Do you know what I decided?" Charlie shook his head. Tears were starting to well up in his eyes. He had been afraid that he would explode, and Stephen would react this way. He had planned on being gentle and trying to show his concern for Stephen, but Becca had thrown off his mood. "I decided," Stephen continued, "that I didn't have to. I decided that I could continue to take care of her as long as you supported me!" Stephen stormed out of the tent. He grabbed only one small bag as he left. Charlie jumped up and tried to follow him.
"Stephen!" he yelled. "Stephen! Wait!" He caught up to him and grabbed his arm. He tried to turn him around. "Look at me!" he screamed. Stephen didn't say a word. He pushed Charlie's arm off, and shoved him. Charlie was caught off guard and hit the ground hard. He jumped back up.
"I'm not giving up Stephen," he said.
"Go back to bed, Charlie," Stephen answered still walking away. Charlie followed from a safe distance.
"You know that I didn't mean what I said that way," he protested. "I'm always here to support you. I just didn't want to see you break down like that anymore. It scares me." Stephen still didn't say anything. "Stephen, don't shut me out," Charlie pleaded. "I'm always here for you to talk to." Stephen stopped unexpectedly. He spun around to face Charlie.
"If you can't deal with my "break downs" as you call them, then you can't be with me," Stephen said. He turned around and started walking again.
"Stephen," Charlie said soothingly. He grabbed Stephen's shoulder, and this time Stephen stopped and didn't push him off. "I can deal with anything as long as it means I'm with you. You also need to let me talk though. You need to let me have those moments when I'm an absolutely terrible boyfriend." Charlie felt Stephen sigh.
"Go to bed Charlie," he whimpered.
"Not until you tell me that we'll talk tomorrow," Charlie avowed.
"Fine." Stephen turned to face Charlie. He took his face in his hands and kissed him. "Goodnight, Charlie," he said.
"Stephen," Vanessa said as she walked into his tent. "What's the final ingredient to…" She had entered a completely clean room. Stephen's tent was never clean. His desk was completely empty. There was nothing on top of his dresser. His cot was folded up in a corner. She smiled to herself. Charlie and Stephen had moved in together.
She was turning to leave when she hit Stephen square in the chest. His eyes were red, but his face was not wet. He had obviously been holding back tears for a long time. He fell into Vanessa's arms. He was practically putting all his weight on her. She pushed him back and held him at arm's length, but he wouldn't look into her eyes.
She pulled him over the cot and unfolded it. She pulled Stephen to sit down with her and held his hand.
"What happened, Stephen?" she asked. He still wouldn't look in her eyes. "Did you guys break up?" Stephen finally turned to her.
"No!" he yelled. "No! No. I don't know?" He groaned and lay back on the cot. Vanessa followed suit.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.
"Not really," he answered. "I just want to die." Vanessa nodded and looked at the ceiling.
"Where's your stuff?" she inquired. Stephen groaned again.
"I left it at his place," he said covering his face with his hands. "Guess I'm going to have to talk to him tomorrow like I promised if I want to get my stuff back." Vanessa took it as a good sign that Stephen had promised to talk to Charlie.
"Do you want me to stay or go?"
"Whatever."
Vanessa sighed. "I'm going to go then because I have the night shift. Feel better, Stephen. I'll see you in the morning." She gave Stephen a sad wave and left him to go to sleep.
Stephen curled up on his cot without taking off his clothes. He had nothing to change into in the morning anyway. He shut his eyes tightly and willed himself to sleep. He couldn't. He kept seeing Charlie's distraught face. He shifted over to his other side. Bronwyn's face haunted him there.
Stephen sat up and grabbed the one bag he had remembered to take from Charlie's tent. He pulled out a vial of potion marked, "Sleeping Draught." Stephen lay back down on the cot and brought the vial to his mouth. He fell asleep practically as soon as it touched his lips.
Charlie had meant to go back to his own tent, but he never got there. He found himself in front of Lucas's tent instead. Lucas had a little bell positioned outside his tent for visitors to ring like a doorbell. Charlie rang it.
"Charlie," Lucas said as he popped his head out. His chest was bar, and although he was mostly behind the tent flap, Charlie assumed that he wasn't wearing pants either. "Look I'd love to talk, but I've got a girl in there," Lucas apologized while gesturing inside the tent. He wished that he could take it back as soon as he saw the look on Charlie's face. He looked like he was in physical pain, like something was eating him from the inside.
"Who?" Charlie said with feigned interest.
"Her name is Becca." Charlie made a face of disgust.
"She isn't worth your time."
"Right," Lucas said nodding although he was confused. Normally he wouldn't give up an attractive girl just because Charlie showed up at his tent in the middle of the night, but there was obviously something bothering Charlie; so, he didn't argue. "Just give me a second."
Lucas re-entered his tent. Charlie heard him discussing something with a girl. Before long she was yelling. Becca stormed out of the tent and sneered at Charlie on her way out.
"Don't expect a second chance with me, Lucas!" she yelled holding up the middle finger.
"Come on in," Lucas said to Charlie.
"Sorry about that," Charlie apologized. "She was very pretty." Lucas waved his hand in dismissal.
"She'll be back, or I'll find another," he said. He wasn't lying. Getting girls was exceptionally easy for Lucas. He had light brown hair that fell in wisps across his forehead. His eyes were enormous and brown. They had a look in them that most girls found irresistible. "What's up?" he asked.
"I fought with Stephen," Charlie said plopping down in a chair. "It was totally my fault too. I feel so dumb." Lucas handed Charlie a glass of Quintin Black.
"Don't blame yourself, man," he said. "He must have deserved some of it." Charlie took a sip of his drink.
"I overreacted," he argued. "I take all the blame. Now I just have to get him to forgive me."
"I take it he was pretty mad?" Lucas said.
"Yeah," Charlie agreed. "I think I almost lost him."
"Charlie, you know that I'm all for finding yourself by being with more than one person in your life," Lucas declared, "but I think that you've been through enough of the wrong people. By wrong people I mean girls. Stephen's right for you. God damn it, if you lose him I'll never forgive you." Charlie laughed a little.
"You're right," he agreed. "Stephen's right for me. I know just how to apologize to him."
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