((Alright, so the entire month of July was pretty much eaten up, and I really have no idea where it went. Suffice it to say, I didn't have much time to work on this. But, at long last, here's another chapter. It's going to be the last one in Romania for a little while - they'll head back to Hogwarts, next time.
Still working at how I'm going to transition this in - my major plotline takes place at the end of the seventh book, but I'm thinking that there will be a few chapters of in-between-time, just for fun. I promise that I actually know where this is going...which is probably the first time for fanfics from me.))
Shay was beginning to lose track of time – they didn't follow it much, here, and the routine was basically the same every day. There was nothing to distinguish a Sunday from a Monday, or a Saturday from a Thursday. Time just slipped on and life in the reserve continued with little interference from the outside world.
In Shay's cabin, mornings always began in the same fashion: Claire would wake up long before Ana and Shay. She was a natural early riser, and put her extra time to good use. Eventually, she would come down the halls to pound on their doors, shouting "Breakfast!" Shortly following this wake-up call, Ana and Shay would stumble, still sleepy, to the kitchen. After breakfast, the three would head down to the dens where they went their separate ways. Technically, Shay was not employed by the Reserve, but by the Ministry. And though the Ministry had a heavy hand in the Reserve's dealings, it was not the sole owner. Therefore, while Claire and Ana were paid to care for the dragons (and each other), Shay was employed to observe.
And observe she did. She had to, after all, and there was little else she really wanted to do. There was enough to see to last a lifetime. Horntails and Welsh Greens and Fireballs and handlers, all moving in a complicated pattern.
"This is actually a dragon sanctuary, more than a "reserve,"" Claire said one morning as she and Shay walked down to the dens. "We take a lot of special cases. Older dragons, tougher ones, dragons that don't take so well to any kind of training. Some of them were deemed "useless," because they can't be used to guard Gringotts vaults or any other nonsense."
"So you nurse them to health?"
"Some of them. It really does depend on the circumstances. And the dragon."
"Of the dragons, what's the percentage of special cases?"
"Oh, I don't know," Claire huffed. "It might very well be fifty-fifty. I've never thought to check. Just kind of do what I'm told, you know?"
"Shay!"
The voice was unmistakably Henry's (the accent, Shay had learned, was the product of his being born and raised in Louisiana). Shay and Claire stopped to allow Henry to catch up. He skidded to a stop, breathing slightly heavily.
"Morning, Henry," Shay said.
"Morning. Have you heard, yet?"
Shay furrowed her brow, trying to match the vague question to any recent gossip.
"Heard what?" She finally asked.
"The Tri-Wizard Tournament. First task. Ethan Hardy, you know him? He got his arm smashed by the Horntail's….tail."
"What has that to do with me?"
"Charlie thinks you might have better luck with the Horntail than Ethan did," Henry replied. "Don't ask me why. But, apparently, you're coming with us to Hogwarts. If you agree."
Hogwarts. The outline of the castle rising into the sky played through Shay's memory. Of course she'd agree.
"Yeah," Shay replies, "sounds great."
"Good! Charlie wants to talk to you sometime today. I'd better get going…I've got business to take care of."
"That boy," Claire said with a laugh as Henry loped off, "never stops, does he?"
"No, that he does not."
Claire sighed. "Guess we'd better not either," she said, and grabbed Shay's wrist. "C'mon, then. We're gonna be late."
"Charlie?"
Shay called through the door, rapping against the wood a few more times. "Charlie, you wanted to see me?"
Finally, the door swung open, revealing a very sleepy-looking Charlie. Shay raised an eyebrow, then glanced down at the slim silver watch on her wrist.
"You do know it's passed two o'clock, right? In the afternoon."
Charlie grumbled something about napping, and stepped aside to let Shay in. The step turned into more of a half-asleep stumble.
"I'm sorry," Shay said, "I didn't think you'd be sleeping."
"S'okay. Just, ah…" Charlie yawned widely. "Just haven't been sleeping well."
"Because of the tournament?"
"Partly. Getting three dragons to Hogwarts wasn't going to be an easy task, but four…? Add in the Horntail, and there's just…there's just disaster waiting to happen."
"Why the Horntail?"
"Not exactly many other options, are there?" Charlie snapped. He closed his eyes, ran a hand through his sleep-messy hair. "Sorry. Didn't mean to…anyway, I'd made the mistake of mentioning the Horntail to Hagrid and…"
"And so now you're stuck, because he's basically guilted you into bringing the thing. Without ever meaning to, of course."
Charlie allowed the sight of a sleepy grin. "Of course. Anyway, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Hagrid? Well, not what I was expecting, but…"
"Very funny," Charlie said, adding a generous dose of sugar to his coffee. "I'm just dying of laughter. Not Hagrid, the Horntail. I think it's time we look into your…er…communication with it."
Shay could feel herself go pale. The mere thought of the Horntail left her quaking in her boots, most days. The idea of getting into its head was terrifying.
"Shay." Charlie's voice was the quiet, even voice of someone talking to a frightened animal. "I know. Believe me, I don't want to do this any more than you do. But remember that Chinese Fireball we'd been working with?"
Shay nodded – the creature had been so totally unreceptive that it had, at first, attempted to whack Shay from its den with a backward swipe of its foot. She had managed to scramble out of the way before it could do any major damage, but its claw had hooked behind her knees momentarily. She'd fallen backward, landing, hard, on the earthen floor. Her back had been sore for a week. Slowly, however, the dragon had allowed more and more communication from Shay – from behind the magical barrier.
"If you can get that thing to listen to a word you say," Charlie said, resting his hands on her shoulders, "you can get the Horntail to listen. Okay?"
Shay nodded, ducking her head to avoid any eye contact – her heartbeat had stuttered at the sudden contact, and she didn't want it to show.
You don't feel that way for him, and he definitely feels nothing for you, she reminded herself. Stop being silly. You're a Ravenclaw, for goodness' sake.
Her heartbeat stilled, finally. "Alright. But we leave the barrier up. For now."
Charlie chuckled. "My thoughts, exactly."
"Charlie?"
He had taken a seat at the table, crossing one ankle over his knee. He had managed to open the Daily Prophet without setting his mug down.
"Shay?"
"Am I…that is, I'm going to Hogwarts? For the first task?"
One side of Charlie's mouth tilted up in a half-grin.
"Do you want to?"
Shay grinned, which caused Charlie to laugh. "Yeah, you're going."
"Even if the Horntail really, really doesn't want to listen?"
"Even then. "
His smile was warmer than she'd ever seen it.
"Good," she said. "Great. Thanks,"
"Don't thank me," Charlie said, "You're the one with the freaky talent. Here – " he passed her the section of the Prophet he'd finished with, and gestured to a chair. "Have a seat, read the Prophet. I just want to finish this, and we can go see about that Horntail."
No sooner had Shay taken a seat than there came a light tap on the window – Shay's mail owl, Turnip, had arrived with several envelopes and a glossy tube in his talons. Apparently, he'd been too impatient to wait for Shay at her own cabin.
"Turnip!"
"Turnip?"
Shay grinned sheepishly, heaving the window open and taking the mail from the owl. He hopped up onto her shoulder, nipping affectionately at her hair.
"He's rather fond of them," she said. "And my little sister thought it fit."
Charlie chuckled and shook his head, returning to the paper. Shay rifled through her mail, slipping letters from home and from Oliver into her pocket. The rolled magazine made her laugh – The Quibbler, sent from Luna Lovegood. The younger girl had been a first-year when Shay had been in seventh. After a few weeks of observing a few too many instances of "Looney Lovegood"s, Shay had taken the younger girl under her wing. It hadn't taken long to understand that while Luna could be a bit…well…looney, she was not unintelligent. A Ravenclaw through and through, she was whip-smart behind her vague, dreamy eyes. And she could see the thestrals.
"Is that The Quibbler?"
Shay nodded, holding the magazine up for Charlie to see (The Fourth Champion: Aided by the Nearly-Invisible?) and laughed at his expression.
"You'd be surprised," she said. "It's quite amusing, really."
"I can only imagine."
Shay gave her owl a cup of water before sending him back to her cabin to rest. By the time the owl had gone, Charlie was ready to visit the Horntail.
"About time," Shay said. "You read more slowly than Binns."
Charlie glared at her but made no retort as they climbed into the magical staircase and then began the deepest descent into the dens that Shay had ever experienced. This far underground, the dragons' caverns were larger, the magic fortifying their barriers stronger. The dragons here were more dangerous than those above. Wild, unruly creatures. Mostly the young, mostly male.
"Here we are," Charlie said. They halted in front of the magical barrier separating them from the most frightening dragon that Shay had yet seen. It was wide awake and watchful, narrowing its eyes ast the arrival of the two humans. It looked as if she thought they would make quite a good lunch.
"I'm not so sure of this," Shay admitted in a whisper. "She doesn't look exactly…amenable to the situation."
"I'd be surprised if she was," Charlie said with a shrug. "All we can do is try."
"You've certainly changed your ideas about this, since I've been here," Shay said, crossing her arms in mock-anger.
"Well," Charlie said, rubbing the back of his neck, "That was before the Welsh Green Incident."
"The Welsh Green Incident?"
"TWGI, that's what I said."
Shay snorted.
"You, Charlie Weasley, are ridiculous."
"And rather proud of it too, may I add."
"Impossible."
The dragon growled a low, terrifying rumble that shook the ground beneath their feet.
"I guess we'd better get started," Charlie said, suddenly all business once again.
Shay nodded, swallowing her fear as she went to face the dragon.
In her time at the Romanian dragon sanctuary, Shay had seen many variations of dragon. This one, however, swept them all away. It was huge and powerful with yellow, slit-pupiled eyes. Its teeth were glistening ivory, sharp as razors, and its tail was adorned with a bristle of spikes. The magic Shay was attempting nearly burned her. She must have winced unknowingly, because Charlie had asked if she was alright. Shay nodded slightly, squinting through the magical barrier at the dragon.
It – she – wanted out. Shay could feel that desire coursing through her with every heartbeat. Out, out, out. To fly, fly up and away. Forever. To never be caged again. The dragon had no words to describe this desire, but it had overtaken her. Every thought was a beat of wings, a breath of air.
"Alright, lovely," Shay whispered. "Let me in."
But she had no such luck. At the unfamiliar sensation of magic mixed with human voice the dragon roared. Its cry was high and piercing, shuddering through the air. Shay sank back from it on instinct, pressing her hands tightly over her ears.
"No need for that," she said sharply, when the sound had died down. "Come on, now."
She had begun to pace in front of the barrier, trying to keep the dragon's attention. The eyes swung back and forth, following her. This time, when Shay attempted to reach the dragon, her mind was sabotaged with images. Bloody images, things she'd never wanted to see – the dens in flames as triumphant dragons rose from the wreckage. Handlers limp and bloody, broken on the ground. And the dragon could already taste the salt.
Just as Shay shivered, as she prepared to release herself from this communication, this torture, the magical barrier between her and the dragon flickered. She gasped, pulling in air, and stumbled away from it as fast as she could, ducking against Charlie without thinking.
He didn't seem to think, either, his arm protectively going around her shoulders.
"That thing," Shay said, still shaking, voice muffled by Charlie's shirt, "Is crazy."