Emilia paced frantically in Charlie's flat – the place that she had called home for the past several days. She chewed on her nails, realizing that just because magic made basic tasks go by quicker, didn't mean that time went by any faster. She couldn't believe how much she missed Charlie… and he had only been away from her for two days and twenty-some hours. She couldn't imagine what was happening to him. Vasile had explained to her that James was not a pleasant guy, and she had already established that by her brief encounter with him. But being not a pleasant guy… did that mean torture? Did it mean killing? Or something else? Emilia was not sure, and she was too afraid to even ask.

Emilia felt an emptiness inside of her. Something was missing and Emilia was sure it was Charlie. She had tried to fill that emptiness before by getting Bill to bring over Taffy, on the most protective measures (incase a dragon smelled the dog), but Taffy barely filled that emptiness. Emilia had known the man for what… less than a month, and she missed him. That had to mean something. That had to mean that at least her feelings about him were real. And because of that, she fought with every emotion that she could to save Charlie. She wouldn't let her weaknesses get in the way of prying Charlie out of danger… if he was even still alive.

"Calm down," Vasile motioned to Emilia. Vasile had been a lifesaver for the past couple of days. He had been there just as much as she had, fighting for Charlie. The two spent every minute together, pushing for answers, and they were coming close. But James was pushing as well.

The funny thing to Emilia was that James was doing everything to find the two, but he couldn't find them, even though they were hidden in James's own backyard. Hermione helped them set up something that shielded them. Somehow this shield protected them from being spotted, even though Emilia could look outside of Charlie's window… even walk a couple of feet outside, and there was the reserve, but James couldn't see them.

Emilia had gotten word that James was interviewing everyone who knew Charlie and searching through all of their flats. Vasile couldn't go back to his own flat or even his office because that had been searched. Charlie's flat was hidden, so James couldn't search through that, but that brought some suspicion. Hermione even told Emilia the flaw of the plan as soon as that was figured out.

But that didn't matter much anymore, Emilia realized, trying to do as Vasile had told her to and calm down. The Daily Prophet was supposed to be out any minute and Emilia hoped that would end all of their problems. It had to. If it didn't she wasn't sure what else she could do.

Somehow, an owl found their home, even under the protection of the shield that Hermione had set up. It was a beautiful creature, Emilia noticed, as she spread her wings out wide and a brown and white pattern appeared on the underside of her wings. Emilia had come to enjoy being able to see so many owls. That was a creature that she had never suspected that she would ever work with, but owls were gorgeous. They were supposed to not be so intelligent, but that wasn't completely true of the owls she had seen lately.

"It's here," Vasile whispered, knowing that he had stated the obvious, but still wanting to press the point. The owl approached Vasile, probably sensing that he was a wizard, compared to Emilia's Muggle status. Vasile grabbed the newspaper, instantly shooing the creature away as soon as she was no longer needed.

He opened up the newspaper at first, thinking that the article would be hidden, but searching frantically, wondering where it could be. As Vasile began to search, Taffy gave out a loud bark, while the owl fluttered into Vasile's face. "Stop it," Vasile moaned, pushing the bird away.

Emilia kept focused on Vasile most of the time, but Taffy's sudden bark concerned her, so she focused on her dog for a moment. At that moment, Taffy jumped onto the kitchen table and knocked a box onto the ground. The box emptied partially, as the owl flew out of the way to examine what had happened. "Good girl, Taffy," Emilia said as soon as she realized what Taffy had done. Vasile had neglected to give the owl some treats, so Taffy did it herself.

"I don't know Reynolds," Vasile said, gaining Emilia's focus again. "I don't see anything here."

Emilia jumped up at the point, as the newspaper was spread wide open. All the Emilia could see at that point was the front page and that's all that she needed. Instantly, she recognized the picture that Charlie had taken of the Romanian Horntail, its golden horn being removed at the time. Not only was Charlie able to capture the Horntail in that picture, but he was also able to get a glance at the other dragons positioned on the examination tables. In the frame that Charlie had captured, one could see three other examination tables besides the one which held the Horntail. It was enough to give anyone chills.

"Front page," Emilia shouted, causing Vasile to instantly drop the paper to the ground. When he picked it up, he neatly folded the paper, only to reveal the front page.

Shocking Treatment at Romanian Dragon Reserve

Editorial by: Emilia Reynolds

I may not be a witch. I may not know much at all about magic. I may not know much at all, but I know when a creature is in pain. I know when an animal looks you in the eyes and wants you to know that they are hurt and they desperately seek your help. I may not be a Seer, but I have a pretty steady record at interpreting animal's feelings, and I barely had to take five steps into the secret Romanian Experimentation Lab to know that those animals were hurt.

In the Romanian Dragon Reserve, dragons of all shapes and sizes and colors are allowed to roam around and enjoy themselves under the Romanian sun. Dragon keepers and dragon healers protect them, observing them and making sure they are healthy and content. Managers and supervisors keep track of the staff, making sure their jobs are done, but that's not only what they do. They also are in charge of a secret establishment, an experimentation center underneath one of the many Romanian caves: Tatich.

When you walk into the Tatich cave, it is just like any other ordinary cave. It is a beautiful site, crystal-like walls gliding over open spaces and vast hideaways for dragons. But when you delve deeper into the cave, you find the Romanian Experimentation Lab, just beyond the grasp of the walls.

I was not able to spend too much time at the cave. I'm lucky that I even made it out of the cave alive because of what I saw. Dragon keeper, Charlie Weasley, was not as lucky as I was, and he is still captured by head, Jeffrey James.

What I did see at the Romanian Experimentation Lab was torture. I knew it was not natural to cut off a dragon's horn. Though sedated, I am sure that Romanian Longhorn pictured above will not wake up happy. I could see it from the faces of the other dragons, three in cages too small to hold medium sized dogs, along with at least five other dragons on experimentation tables. I, a Muggle, could see that was unnatural.

Learning about the magical world opened up a whole new scene to me and at first I was intrigued by this world. After seeing this treatment, along with how Linnie, a dragon experimented on just to guard your wizarding bank, has been treated. Linnie is scheduled to go back to Gringotts tomorrow, leaving her newborn baby behind. Linnie is trained to fear Clankers, a horrible trick that is painful and unnatural. How many people know that dragons feel pain in ten times the intensity that humans do? If that is so, why should they be treated any lesser than we treat our own kind?

I know being a Muggle, I do not have the authority to say that I know what is best for these dragons, but I do know what pain looks like, and I know what the laws of the Muggle world are. I believe in this case the Muggle world knows best. This is wrong.

Written with help by dragon manager: Dragos Vasile

"That looks pretty good," Vasile said as soon as they both finished reading the article.

"What do we do now?" Emilia asked, still anxious about what to do. She wanted Charlie to be rescued already. She wanted to hold him in her arms, but most of all she wanted him to be safe.

"Now we wait," Vasile said, taking a seat on Charlie's couch, slouching backwards and doing his best to calm down and wait for word on what to do.

Luckily, Emilia's nerves were spared quite a bit because only a little bit of waiting was necessary. Emilia had taken a seat next to Vasile on the brown couch of Charlie's flat, biting away at the last fingernail on her right hand, when there was a knock on the door.

Emilia jumped up at the sound, thinking that it was only Bill, but knowing that any visitor was good for bringing news. Maybe some type of action had been taken already in the dragon fight and more importantly the fight to get Charlie back home safely.

Emilia approached the door, rushing over to open it. Before she did, she heard a bit of noise coming from the outside, and she tried to listen.

"Why am I knocking on my own door?" His stubborn voice was difficult to interpret from the outside, but Emilia knew enough of it to interpret.

"Just calm yourself." That was Bill.

Emilia could imagine him sighing, and portraying a face of pain and annoyance, squinting his eyebrows and curling his lip, but she wouldn't be able to see that face from inside. Instead, she pulled the door open, displaced a gigantic smile upon her face, and ran outside to hug him, just as soon as she distinguished that it was in fact Charlie.

It took a long moment for Emilia to be able to pull apart from Charlie. She felt herself brush against his toned stomach again, and she felt warm and complete in his grasp. The hug started out with her being in control, rushing to comfort Charlie, but eventually Charlie took over, holding her more dearly and more steadily as Emilia's body fell right into place under his protection.

That was what he had been waiting for. That is what he fought for in the days of torture under James's hand. Her soft rhythmic heart beat brought him back to the real world, and when they finally broke apart, he noticed three single tears begin to trickle down his face. He, Charlie Weasley, was crying tears of joy just to be home and just to see the woman he was… yes… in love with.

"My god," Emilia said, Charlie imagining her to get the first real glance at him. He knew that his face was a mess, but he didn't even know how bad it was. He was sure his nose was broken, but Hermione tried to mend that one right away. There were most definitely still traces of blood all around his face, and his right eye was badly bruised; he could barely see from it, so he was sure it was not so pretty. And as he began walking, he showed off his limp, one that would heal with time, but could not be fixed on the spot. When Hermione joined the group of rescuers, she did her best to heal him, but it would take some potions and some more work for him to be completely fixed. He did not want to go to St. Mungos to get that all cleared… he just needed to get back to his own bed. He missed that bed of his. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better," Charlie answered, as Emilia supported him, allowing him to put his weight on her in just the right way, so that it did not hurt as much to walk. Hermione had not even quenched his pain that well on the way from the Romanian Experimentation Lab to Charlie's own flat. Emilia may have been an animal doctor, but she seemed to know how to take care of people as well.

"Let's set you up on the couch," Emilia said, knowing the couch would spare Charlie from walking very far.

"I want my bed," Charlie protested. "It's not too much further away."

"Okay," Emilia whispered, giving Charlie some time to settle down. She wanted to hear exactly what had happened, but for now, she was happy that he was home. That was good enough for her.

The two walked silently over to the bedroom, with Bill, Hermione, and Vasile following slowly behind them. Charlie stumbled briefly along the way, but the walk was much easier than before with Emilia's help.

Emilia carefully guided Charlie into his bed, lifting the sheets and lifting him up carefully onto the bed. Once he was settled, Emilia pushed the sheets on top of him, tucking him in.

Emilia then pulled up a spare chair and sat down beside Charlie. She held onto his hand, just like he held onto her hand at St. Mungos. She didn't want to let go, and all she could concentrate on while Hermione concocted potions and twisted her wand, was making sure that Charlie's heart held a steady rate and that he wasn't in too much pain.

He didn't pay much attention to anything either, finally feeling comfortable enough to close his eyes, something that he hadn't done in nearly three days. As he did, he made sure that he was still touching Emilia. That touch allowed him that comfort.

As soon as Hermione finished healing Charlie, Emilia wanted to know exactly what had happened. She wanted details, but she also didn't want to disturb Charlie. Leaving the room was out of the question, so she had to wait until Charlie woke up. Hermione said he would probably sleep for a couple of hours because of the medicine she gave him. Though he suffered from lack of sleep, being sick always caused him to wake up after only a short amount of sleep, so after only some two hours, he was awake again.

When he woke up, he immediately pushed himself up. He did want to talk, and he wanted to keep his eyes on Emilia. He didn't want to have to see her disappear again. He'd miss her too much.

Emilia watched him sit up in the bed and she automatically wanted to tell him to stay still; to keep rested. But she remembered not so long ago when she was in his position, where she wanted to sit up, and he didn't want her to. She decided to let him do as he wished. He knew what was right for his body.

"Thank you," Charlie whispered, somewhat crackly in his voice. His mouth was extremely dry. "I heard you helped save me."

"Do you need some water?" Emilia asked, ignoring Charlie. She was completely attuned to his needs. She was going to help him get better because she was the one that left him.

His head slowly bobbed up and down. Hermione jumped to the occasion, rushing to help out. She quickly ran to the kitchen and ran back with a glass of water. She handed it to Charlie, and Charlie took a quick sip of water, satisfying his throat of the need.

"Thank you," Charlie said to Hermione. Hermione just smiled.

"What exactly happened?" Emilia was patient enough. Now that Charlie was better, she wanted to know what he had gone through. She wanted to know how he was rescued, and she wanted to know what the resolution was.

"You were brilliant," Charlie said, focusing on just Emilia. "That article you wrote saved me. Bill told Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister, about it, and he automatically set up a group of Aurors to rescue me. Bill slipped word about what was going on to my father yesterday, and Shacklebolt had heard about it, but he couldn't do anything without proof. The picture and your article was enough proof for him, so the team came and rescued me. Hermione and Bill came along as well of course and brought me here."

"What did James do to you?" Emilia was concerned. Charlie didn't look well, even now after he had been treated. Emilia wasn't sure she was prepared for what Charlie had to say, but she knew she had to hear it. She had to know what Charlie had been through."

"James has been taken into custody," Charlie said, diverting the question at hand. He didn't want anyone to know about what had happened, least of all Emilia. Though Charlie knew Voldemort was worse of a torturer, Charlie knew he would have nightmares for awhile about how James treated him. "He might even be sent to Azkaban, the wizarding jail. He's been at least fired from his position. The experimental organization's been shut down and Linnie and her baby most definitely are going to be allowed to stay here. Shacklebolt said he'll appoint someone new to run the place. I was worried they'd shut it down or do something worse, but it looks as if it'll be a happy ending. I'll be able to return soon to do what I love as well."

"Not too soon," Emilia said, continuing to hold onto Charlie. She wasn't sure what the future held, but she knew she wanted to spend it with Charlie. She had become a different person when Charlie came into her life, and she liked that different person. She was happy… happy and in love. "You still need to get some rest."

"I'll be fine," Charlie said. "Wizard healing doesn't take as long as your crappy doctors do."

"I'd be careful about saying that around me," Emilia fought. "I take offense to that."

"Did I hurt your feelings?" Charlie said, though displaying a smirk, one identical to the one on Emilia's face. "I'm sorry. I bet I know what I can do to fix that."

"Oh," Emilia said, "what's that?"

Charlie took Emilia's hand, pulled it closer to him, and eventually kissed it.

"I think we should leave these two lovebirds alone," Bill said, while escorting Hermione and Vasile out of the room.

Emilia immediately retaliated, taking Charlie's hand and planting a kiss straight on the biggest Weasley freckle that was smack dab in the middle of his right hand.

Soon after, Emilia pushed closer, slowly planting kisses up Charlie's arm, eventually leading the way up to his face. When she reached his face, she was drawn to his lips like a magnet, not being able to find away around those lips. It was an immediate lock and the two continued to keep their focus on one another for what seemed like an eternity. When they pulled apart, they knew at least for that one moment that they were the happiest two people in the world.

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AN: Just a quick word, letting you guys know this is the final chapter of the story. There is an epilogue, which I'll be posting later. Thanks so much for reading this far and I hope you've enjoyed it so far! Sorry I'm terrible at responding to reviews.. I appreciate all of your kind words!