A/N: Many thanks to brownlark42 for beta'ing this story!

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Chapter 7

May 2007

Charlie had been mulling over the Rowle problem for a few days. Part of him was relieved that Longmu, or Freya (he had to admit Rowle was right that Freya seemed to fit her much better than Longmu), had company when Charlie himself couldn't be there. He still wanted to bring her to the reserve, and now that she was flying, he thought it might be possible.

But now he had a bigger issue to deal with. Thorfinn Rowle. They had been at Hogwarts together and something of enemies, playing for their houses Quidditch teams and frequently sparring during dueling club. He couldn't forget how possessed Rowle seemed to become on the pitch with a Beater's bat in his hands. And he wasn't surprised to see how big Rowle had become over the years. He'd always towered over the rest of their year-mates, but as an adult, he had bulked up and filled out. Charlie wasn't scared of Rowle, but he certainly could be intimidating.

No, the bigger problem was that in order to get Freya to the reserve, he needed help. Rowle wasn't trained to help with dragons and while he didn't seem to have harmed Freya in any way, Charlie still couldn't trust him to help move her.

So now, instead of working on getting Freya to the reserve, he had to figure out a way to get Rowle out of the way, and then bring in a team from the reserve to help him. The operation was becoming a drawn-out and costly headache, and Miles was on his case about it.

"If she's still not flying, we'll have to Portkey her out," Miles said. "It'll be a pain to get a Portkey that powerful, and we'll have to tranq her beforehand, but that's the only way to get her here safely. Do I need to contact the Ministry to get the Portkey?"

Charlie ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He didn't want to tranquilize her, and even with a Portkey, he'd rather not do any of that to her if he could help it. Portkeying her out of her cave and to the reserve would only break down the trust Charlie had worked so hard to build with her.

"Give me a little more time," Charlie said. "The flying thing I'm working on. I think I can get her to the reserve without ruining our relationship in the process."

Miles eyed him as if he knew that Charlie was hiding something. Charlie kept his face blank and his gaze steady, hoping that Miles would drop it. He knew he could think of a way around the Rowle problem if he was given enough time. Next time he went to see Freya, he intended to bring the issue up to Rowle.

Surely, even a savage like Rowle could understand why they just couldn't leave Freya where she was, right?

He hoped so. Otherwise, he was going to have to turn Rowle in, and something about that just didn't sit right with Charlie.

There was a reason Charlie hadn't followed in his father's footsteps to work for the Ministry. He chafed under bureaucracy.

"Fine," Miles said after a long moment. "I'll give you a little more time, but if she's not here by June, we're Portkeying her out."

Charlie nodded his assent. He hoped it wouldn't take that long, but he also knew with his duties at the reserve, he only had a few weekends before June to try and get Rowle to bugger off and get Freya to the reserve.

A week after his conversation with Miles, Charlie was once again up for leave rotation and he Apparated back out to the cave. He landed at the base of the mountain and began his climb up. With Rowle also staying there, Charlie was doubly cautious of Apparating to the cave directly. He didn't want to startle either of them. They were both fairly deadly, in their own ways.

Nobody was at the cave when he arrived and he hunkered down to wait, enlarging the wild boar he brought as an offering for Freya. After an hour or so passed, he started looking around for other things to do. He was curious about the books, but at the same time didn't want to get caught browsing her hoard. Freya didn't seem as wholly protective of it as some dragons did, but still. Charlie knew dragons and the last thing he wanted to do was upset her. An upset dragon was a volatile dragon.

Even more, Charlie didn't want to damage his relationship with Freya. He was going to be one of her primary caretakers once she moved to the reserve, and he needed to keep the trust between them intact. So as much as he longed to look through her piles and piles of books, he kept to himself. Instead, he pulled a Quidditch magazine from his pack and started reading that.

Hours later, Freya landed with a thump on the ledge outside the cave. She shuffled inside and huffed a small stream of smoke at him before charring the boar he had left near the entrance.

"Hey, girl," Charlie said, coming to a stand and running his fingers under her chin and over her cheek.

She leaned into his touch, her eyes closing for a moment before she swallowed the boar whole in one gulp.

"Unsuccessful hunt?" Charlie asked. She lifted her eyebrow at him and came further into the cave.

"Where's Rowle?" Charlie asked, not expecting an answer. He wasn't disappointed. The dragon acted as if she hadn't heard him as she curled up in her nest of books. Charlie thought it looked deeply uncomfortable to be laying on that many books, but dragonhide was thick, so perhaps it wasn't as uncomfortable for her as he thought.

He waited all weekend, hoping Rowle would show, but he never did. Charlie didn't know what that meant. Had Rowle moved on? Judging by the small pile of bedding, he didn't think so, but he couldn't be sure. And Freya wasn't telling.

At one point Freya shoved a book at him with one of her large front paws. Charlie barely glanced at it, studying her instead. Dragons couldn't read. They didn't possess language at all, at least not like humans did. So, while Freya might be an odd duck, as far as dragons went, she was still just a dragon. The book collecting could be chalked up to the remoteness of where she had decided to make her home. There were certainly more books in the vicinity than gold coins.

With nothing else to do, Charlie penned a quick note and stuck it to the cave wall with a sticking charm. He didn't think anyone else was hanging about that would come across it and recognize Rowle's name. Regardless, Charlie had to be getting back to the reserve and it would be another two weeks before he was going to be able to make it back.

Two weeks later, Charlie finally made his way back to the cave. Excitement had flooded his veins when he arrived at the base of the mountain, but dulled somewhat by the end of his strenuous hike to the cave. It flared to life once more when Rowle prowled out of the opening in the rock.

"Fucking finally," he muttered as he approached Charlie, running a hand through the mane of hair on his head.

"Waiting for me, were you?" Charlie asked with some amusement. Perhaps Rowle was getting lonely for human companionship.

"We have a problem," Rowle growled and grabbed Charlie's arm, yanking him into the cave.

"What sort of problem?" Charlie asked, quelling the panic that threatened to well up. All of the things that could hurt Freya in these mountains flashed through his mind.

"Freya isn't a dragon," Rowle hissed, pointing at the dragon in question. The ledge above the books was burning brightly as Freya sat nestled in her nest. When she raised her head to look at them both, Charlie thought she looked rather smug.

"I'm sorry, but what the fuck?" Charlie asked, confused and a little annoyed, turning back to face Rowle. "What do you mean she isn't a dragon? Of course, she's a bloody dragon! Look at her!"

"She's a human stuck in her Animagus form," Rowle told him, running a hand through his hair again. "For seven bloody years, apparently."

Charlie scoffed. "There has never been a dragon Animagus in history."

Freya let out a chuff of smoke and Charlie turned to face her. He ran his eyes all over her, but she was the perfect specimen of a Chinese Fireball. No part of her looked otherwise.

"Just because it hasn't been recorded in history, doesn't mean it's not true," Rowle said. "Look, she pointed me to this book."

Rowle bent over and picked up a book, handing it to Charlie. On Becoming Animagus the cover read.

"There are hundreds of books here," Charlie said. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of a human being able to become a dragon Animagus. He knew Animagi were powerful, but the amount of power needed to become a dragon would have to be immense.

"And this is the one she picked out," Rowle replied. "I'm telling you, she's human. I spend way more time with her than you do, mate. And she acts human. She picks out the books she wants me to read to her. She nods and shakes her head when you ask her yes and no questions. Hell, she held up seven claws for me when I asked her how long she'd been a dragon! She's human. And probably losing more and more of her human self every day. We have to help her."

Charlie looked between Freya and Rowle. Then he slowly approached the dragon, clambering over the piles of books. She allowed it, lowering her head so he could look her in one eye.

"Are you really a human?" he whispered and she blinked at him, giving a small nod. He placed a hand on her eyebrow ridge and she made a noise deep in her throat as he scratched her there.

"Merlin," he swore, "how do we get you to transform back?" He stared in wonder and tried not to consider how weird it would be to be scratching a human's eyebrow. He knew dragons loved it though.

"I was hoping you'd know, actually," Rowle admitted. Charlie jumped when he realized that Rowle was standing right next to him. He hadn't even noticed when the larger man approached.

"I'm not an Animagus," he shook his head, "Transfiguration is not my skill set."

"Mine either. I'm a fucking berserker. Give me a battle and yeah, I can do something. But anything else? I'm basically useless. That's one of the reasons they targeted me to become a Death Eater. A guy with no talents except violence." Charlie could hear the bitterness in Rowle's voice and he turned to look at him sharply.

"You're a berserker? Is that why you're on the run?" Charlie eyed the other man carefully. It made sense, given his size.

Rowle nodded tightly and looked away. By the way his jaw was clenched, Charlie had a feeling that he hadn't meant to give that secret up, nor mention his history as a Death Eater.

"Are you registered?" Charlie asked quietly. His hand scratched around Freya's eyebrow ridge again. He liked hearing the almost purr she let loose.

"I don't think so," Rowle admitted. "My father told me I was, but… I'm guessing that I'm not, considering they've been tracking me for close to three years. I didn't know that at the time though and I ran because I was a stupid kid."

Charlie pursed his lips. "Parents are supposed to help and protect their kids. If yours didn't register you, they didn't do that." He wondered if Rowle becoming a Death Eaterwas because of his parents, too. They probably had more influence in that than even Rowle would ever realize. Charlie had a strong sense of fairness and he hated it when he heard about parents not protecting their children.

"Two problems to fix then," he muttered to himself. He ignored Rowle's sharp intake of breath. "I think I need to owl, Minnie."

"Who's Minnie?" Rowle asked, tensing beside him. He rubbed a spot behind Freya's ear, visibly comforted as her purr deepened.

Charlie smirked. "Minerva McGonagall. She hates being called Minnie, actually. She'll be able to help with Freya at least."

"And she probably has contacts in the Ministry…" Rowle trailed off. "No way I'm going to get out of going to Azkaban a second time though. Not after being a fugitive for three years."

"We'll see," Charlie replied. He didn't much care about Ministry politics, but he decided right then and there he was going to do what he could to keep Rowle out of Azkaban. "So, should I owl her?"

"Yeah," Rowle agreed. "Do it, but let me know when she's coming so I can hide."

Charlie nodded, but he was also aware that McGonagall had the same sense of fairness he did. He was going to utilize every resource he had available to get Rowle reclassified as a berserker and lift his fugitive status.