A Dragon's Tale
Chapter 1: To take Cadogan's pony
A/N: I own nothing except my mistakes. Also, I have been wanting to write a Charmione story for ages, but I've been too scared to do so until now. Because we know so little of him, as well as about the Dragon Sanctuary. So, I was a little hesitant at first, but I found that I really enjoyed that mystery, and that I was able to get creative with it myself, so I hope you'll enjoy it just as much as I do! Please leave some reviews to tell me your thoughts! Like this I can adjust whenever needed so that you'll have the best reading experience! Thanks already :)
Rated M for later chapters!
It was a merry Christmas, back at the Burrow. A house packed fuller than it could probably handle, but all those in it shared their own good part in lightening the Christmas spirits.
This must have been the first Christmas that they've all spent together since ages. Ever since the war they had all separated for quite some time, each and every one needing their own space and time to heal from what they've all been through. Some had done so better than others, but after four years most of them had managed to at least get on with their lives to the best of their abilities.
As for Hermione, she had been doing quite all right for some time. After the war had ended she had gone straight to Australia to retrieve her parents, as well as their memories, and had made sure that they had all settled down nicely back at home before she went back to Hogwarts to finish up her last year.
It had been quite strange to be back, knowing what memories it held, both the good, as well as the terrible, but she had been all right. The distraction of all her N.E.W.T.s had been enough to keep her mind off of it at most times. Ron and Harry, however, hadn't made the choice to go back. Of course she hadn't expected them to, and yet she had missed them by her side at the time. The castle had felt quite empty without them.
Instead, the two of them had gone straight into Auror training, where they were required to attend a training of at least a year, before they could move on to the next, in which they would be required to tag along with an experienced Auror for at least two years. It was then that Ron had met Fay Dunbar, a small, half-blood witch, advancing on Ron with two years of age, and they had pursued a relationship rather quickly.
Hermione had been thrilled for them, although was a bit weary when they had announced that they'd be moving in together after just two months of being with each other, but it was now a year later, and they were still doing all right.
As for Hermione's love interests, it was safe to say that no such thing existed at the moment. Ever since her Fourth Year at Hogwarts had she dated Viktor Krum for quite a few years, though most of it was long distance, and hadn't really felt like that much of a relationship at all. It was for that reason that she had called things off at her Sixth Year, right before going on the Horcrux Hunt with Harry, and ever since she hadn't touched another boy.
Quite literally, because after her final year at Hogwarts she had acquired a job at the Ministry of Magic rather quickly, at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, a position she had chosen because she had wanted to push for the rights of house elves, pursuing S.P.E.W. and actually successfully completed it. It had taken her almost two years and numerous campaigns and partnerships, but at last she had found the right person to help bring this law to life, and having completed her life mission, she was now rather lost at work on what to do next.
Sure, there were plenty of matters that still needed attending to, and yet all of them didn't get her quite as hot as the next idea, and thus she had been picking up small matters for this past year, trying to find a spark somewhere, in the hopes to brighten her life a little again.
Due to the lack of stimulation at the work, as well as the dark cloud hanging above her head with an upcoming promotion, she hadn't felt like joining the Weasleys for this Christmas, but knew that it would be rude to skip out on the deal. The Weasleys had provided her great help after the war with finding her parents, as well as finding her the perfect spot in Diagon Alley to move into this small flat after her graduation, and knowing that now the entire Weasley family had been assembled together, she knew that she couldn't not go.
And thus she had mustered all her courage to face the entire Weasley clan, as well as all their spouses. In the early beginning of the evening she had been doing quite all right, having actually enjoyed the little catch-up.
Here she had gotten to meet little Victoire, whose blonde hair had grown longer in just her two years of living than Hermione could ever dream of after already 23 years of her life. The little girl was madly chasing around Ted Lupin, son of Remus and Tonks, who had sadly not survived the cruel war, and Teddy, their little one, had been both a reminder and a consolation to everyone that even though they might not be around anymore, that joy and comfort would still follow them around wherever they went.
Fleur, too, was watching the little nuggets play about as she absent-mindedly rubbed her stomach, a bump growing underneath it as another life was being formed in her belly. Bill and Fleur were really starting the dream family that Molly had always hoped for, and it showed, because Molly had been doing nothing else this evening than making sure that Fleur was well taken care of, as well as pampering the little ones with treats and handmade gifts.
This Christmas had actually also been one of the first times that Hermione had met Fay, and found that even though she was older than Ron by two years, her personality was much more childlike, and Hermione could definitely see why the two of them hit it off so well. It was the playfulness that they both needed so badly to make it work.
Of course there were Fred and George, who had tried it with their high school sweethearts Katie (for George) and Angelina (for Fred), but only George really managed to make it serious, as Katie was currently sprawled on his lap due to the cramped sitting space at the Burrow, cheerfully chatting away with Ginny.
Even Percy had been joined this evening, along with his wife Audrey, and his two children Lucy and Molly II, both completely opposite to Percy. Whereas the latter was utmost serious and ambitious, the two little youngsters had not a single care in the world, neither any will to take anything serious at all.
Yet, what really completed this evening, was Charlie Weasley, the dragonologist who had come all the way from Romania, in one of their busiest times, because Molly had begged him countless of times, stressing that this would be one of the first Christmas's in years that they'd all be together again.
Hermione watched him from afar – for she was seated right in between the open space between the kitchen and the living area, for the living area had simply been too crowded to still be able to fit her in it – and let her eyes glide over his entire appearance.
His hair had grown considerably longer than the last time Molly had forcefully cut it back at Bill's wedding, though it wasn't long enough just yet for it to be brought together with a hair tie, reaching just a little lower on his neck, barely touching his shoulders.
With a cup in his hand – which was close to spilling every single time he used his hands to support his story, which was almost every time he spoke a single word – he chatted to nearby friends and family, mainly Bill and Harry, but occasionally he'd grab one of the younglings by their collar, and would lift them up and have a bit of a playfight with them before lowering them down again.
It fascinated her to see him like this, because out of all the Weasleys, it was Charlie that she had seen the least of. The last time she had seen him was at the war, where he had fought alongside with them and the Order, but when they had won, Charlie hadn't stuck around for long before he went back to Romania again.
The long years abroad definitely showed on his skin. Not only were his freckles magnified by the sun, his skin had definitely grown a shade darker than the rest of the Weasleys, distinguishing him easily, if it hadn't been for the bright red of his hair.
It was no secret either that he was much more muscular than the rest of the Weasley boys, none of them having such a physical occupation that Charlie had. It wasn't every day that one had to wrestle a couple of dragons. That definitely required a good set of muscles, and Hermione had no doubt that he had trained well for it, though not always to his best capabilities. His scars and burns showed her that. Apparently he hadn't always out best the dragons, and yet, it didn't seem to scare him away in the slightest.
Lifting her own cup to her lips, she took a long and satisfactory gulp of its contents, feeling the stinging burn that the Fire Whiskey tended to leave, but unlike other days, it was more than welcome this night.
Though Hermione was happy for the distraction of her work, as well as have a break from her solitude at her own flat, it was also a bit of a reminder in how much she was still lacking on a personal level. Not that she minded, but seeing all these families expanding, and almost everyone having found a partner for their own, she couldn't help but feel the emptiness inside, knowing that she wasn't getting any younger herself.
Perhaps that had been the reason that she had tossed back four glasses of Fire Whiskeys this evening, having just finished her fifth, as well as a couple glasses of Butterbeer, which she had started on at the early hours of the evening.
It had also been for that reason that she had secluded herself a little further to the back, away from all the chatting and piercing eyes, which felt to her were all looking at her with pity of the lack of success in her life. Of course they weren't actually looking at her like that, but to her they might as well have.
"Excuse me," Harry said, his voice small and almost unheard by Hermione if he hadn't moved a bit more towards the centre. However, no one except for her and Ginny had heard him, for they were all too tangled in a conversation with one another to even notice him.
At this Ginny stood up as well and joined him by his side, slipping her hand into his as she yelled "shut it!", eerily resembling her intervention back in Sixth Year at the Quidditch try-outs. Once again Harry shot her a grateful smile as the loud chatter now dimmed into a silent murmur.
"Could've asked a little bit more nicer, sis," Fred piped up, breaking the almost silence.
"Yeah, we would've have listened just fine," George agreed, though was shut up as Katie gave him a disapproving slap on the arm. "Ouch, what did you do that for?" He had inquired, but Katie had simply hushed him before he could get all the words out properly. "Can't you see they're trying to announce something?"
"Well, of course, I can see that, but-," the rest was caught short as Katie clasped a hand in front of his mouth, muffling his words, and earning her a scowl from George, though she simply smiled sweetly in return. "Go on," Katie urged them, earning her some chuckles from around the room.
"Right," Harry said, clearing his throat as he looked about the room. "We just wanted a moment to announce that Ginny and I got engaged," Harry said, a big grinning stretching onto his face as Ginny lifted up her hand, showing off the twinkle on her ring as a loud cheer broke loose within the Weasley household.
Many were clapping, whistling and cheering for them, and of course Molly was the first to jump up and take them into a hug to congratulate them, and soon more people followed.
Hermione, however, did not at all trust her legs to walk, and thus when she caught their eyes, she lifted up both thumbs and proceeded to bring her hands to her lips and blew them a kiss, which was enough for them to humbly thank her from a distance.
Pleased with herself that she managed to handle it without having to make a fool of herself, she decided to use this distraction to pour herself another drink, not even noticing that people were slowly picking up their previous conversation – as well as Katie and George bickering in the background about their previous encounter – and neither had she noticed that a certain dragon tamer had moved past her to grab one of the drinks from the table behind her.
Molly did, however, notice his manoeuvres, and it was for this reason that Hermione was brought back to the present as she heard a faint "- less attention to dragons and more towards girls, you could be announcing an engagement as well," and with a quick turn of her head – though immediately regretted doing so as she felt a stabbing pain in her head, a reminder that she really should stop after this glass – she saw Charlie leaning lazily against the kitchen counter top, his mother right by his side with her hands on her hips.
Hermione couldn't help but smile as she saw his bored expression, having obviously endured this same speech year in and year out, and she couldn't help but wonder if this had been the reason why he didn't attend Christmas every single year with his family. Surely one would grow mad from all the mingling in another one's business.
"And you dear," Molly said, breaking Hermione out of her reverie as the woman turned to her, having noticed her staring eyes, and Hermione immediately let her smile falter. "What about me?" Hermione asked, though cringed a little as she heard the slur to her words.
Molly looked at her pitifully, as her eyes glanced down at the glass of Fire Whiskey that Hermione had been holding. "It's no good for you to sulk away like this," Molly tutted, though didn't have a chance to continue that speech as Charlie grabbed a nearby glass of milk and handed it to his mother.
"I think I hear Teddy asking for some milk, Mum," Charlie said, and Molly turned to look at him in surprise, before taking the glass from him. "Really? Well, don't mind me, I'll be back in a whiff," she said, though Charlie followed with a "Please, do take all the time that you need."
As soon as Molly disappeared from the kitchen, Hermione shot him a grateful smile before she turned back around, only to hear a screeching sound coming from behind her, as well as a sudden breeze passing next to her. A peculiar smell accompanied this breeze, and although she could easily distinguish the Fire Whiskey, there were hints of something else that she couldn't quite place. Something earthy, burnt, as well as musky. It wasn't bad to the nose, just an unusual scent was all.
"Merry Christmas, Hermione," Charlie breathed as he leaned down and planted his lips against her cheek – the scrubby stubble of his roughly shaved face tickling her skin – lingering for a moment before retracting himself.
Turning her head to the side, she saw Charlie propping a chair down next to her, and then proceeded to let himself fall into it. It wasn't exactly a graceful movement, for he plummeted into his chair as it almost wobbled backwards, a laugh escaping his throat as he stabilized himself.
"I s'pose we both had a drink too many," Hermione observed, a smirk tugging on her lips as she watched Charlie run a hand through his hair whilst the other hand grabbed for the drink that he had set on the table so he could move the chair.
"There is no such thing as a drink too many," Charlie countered, turning his body slightly to hers so that his knee was now gently resting against her leg, his eyes captivating hers as he offered her his glass so she could tap it.
Chuckling, Hermione clinked her glass to his, and they both took a gulp from it before continuing their conversation. "Four years I haven't seen you, and yet you've had the audacity to grow into such a stunning lady," Charlie commented, almost flirtatious as his voice was unwavered and sincere, the smile reaching his eyes as they crinkled and folded at the sides, though leaving enough space to show the bright blue of his eyes, being brought to life even more by the torch hanging on the wall next to her.
Hermione felt the heat creep up to her cheeks as she began to regret the decision to drink, knowing that from all the drinks her cheeks had been flustered already, and so she didn't even want to imagine how reddened they had gotten now.
Lowering her eyes down, she put both hands around her cup as she tried to fight back a smile, but failed to win the battle as it crept on her face regardless. Perhaps it had been the fault of her lack of attention from men these past few years. A simple compliment like this, could now easily get her all warm and fuzzy, a feeling that she hadn't expect to feel again so soon.
"Has it really been that long already?" Hermione inquired, lifting her eyes back up to Charlie as to not come off too shy.
Charlie, however, had looked rather pleased with himself to be able to humble her as a faint smirk was plastered on his lips, and he easily propped an arm around the back of her chair, sending another wave of his scent to her nostrils, leaving her in a bit of an intoxicated state of growing hot from the torch behind her, as well as the manly scent from her companion next to her.
The latter grinned at her, and she noticed how one corner of his mouth managed to go up a little higher than the other, though it was nice to look at nonetheless. "You'll make me look ancient if time keeps passing like this," Charlie countered, and Hermione scoffed in disbelief, a light snort following it, though the latter happened due to a little too much Whiskey.
Clapping her mouth, she and Charlie laughed at the sound, and Hermione felt her head buzzing as she shook her head. "Surely you can't be that old," Hermione said, trying to steer the attention back to the conversation, instead of her weird, uncontrolled sounds.
"You're like, what," at this she hesitates, trying to take in his slightly sun-burnt face, a few freckles having grown darker than others, especially on his forehead, where the sun must have reached it more often than at his cheeks. Though she knew he was definitely older than her, for he had finished Hogwarts long before she had started it, she couldn't do maths for the life of her, for all numbers seemed to mingle together at this state, "hang on, how old are you?" Hermione asked, giving up on trying to do maths.
Charlie laughed, a knowing glitter in his eyes as he watched her struggle, taking another sip himself, but clearly able to handle the alcohol a little better than she was. "Thirty and still going, unfortunately," he said, though kept an unwavering gaze at her, as if he was trying to gauge her reaction.
Thirty already?
Hermione nodded, then took another sip of her drink as she used that as an excuse to do some quick maths, hoping to get it right in the state that she was in. "That's only a seven year age gap, definitely not ancient," Hermione looked a little questioningly to Charlie, for him to check if her maths had been correct, and found herself relieved when he nodded in agreement.
A flicker of a burn danced in his eyes, or perhaps it was the reflection of the torch behind her head, but a lopsided smirk soon followed as he licked his lips, taking in her gaze, making her almost weak to her knees as she tried to break it, but failed to do so.
At this his smirk grew wider, and he had to break the gaze himself as he continued to smirk off into the distance, his hand that was resting on the back of her chair fumbling a little, occasionally stroking against the back of her neck, his knee pressing closer to her legs, emitting his warmth to her.
Feeling herself grow hot underneath his touches, she took a deep breath to calm herself down, and made a point of it to lower her glass to the floor, thinking that she had definitely had enough to drink by now, considering how dizzy she was getting from all the subtle sensations.
Hermione wasn't quite sure what she was feeling. In fact, she could not think straight at all at this moment, and that was what bothered her the most. Never before did she get these sensations from the subtle actions from Charlie, and she was almost positive that it was the booze that was making her imagine things.
Surely, when she would wake up next morning and would be able to think clearly about this encounter the next day – if she would even remember anything, at this point – that she would see that it was just an innocent chat, with some unintended touches and teasing. Nothing more than that.
And yet she felt on fire right now, almost as if she was caught in the dragon fire herself. Not that she really knew what that felt like, and yet, she could imagine that this quite covered it.
"Want to tell me what has got your wand in a knot?" Charlie asked, his voice a little less stable than it had been before, as he slowly turned to look at her again, the heat growing back into his eyes as he kept watching her.
Hermione raised her eyebrows at him as she unconsciously turned her body a little bit more towards him. "What makes you think that anything does?" Hermione laughed humourlessly.
Charlie chuckled as he shook his head at her, his red hair dangling along from side to side before he combed his hair back with his hand. "Hermione," he drawled, and Hermione took a sharp inhalation of breath, hearing her name being rolled off a man's tongue almost so sensually – darn her and her lack of sexual partners these past years, making her hot and heavy at such minor things – "you've been sitting and drinking in the corner all evening. Not exactly Christmas spirits, now is it?" Charlie pointed out, waving his hand at the glass on the floor next to her chair to support his statement.
Groaning, she brought two hands to her face to rub her eyes, trying to wipe away the blur that she was starting to see before she focused back on Charlie, who looked at her in amusement, clearly not used to this intoxicated state of her, yet enjoying it more than he perhaps should. "That obvious, eh?"
Charlie shrugged, making her feel a little bit less worse about having secluded herself all evening to drink her worries away as if she was some sort of alcoholic who tried to diminish the Christmas cheer. "Most of them are too distracted to notice," Charlie answered truthfully.
"I just," Hermione sighed, breaking her sentence as she shot a glance around the room. On the couch were seated Bill and Fleur, Victoire now having fallen half asleep in his father's arms as Fleur gently stroked her hands through the little girls' hair whilst chatting away with Audrey.
Percy and Ron were in a heated discussion about something from his day at work as an Auror, and meanwhile Teddy was being tickled half to death by Fred whilst Molly and Arthur gave him a quick scolding as now tears were rolling down the little boy's cheeks.
Ginny and Katie were discussing some Quidditch strategies, though George countered them once in a while, just for the sake of joining the conversation.
None of them looked unhappy. In fact, this must be the happiest Hermione had ever seen them, and for some reason that brought a bit of a sting to her heart. Though she was, of course, very happy that they were all doing so well, she was also rather bummed that she had hit such a deep pitfall at her work.
Turning her head back to Charlie, she noticed he had followed her gaze, before slowly letting her eyes fall back on her, nodding encouragingly at her to continue what she was trying to say.
A single scar caught her attention. It traced from the back of his ear down towards his blouse, as if a claw had grasped him and had almost torn him open from inside out. It was still reddish, as if it hadn't been too long ago that this incident has happened, and Hermione had almost wanted to ask him about it, but then remembered that they weren't exactly friends.
In fact, they were more like acquaintances, seeing that they never really spoke much or had seen much of each other these past eleven years of Hermione knowing the Weasleys. Not that it bothered her much, for whenever they did speak, it felt very comfortable and easy, and yet it made her wonder if she was really going to unleash her worries on this to an, well, almost-stranger.
After all, she hadn't even spoken to Harry, Ron or even Ginny about this. Then again, maybe he, of all people, would understand her. He too, did not have a romantic relationship yet – if she could draw that conclusion from his conversation with his mother not long ago – and he too, liked to keep himself busy and stimulated with his work. Though a day with dragons could possibly not be boring, she could imagine that if he suddenly were to not have that day, that he'd be bored out of his mind, too.
And thus she accepted her defeat as she looked at his inviting face. "I've been a bit lost lately," Hermione admitted, and was surprised to feel the relief oozing through her veins. It was obvious that she had been walking around with this for far too long, and it felt good to finally say it aloud.
With that motivating feeling, she felt herself grow a little bit more confident as she continued. "I've completed my final year at Hogwarts, managed to find a place for myself, as well as get a job at the Ministry of Magic at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures I managed to complete my life mission for S.P.E.W.," – at this Hermione quickly explained what that entailed, for he looked at her a little weirdly as she said it – "and even more so, I have caught word of a promotion that I'll be getting once I finish this pixie assignment that I've been working on these past two weeks."
"And yet," Hermione sighed, biting on her lip as she wondered if she was sounding ungrateful, but nothing in his features displayed that he was thinking anything like that, "I feel like I'm stuck at my work. I'm not getting the same joy from it as I did when I was working on S.P.E.W., and don't get me wrong, I love working for Creatures, and would love to continue doing so, but not with simple cases like trying to find better housing for pixies, or things like that."
So far Charlie had not said a single word, nor even a single nod of his head, and she looked at him doubtfully, as well as almost a little bit embarrassed. Was she wrong for trusting him with her worries?
"Is it really that weird to feel this way, though?" Charlie asked her simply, easing her worries as her gaze softened. "I mean, you've been at it ever since the war, and don't get me wrong, I admire your ambition," at this Hermione smiled humbly, earning her a confident smile in return, "but due to it you've never had a chance to think it all through and decide what it is that you really want to do."
Hermione nodded in full agreement. That is exactly how she felt, but hadn't been able to communicate to her friends. It seemed to her like they had it all figured out, and were happy with what they were doing, that she didn't feel quite comfortable with sharing her own thoughts and feelings, worried that she was left feeling misunderstood.
"You're right. But how come they're doing just fine, then?" Hermione said, glancing back at her friends and family.
Charlie shook his head dismissively, also looking at his family. "They just had the advantage of having someone by their side."
Hermione lowered her gaze down to her hands, and watched them twirl around each other as she bit her lip. That definitely was a slap to her face of her own created solitude. "Look, I just mean to say that Harry had Ginny, and Ron had Harry, and Fred and George had each other." Charlie tried to redeem himself, softening the blow. "Somehow you just got left out of that equation."
Though the truth hurt, she couldn't help but agree. That is how she often felt. Left out of an equation, out of a bigger path than she could think of for herself.
"Look," Charlie said, his voice sobering a little as he brought his head a little closer towards her, causing her to look up and stare straight into his eyes. The puffs of air from his Whiskey-laced breath tickled her cheeks, though she tried to keep his gaze as he focused solemnly on her, even though Victoire had woken up from her nap, crying.
"You said you worked at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, right?" Charlie asked, and all Hermione could do was nod, as her eyes drifted a little lower to his lips, watching as he licked them and the corners tilted up a little, an easy smile resting against them as she moved her gaze back up to his eyes.
"And you said you wanted to continue helping creatures, am I right?" Again, Hermione nodded, now licking her own dry lips as she didn't trust herself to speak. Why in heavens did he have to move so close?
"The thing is, back in Romania at the dragon reserve, we are a little shorthanded," Charlie stated, then on an afterthought added, "and I'm exaggerating immensely when saying this, because we're highly short-staffed."
Not sure if he was going where she thought he was going at, she remained quiet as he continued to explain. "Ever since the war people have been leaving the sanctuary, either to find family members, or to start a family of their own, having realized how uncertain life truly is."
"And some have just become too old or wounded to continue their job," Charlie finished. "Either how, as a result of our lack of staff, and the government cutting our expenses, we haven't been able to drag in new staff members, because it just pays too little now for the risk they have to take every single day." Charlie went on, then looked her over slowly, gauging her reaction, and pleased to find that she hadn't grown dismissive of this information yet.
"Due to the lack of staff the dragons that we do have, both the healthy and the wounded, are risking endangerment, and we're not quite sure how to stop it," he said, then flicked her a cheeky grin as he continued his speech.
"Though, with your wits and your ambition, I think you could actually help a great deal if you were to join our team," Charlie proposed, leaning slightly back, and Hermione finally took a deep breath of air, noticing just now how tensed she had gotten from his close proximity.
"Me?" Hermione stammered, imagining herself with dragons, and let out a nervous chuckle. Charlie, however, looked confident as he nodded his head. "Yeah, you've got plenty enough courage to deal with them, and besides, I think you're highly underestimating yourself, Hermione."
Frowning, Hermione's eyes travelled down to his partially unbuttoned blouse, where the tail of a dragon popped out between the separated segments of clothes. "I never really thought about that," Hermione admitted honestly.
"What is it you think I could do to help, then?" Hermione inquired, noticing that she had stopped slurring less than before, the job offer clearly sobering her up a little.
Charlie shrugged, though it wasn't careless. "I'd have to see you in the field to assess that, obviously. But even if you couldn't tame the dragons yourself, perhaps you and your wits could help sort out or finances or help our medics," he proposed.
Hermione bit her lip, and she saw his eyes travel down to them, before he batted his eyes up at her again, clearly suppressing a smirk of his own. "Unless it's too much of a challenge, of course," Charlie taunted, his arm retracting from the back of her chair, though he rested it on her shoulder as he gave it a bit of squeeze, before rising up from his chair so he could move over to Bill, who had called out for him. "Think about it," he called over his shoulder, leaving Hermione to stare after him, even more confused than she had been this past year.