Draco returned sometime later and gave Charlie his potions and began his physical therapy right away. It wasn't long before he was able to sit up on his own and got a bit of food into his system.

The following day, Charlie was doing a little bit better. He was slowly regaining feeling in his legs and his strength was beginning to return. His eyesight was improving, though it was still difficult for him to focus on things for longer than a few seconds.

Just after lunch, Harry arrived. He threw his arms around me. "I'm so glad you're ok."

"We're both just fine, but we would love it if you filled us in on what exactly happened that night. Jasper was here earlier and gave us the run down on what he witnessed and to assure us the reserve has been running smoothly, but we are still a bit in the dark."

Harry pulled up a chair and ran a hand tiredly down his face. It was clear he hadn't had much sleep over the last few days. "What your team interrupted, well, it's amazing you all came out alive. We've uncovered a lot of information over the last several days. As you know, we were already on alert to a poaching operation due to an increase in illegal dragon products in Knockturn Alley. We had been doing our best to locate a source in the product, but were coming up empty handed." Charlie and I nodded our heads. This much we knew. Harry pulled out some parchment filled with notes. "Well, the night you were attacked, the poaching ring infiltrated your reserve with the intent to make a large harvest of goods."

Charlie shook his head in disbelief. "We had so many protections in place. I still don't understand what happened or how Brie is involved."

Harry let out a large sigh. "She hasn't been involved from the beginning. Apparently, it's been somewhat recently. She has been talking up a storm, giving us the full story in hopes that we will deal with her and lighten her sentence. Not bloody likely, but we'll take the information we can get. Anyways, she was at the pub shortly after she started here and was apparently well on her way to drowning her sorrows in firewisky over her unhappiness of her love life and career when she was approached by a man who offered her an opportunity to get back at her employers as well as the man who slighted her."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Charlie nearly shouted. "This can't have been about me. We were never even that close!"

"I don't know what your relationship was at the Romanian Reserve, but her story is that she was expecting to be your partner here both in business and romantically when she heard this reserve was opening and that you would be transferring. Being hit with the realization that neither was the case, she took it pretty hard. It just so happened that the man that found her, after hearing her complain loudly to the pub owner about her dragon woes, preyed on her misfortune and spun it as a way for revenge. In her vulnerable state, she allowed the offer to fuel her anger. After that conversation she began taking what she could from the reserve dragons without being noticed. She was an ideal person because she was able to draw blood and take clippings under the guise of taking care of the residents. Being she was in a manager role and the people with her were new to the industry, they assumed she was just doing her job. She was sending what she could back to the leader, who we've identified as Joseph Jenkins. Jenkins got greedy and decided it wasn't enough so he planned the attack."

Charlie and I were absolutely disgusted with the information.

"What caused the alarms to trip?" I asked.

"Jasper actually. He has been very modest about things and he is really upset with himself for not noticing the change in Brie, but he was trying to sleep in prep for his next shift and it just wasn't happening so he decided to go for a walk by the enclosures. When he came past Kayda's cage, he noticed something was off and raised the alarm before he even knew the full extent of things. He didn't realize at that time that there were poachers or that Brie was involved, just that Kayda was laying there in a way that couldn't be her own doing."

"It makes sense that she went after Kayda. Norberta would have been an easier target, but Kayda made it more personal. I can't believe I didn't sense something was off. She had made some passes when she first arrived but I thought everything was sorted. It wasn't like she was outright bitter about any of it." Charlie said sadly.

Harry tried to reassure Charlie. "It's not your fault, it's Brie's fault and the team she was working with. They let their greed and bitterness overtake them. The ring of people working this was a network of about 9 wizards around the continent and we have captured every one of them. There were three present the night you were attacked, including Brie. I have to commend you. Your team did an amazing job following protocol and they were taken down smoothly."

"I just wish we could have done it without all the injuries and before she got a single scale from Kayda."

Harry agreed with me. "Yes, but we can't go back and change that now. You all did amazing and the dragon population is safer because of your team. Kingsley is talking about awards and the like."

I groaned and Harry smiled. He knew very well how much I hated attention.

We spent several minutes after that just catching up. It was nice to see my friend and I wished it had been on a happier occasion, but it was better than nothing.

Shortly after he took his leave, Draco reappeared with more potions and another round of tests to check for improvement. While we were ready to put this all behind us, Charlie had more work to do before he could be released. Harry's conversation, however, seemed to have put a spark in his step because he attacked his therapy with a new vigor.

A smile graced my face as I felt a renewed hope for our future.

A/N: Just one more chapter to go!