Chapter 26

Charlie Weasely stepped lightly out of his tent; not bothering to close it behind him as his partner and long time friend Eugene Fredericton was exiting right behind him. He didn't wait for the taller man as he stooped over and scooped up a handful of snow, forming it into the perfect projectile with practiced ease and carefully aiming it at the back of Marion Buckley. Her partner, Igor Pausvich, gave her absolutely no warning of Charlie's actions as he stood and watched the snowball fly through the air and hit her square between the shoulder blades. Instead he laughed as she whirled around and glared at Charlie, impatiently brushing a loose lock of curly green hair behind her cheek.

"Charlie Weasley! That is the last time you are going to get one up on me you runt!" She glared at him and he laughed, immensely enjoying how easy it was to annoy her. It was just like baiting Percy, only she retaliated with less finesse which made it all the better. At his laughter the anger dimmed from her eyes and her lips quirked slightly, until Igor laughed along with Charlie and she turned to punch him on the arm. At five feet nine inches it was no light knock, yet he kept laughing and Eugene chuckled a moment in his own, quiet way. It wasn't often these days that Charlie let loose and actually, really, enjoyed himself, and it was infectious.

"Runt!" He exclaimed, mock hurt filling his voice. "I'm five foot eight! That hardly calls for being classified as the runt!"

"It's enough in this group, so get used to it." She snapped good naturedly and then turned back to the map she had been studying before. Charlie grinned but said nothing more as he and Eugene stepped up to join them around the floating parchment that detailed the mountains they were currently stationed. She was pointing out their location with her wand and marking the path that they would follow that day and they decided on what equipment they might need, which amounted to warm clothes, a pouch of emergency healing potions and herbs, food and their wands. There really wasn't much you couldn't to with a wand.

Once plotted they set out along the snow covered path and into the trees, Marion leading and Charlie taking up the rear in their single file line. It wasn't any different to the last four days they had been on this assignment in the Carpathian Mountains. Charlie always took the rear position unless he was leading the troupe, and he wouldn't have it any other way. He felt most secure when he could see where each one of his team members were at all times. This had annoyed Marion at first, as she was the least easy going in the group and insisted that they each take turns at walking different positions. That hadn't worked to well as Charlie had been overly fidgety and was always looking behind him to make sure they were okay. As it were, years of working together in all manner of dangerous, dragon oriented jobs had them practically reading each others minds.

Charlie wondered, not for the first time this week, if there was any real merit for these excursions, especially as they hadn't found any dragons yet. It was mid February, and the creatures tended to be rather docile at this time, choosing to only come out when they needed to hunt or when a new dragon might enter their territory. The Carpathian Mountains had long been recognized as a haven for all manner of cold climate dragons and there had never been any real problems in this area. It was extremely rare that one would even venture down to a village, so he couldn't see why they were there. But word of some trouble had reached Dumbledore, which had then filtered to his department, which had then decided to mount a small expedition to appease the Headmaster of Hogwarts, who had been rather insistent.

"Ye know, it's a bit odd that we haven't even seen a drag out huntin'. Last I checked there was quite the number cohabiting in these mountains. It doesn't make sense that it's this calm." Eugene spoke up as they packed their tiny lunches away and began their trek once more. Charlie wrapped his scarf more securely around his neck and frowned at the back of the tall blond mans head. Population statistics wasn't his area, but Eugene was hardly ever wrong when it came to such knowledge.

"Half the population in this area are night dwellers." Igor pointed out.

"That doesn't account fer the second half, and I know that they must be hungry after not coming out in our area for the last four days."

"When was the last time a population stat was done around here?" Marion asked, stopping and asking her wand which way was north before continuing on.

"July, eight years ago."

"It's been a while then. That's a bit of a stretch isn't it?" Charlie spoke up, glancing into the bushes at his left and then right before they emerged into a small clearing and entered another clump of trees. "Population stats are usually run every three years."

"I think the war with You-Know-Who caused a kink in the research schedules. There weren't enough people on hand to do a count two years ago and the higher ups probably forgot all about these mountains. They never were a priority anyhow." Marion threw over her shoulder. Charlie frowned, thinking back to the war, the final battle and everything that had happened since. His good mood evaporated a bit but he did his best to sound cheerful for his friends, not wanting to drag them into his all too frequent bouts of sadness, which led to wondering where his brother was and whether he was even still alive. Now was not the time to dwell however, so he pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind to focus on his task.

"Still," Eugene insisted, "there was a fair sized population here and we haven't seen any sign of them. Something isn't right."

"Oh stop being so paranoid." Igor laughed over his shoulder. "The drags are just bein' their normal unpredictable selves. They'll show eventually."

"I can hardly wait." Eugene answered and then the group fell into silence, each contemplating the same thing: why had they not seen any signs of a dragon population. Now that Charlie thought back they had never had so much trouble trying to locate a member of the species, it wasn't normally this difficult seeing as how big they are and how little they tried to cover their tracks.

They walked for the rest of the afternoon, marching higher and higher into the mountains, and becoming more and more uneasy with their lack of sightings.

"This is getting bizarre." Charlie muttered when Marion finally called a halt to their hike and they huddled closer together to gain the illusion of warmth. The temperature had been steadily dropping all afternoon and even he was beginning to go numb from the cold, despite his heating and insulation spells.

"We'll contact headquarters when we get back to camp and fill them in. They might want to send more people out. Maybe we could get Yvonne's team to join us, Martin is the best in the business as far as tracking the creatures goes." Igor said, looking around to see if that course of action was agreed upon. There were nods all around and Charlie looked out over the cliff to gaze at the mountains in the distance. It really was beautiful, but there was an eerie silence filling the landscape and he got a chill down his spine.

"Let's head back." He suggested and Marion nodded, looking pleased at the idea of getting into their warm tents.

"We'll go first." She decided for everyone and Igor pulled his wand to join her. They apparated to their camp site and left the two men standing alone on the cliff.

"What's wrong?" Eugene asked quietly, gripping Charlie's tense shoulder and looking at him with concern.

"I don't know. Something feels wrong here."

"An imbalance." Eugene agreed.

"Let's get back; I don't want to leave them alone for too long." They pulled their wands and he felt a bit more secure as the mahogany fit perfectly into his grip. They apparated efficiently, reappearing in the center of the large clearing they had chosen to camp beside. Charlie had no sooner appeared when he felt something enormous and solid impact with his chest and send him flying ten feet away. Thank Merlin for snow he thought as he rolled and picked himself up, trying to catch his breath and look to see just what the hell was going on.

"Look Out!" Igor hollered and Charlie threw himself to the left as a flaming blue fireball tore through the air where he had just been standing. The dragon that had spit it looked irritated that it had missed but was distracted as Marion tossed a powerful stunning spell at it, hitting it directly in the face. It roared angrily and whipped its ball ended tail at her. She was just able to get a barrier shield between herself and serious injury before tossing another stunner. It did nothing. Charlie reared back and threw his own stunner at it, and smiled wickedly as it stumbled under the impact and turned back to him.

It was a Swiss Balltail Spitfire, and it was living up to its name spectacularly as it sent another ball of fire sizzling past him to melt in the snow behind. It was then that Charlie saw Igor and Eugene to the left, Eugene trying to half drag their limping friend out of the reach of yet another dragon. An absolutely enormous red Hungarian Knifetail was bouncing back and forth on its powerful back legs, preparing to lash his tail at the retreating men and cut them down. Charlie threw a knock out hex at it, one he usually reserved for his most dire situations. This, he had already decided, was one of them. He glared in shock a moment as it only stunned the beast and then the creature was looking around to see who had sent the attack. Knifetails were known for their viciousness, but fortunately they tended to be a little slow on the uptake.

Turning back to the yellow and green Spitfire he saw it take a swing at Marion with his tail but she jumped out of its way and started to run around it towards the other two.

"We can't hold them off! We need to apparate!" He yelled over the large animal's heavy breaths and loudly flapping wings. The Knife tail saw him and began moving his way slowly as the other creature seemed more interested in the other three.

"My wand was knocked somewhere in the snow!" Eugene hollered back as Igor tried another stunning spell that paused the great green beast in its tracks a moment, and he tossed another to try and confuse it even more. This only seemed to enrage it. Charlie swore loudly and apparated to them just as the Knifetail got close enough to slash at him. He appeared next to Marion and sprinted as fast as he could through the deep snow to take up Igor's other arm. He saw that the man had a deep gash right across the top of his thigh, and it was bleeding badly. He looked up and noted that the dragons were standing a good twenty meters apart, but they had both zoomed in on their group.

"We need to split up!" He ordered and threw three stunners in a row at the angry Knifetail.

"Why aren't the spells working?" Marion cried out and tossed a few of her own, watching in worry as the red streaks of magic only slowed the beast.

"I don't know!" Charlie yelled back and glared as the animals, no more then fifteen meters away from them, as they slowly spread apart and began approaching, starting to circle around them. Being in a group was a bad idea, but Charlie honestly couldn't see how else they could create a strong enough offence.

"Get out of here!" Eugene suddenly yelled.

"Have you lost yer marbles! We're not leaving you!"

"Ye don't have much of a choice mate! It's either one of us or all of us!" he argued back and glared over at Charlie, his pale green eyes flashing in fear and conviction.

"Stupid Git!" Charlie yelled back, absolutely refusing to leave his partner of four years, but his argument was suddenly stalled as a fierce cry carried through the sky and another dragon with almost blindingly orange wings appeared from above the trees.

"Great, it's a party." Marion commented dryly, her features determined to see this thing through, no matter what. Charlie noticed, however, that the other dragons had stopped in their approach and were watching the newcomer with sharp, slitted eyes. It only took a moment for the mad creatures to deem that the new dragon was of no consequence, and seeing that the creature was half their size Charlie understood why they didn't feel threatened. Their eerie cold eyes focused back on him and his friends as they tried to back away, wands pointed in defence. He was about to send another curse, hoping that it might have more then a slight effect when, out of absolutely nowhere, a man in a shabby brown coat with black hair materialized in front of them. He was directly between them and the dragons.

"Ye fool! Get out of the way!" Igor yelled and, as one, they stopped their retreat to stare in shock as the idiot pulled out a whip and cracked it menacingly in the air, barely missing the Spitfires face. Charlie stared in utter admiration at the sheer insanity of this man who thought he could stop two dragons where the four of them, who were trained in this area, hadn't been able to form spit.

"Stop!" the commanding voice rang through the air right after the bullet crack of his weapon and, to their amazement, the animals stopped and were staring at him as though they suddenly didn't know what to do. "You have no cause to be here!" The man hollered as though the creatures understood exactly what he was saying. One of the creatures growled deep in its throat and Charlie, finally having a moment to breathe, felt the magical energy crackling through the air. He stared hard at the newcomers head, wondering why he sounded so familiar, and he saw the man flinch as the creature grumbled deeply. The creature saw this too, and suddenly both animals didn't seem so uncertain as they took one and then two giant steps closer.

"Please! Stop!" The man almost sounded desperate, as though he was in pain as he begged. His whip had disappeared from his grasp and he was raising his arms to point at them.

"He's suicidal!" Eugene muttered as they stood and watched, completely frozen by the utter stupidity of the man's actions, and Charlie felt a wrenching in his heart at the mans pleading tone. The urge to help him, to comfort him rose strongly in his chest and he sucked in a sharp breath, not understanding why he was so drawn to him. He saw the Knifetail slowly pull back his tail and prepare to whip, and he screamed warning just as it was about to let loose. But there had been no reason to call out as, to his absolute shock, the creature's black eyes suddenly rolled into the back of his head and it was falling limply to the ground; it was as though a switch had been turned off. The Spitfire roared in absolute fury and charged at the stranger, who had raised his left arm to point at it. The dragon made it two steps before it appeared to crash into an enormous invisible wave and was thrown back violently through the air. Its head flung around and it screamed as it landed twenty meters from where it had stood and rolled brutally over the ground until it crashed into the thick pine trees bordering their field. It failed to get up. Charlie stared, unable to close his mouth in disbelief as he tried to comprehend what had just happened.

"Bugger me." Igor exhaled, and somehow that broke the sudden death silence of the area. The orange winged dragon from before cried somewhere off in the distance and Charlie looked back at their saviour, only to see him fall to his knees in the snow and wrap his arms around his head in anguish. He let go of Igor's arm and was rushing over to the fallen man, not understanding his urgency to help but knowing, somehow, that what had just taken place had been devastating to this person. He fell to his knees before him but found himself at a loss of what to do. The black haired man was shaking violently, his breaths coming in harsh gasps as though he was trying with all his might to control himself.

"Hey." Charlie called softly, reaching out towards him and intending to put a hand of support on his shoulder.

"Don't touch me." Was the harshly gushed order and he pulled away as though he'd been bitten, feeling the vehemence in the man's voice. The energy was crackling around them, making his hair stand on end but he refused to pull away despite the threatening tone. And then, without warning, the black hair simply switched to a bright fiery red that gleamed in the sunlight and Charlie stared stupidly, not quite understanding what it meant. And then, as though he had been hit with a thousand bludger's, the identity came to him.

"Ron?" He gasped, not remembering a time when he had ever sounded so unsure. The man before him suddenly stopped shaking and slowly pulled his arms away from his head and glanced up. His eyes were as hard as ice and he looked as though he was expecting to see a row of corrupt executioners. Charlie saw the moment his youngest brother realized who he was, because his already pale face turned ashen and his mouth gaped open like a stunned fish as he gasped in absolute surprise. He looked absolutely horrible, and it was one of the most beautiful things Charlie had ever seen.

"Ron." He called again and this time he sounded surer. Ron flinched, and Charlie jerked in response before his fierce feelings of protection from before overcame him again. "Ron!" He cried and, despite his little brothers earlier warning, he reached out with both arms and grabbed him, hauling him bodily to him and dragging him onto his lap as he embraced him. He felt Ron stiffen in panic, and then he felt as he began to thrash about in desperation to break free; he absolutely refused to let go, his arms, strengthened from years of working with dragons, were well up to the challenge. It only took ten seconds for his brother's energy to deplete and he sagged in his arms as though defeated. He started trembling again and he hid his face in Charlie's thick robes.

"Thank Merlin you're okay, thank you God for bringing you back!" He kissed Ron's dirty red hair and hugged him tighter, completely oblivious to his friends as they approached the two of them and sat down in the snow to tend to Igor's leg wound. They did nothing to interrupt as Charlie muttered thank you to anything that would listen and Ron remained boneless in his arms. It was a good ten minutes before Ron was able to move again, and when he looked up his eyes were lost and afraid and completely confused.

"Charlie? What are you doing here?" He asked and Charlie had to laugh at the innocence in the eyes, despite the pain that mingled with it.

"Looking for dragon's, what else?"

"All the way out here?"

"It's as good a place as any." Ron suddenly pushed himself out of Charlie's grasp and scrambled a few feet away in the snow. It was then that Charlie noticed his friends had once again armed themselves and were looking apprehensively behind them. Charlie looked and saw that the orange and brown dragon was back, had landed in fact, and was staring at them like he wanted nothing more then to charge at the group. But it was holding back, and bouncing from one front foot to the other, its wings twisting about and its spikes rising and falling with each agitated breath. Ron looked over then as well, and cursed.

"Shit. Don't hurt him." He ordered, and they instantly lowered their wands before wondering why the hell they had followed his instruction without question. Ron pushed himself to his feet, seeming to pull himself together, and marched around the dead dragon to the live, agitated one. He walked right up to it.

"Ron! What are you doing!" he shouted and the two others that had wands instantly raised them again. Ron ignored them all as he stood before the large creature and waited for it to lower its head, when he then placed a hand on its snout as though he had done it a hundred times and the two stared at each other for a few moments before the dragon snorted smoke and pulled back, stomping off of few meters and flopping down to rest as though it were annoyed with something. Ron turned back to them and eyed Charlie's friends with doubt.

"Lower yer wands." Charlie ordered instantly and once again they listened to a Weasely without question. Ron walked back to them slowly, but he focused his eyes on the dead creature before him, he stumbled once but caught himself and Charlie was instantly worried that he had been injured during his bout with the animals. He stepped forward but was halted as Ron spoke softly and commandingly.

"I'm fine, please, don't come any closer."

"Ron, what the hell is going on?"

"It would seem you were attacked by dragons. I was in the neighbourhood and thought I'd drop by to lend a hand."

"That's not what I meant." He growled, upset by his brother's sudden fear of him, not knowing how to treat him in this situation, and wanting nothing more then to whisk him home to be with his family, where he belonged.

"I know." Ron answered and reached out to touch the dragon with his shaking right hand. Charlie saw a strange red glove but ignored it, more worried that the creature would suddenly leap up and take his brother from him forever. "It's dead." He announced, though Charlie was positive he had already known that.

"No kidding." Igor replied, and gasped as Marion suddenly put too much pressure on the wound she was wrapping. Ron didn't look at any of them as he began to move towards the next dragon. Charlie followed, keeping a good meter between them but refusing to move any further away. His brother avoided his eyes like the plague and stared ahead at his target.

"This is where you've been?" He asked quietly, "All this time?"

"It was as good a place as any." Ron replied, his voice sounded weak, tired, like he was on the verge of collapse.

"Why didn't you come home?" He asked, unable to hide the hurt from his voice and silently cursed as Ron flinched at the tone but kept moving. He didn't answer. Instead they approached the dragon and Charlie saw, to his horror, that it was still breathing, although very shallowly. Ron stopped two meters away and suddenly the whip was back in his hand and he was flicking it out to wrap around one thick arm.

"What are-"

"Shhh." Ron hissed and then stared at the animal as though in a trance. Charlie looked over at its face and saw its eye, black and empty, staring back at him. He shuddered, seeing nothing but evil in the gaze and knowing that this was the first dragon he had ever met that truly struck fear into his heart. It wasn't natural. Ron exhaled sharply and pulled back from the animal suddenly, his blue eyes looking up to meet its own black one and held it, glaring fiercely. Charlie found himself stepping back, not wanting to be caught in that suddenly vehement gaze. It hit him like a slap that this Ron wasn't the same one he had last seen one and a half years ago, and though he knew his brother could only change from everything that he had gone through it was still a shock to see it in the flesh. The giant creature suddenly shuddered and gasped and then its eye clouded and half closed to obscure the darkness within it forever. Ron stared at it for another minute.

"Ron?"

"I have to go." He said suddenly and turned around, stumbling. Charlie reached out and grabbed his arm instinctively, steadying him. After he had steadied himself Ron had carefully but quickly pulled out of the grasp and stepped away from him, heading back to the main group.

"Ron, you can't go! You have to come home." He stiffened like a board at that suggestion but didn't slow down at all, instead ignoring the comment.

"Ron, you just killed two dragons! You're bloody exhausted and can barely stand on yer feet without help, and if you think I'm going to let you run off again you've got another thing coming." He growled as he stalked after his much taller sibling, noting offhandedly how bad his haircut was.

"First off" Ron whirled about and glared at him, "those were not dragons. They were at some point, but they weren't when I killed them. Secondly, you don't have any say in what I do or don't do. Yer my brother, not my keeper; not my owner and defiantly not my master." His glare faltered and became something closer to fear and sadness as he stared at Charlie. "Thirdly, something very bad is going to happen, and it's going to happen soon. Problem is that I don't know where the battle is going to take place, and I can't rest until I find out."

"Battle?" Charlie asked, not following what his brother was saying. "What battle are you talking about? Voldemort is dead, in case you've forgotten, which would be a right stupid thing to do seeing as you're half the reason he's defeated!"

"I haven't forgotten." He muttered and turned away, stalking slowly towards the dragon that was lying in the snow, watching them with sharp, red eyes. "Get back to your headquarters, it's not safe out here right now."

"I am not leaving you." He declared and Ron turned to face him once again, before averting his eyes as though he was shamed.

"I can't hide forever Charlie. I'll come back once I've dealt with this." He gestured lamely towards the carcasses.

"What do you mean once you've dealt with it? You think that because you're a bloody chaneller you have to take on a group of demented dragons? Why? You need to atone for your sins, pay for being born who you are?" He hit a nerve with that and instantly regretted the heated words, despite their truth. He didn't want Ron to go, least of all angry, but he couldn't stop him. "Ron." He pleaded and watched wearily as the dragon smoothly lifted to his feet and stared at Charlie with suspicion.

"It's all happening too fast Charlie, I can't deal with you and with this right now, okay! There is more at stake here then my or your feelings!"

"Where are you going?"

"Forge and I will follow them, find out where they're heading and try to stop them. Lupin should have been back by now; Dumbledore will know there's a problem. Warn your department that there's a dangerous situation about to get out of hand."

"Stop who? The dragons? And what the bloody hell does Lupin have to do with any of this?" Ron didn't answer though, instead he had crawled up onto the back of the dragon and was now sitting at the base of it's neck, just above it's massive wings and Charlie forgot all about what he was planning to say next as he stared in amazement. Riding the back of a dragon, even a tamed one, was a sure way to get killed, and he heard the startled gasps of his friends behind him as they watched.

"Get back to your headquarters Charlie! I don't know if there are more of these creatures out here." And with that the massive creature was lifting off into the air and disappearing over the trees with a speed that belied its size. Charlie stared for long, stunned minutes as he replayed everything that had just happened and then he rushed back to his friends, holding out his wand.

"Accio Eugene's wand." He demanded and the long wooden elm flew into his hand from thirty meters away. He handed it to his partner and wondered why they hadn't thought to do that in their desperate battle. "We've got to get back."

"No arguments from me."

"We'll leave our tents, there's no time to fuss about them. We need to report this and I need to get home."

"What did he mean about a battle?"

"I have no bloody idea, he was as skittish as a colt. We'll figure it out though, and have someone come to examine their bodies." He gestured to the dragons that lay so peacefully in the field and looked to Marion, Eugene, and Igor. There was no argument in their eyes and they apparated to the nearest town with a floo network.

00000

Ron held on tightly as Forge cut through the freezing winter air like a rocket, and prayed that he wouldn't perform any fancy rolls while Ron clung to his neck. As it was Ron was finding it difficult to hold on, his body slowly regaining strength after the fight with the evil dragons. The cold wind sliced across his face and back as the front of his body was sweating from the heat of Forge's flesh. Riding the dragon was one hell of a lot less scary then riding a thestral, the main reason being that Ron could see where to hang on, though it was a bit more uncomfortable. Forge's spikes hadn't cut into Ron yet because his jacket, which would later need some more serious repairs, was providing an excellent buffer.

Forge dropped suddenly and Ron felt his stomach rise into his throat before settling back down as the creature levelled out and continued tracking their targets. He shifted, feeling the thick leathery skin warm his hands as he pressed into it, and settled back down for the long flight. Finally feeling secure in his position Ron allowed the few tears he'd been holding at bay to escape. He thanked whatever spirit that deserved it for leading him to Charlie, because if the group had been there any longer then they would have died. Ron remembered how stubborn Charlie was, and he knew for a fact that the man wouldn't leave his friends behind. When Forge had flown over the group of people being attacked by two enormous dragon's, Ron hadn't had to think about his course of action, he just apparated before them and prayed that the beasts would stop their attack. The dark energy within them had immediately surrounded him, making him nauseous, but he had stood his ground.

Leaching the life from the dragon had felt like absorbing fire into his veins, but even as the energy filled him he felt no remorse for its sudden death. He barely had to think as he had raised his other arm and sent all the energy he had just stolen crashing into the charging beast, and the relief at having the darkness removed had been overwhelming, knocking him to his knees. He'd killed two creatures that day, but what he had told his brother had been the absolute truth: they had no longer been dragons. There had not even been a hint of a free spirit within. The massive creatures had been transformed into tools, empty vessels that held no feelings or life within, they only had the ability to absorb and obey instructions. Death, Ron felt, had brought justice to the creatures that they had once been.

He was shaken from his reminiscing as a heavy, icy rain began to fall, coating the both of them in is freezing grasp. Forge didn't seem to notice it, but Ron cuddled closer to the beast, trying to ignore the cold and not feel sick to his stomach from the continuous rise and fall of his ride. He wanted to stop and rest, they had been flying for five hours now, but Forge was having none of it, insisting that they keep going. The dragon felt that they were slowly catching up to the dragons, and that the large, slower moving group's destination would become clearer the further they went.

They had to catch up to them at the very least. When Ron had communicated with the dying mangled dragon within that field, he had caught glimpses of the dark wizard gathering his masses. It was impossible to tell exactly how many of the massive creatures were under the wizard's control, as dragons don't associate by mass but by their connection with other dragons. The one that had perished had been eyeing about five different prospects as mates, had been in altercations of various degrees with about eleven of the gathered army, and was related by blood to three. There were more, Ron knew, but they had never appeared as either a threat or a prospect and had therefore remained unnoticed to the animal.

Thinking on it now, as he tried to distract himself from the cold rain, Ron wondered if this was how so many different breeds of dragon had managed to co-exist in any number of habitats. Without an actual understanding of exactly how many dragons were in a territory, they went about minding their own business, ignoring all that didn't have any significant impact on their lives. It was an odd way of looking at the picture and right now, to Ron, it was utterly useless. For all he knew there could be a hundred dragons moving ahead of them fast approaching their target, and Ron didn't even know whether they were headed north or south. What he did know, however, was that the two dragons he had killed had been left in the mountains to guard them while the majority of the group followed their leaders bidding. There had been a disassociated feeling of revenge within the beast that Ron was certain came from the Dragon Lord (Bloody idiotic name, couldn't he have just been called Richard or something? That way I could call him Dick instead of using his stupid self-imposed title.), and it worried him. The feeling of utter outrage and crushed dreams had echoed in the dragons mind, and Ron felt that, somehow, the wizard had learned of his idol's defeat. He was out to kill.

Ron tried to keep thoughts of his brother at the back of his mind, and he was able to succeed only by concentrating on the rolling of his stomach, his cramped limbs and the almost painful shivering of his entire body. Despite this the image of his brother's face, flushed from the fears of the moment and alight with amazement (not absolute hate and disgust), kept appearing in his mind. Every time he thought of that moment when his brother had hugged him tightly his chest would constrict with such a cacophony of emotions he didn't know how to feel. That had been the first moment since he had woken up in the hospital after the final battle with Voldemort, that he had felt truly safe, even if it had only been a moment. Then reality had crashed in upon him again and he remembered exactly who and where he was, and he had pulled himself away.

He had seen how hurt Charlie had been that he wasn't allowed to touch him again, but Ron knew that if he allowed his older sibling to comfort him, he would be an utterly useless ball of bubbering idiot. He couldn't be that, not then, and probably not ever, so he had tried to hold himself at bay, snapping and focusing on his tasks. Charlie was no doubt at home right now, telling his family of their encounter and describing everything bad that he had seen in Ron. He was probably relating to them how he had become a cold bastard, and that they should be glad he was no longer with them. Good Ron suddenly thought viciously, it'll be easier on them if they hate me. With that thought, ignoring the unhappy feelings coming from Forge at his negative thoughts, Ron slipped into a disjointed sleep, jerking awake every few minutes and wondering just where the hell Dick was going, before closing his eyes and seeing images of Charlie being cut in half by the dragon while his dead, black, soulless eyes stared at Ron in hate.

TBC

Charlie! He was the reason for my evil laugh! I was just excited about finally including him in the story!

Your reviews were all absolutely wonderful! Thank you! Unfortunately I don't have time to post and must be off. I hope you enjoyed that chapter!

Next Update: September 16, 2005