"So it's going really great and we've been dating for months now, I've never really been as interested in someone like I am with him. It's just that sometimes I feel like a complete idiot though since he grew up so differently then I did and there's all this muggle tech- technol- anyway there's lots I have no idea about. What if he decides he'd rather be with a muggle-born, I don't think I could take that" Charlie explained.
Gertie, a three-ton English Rivertail dragon, exhaled slowly causing Charlie's hair to collect behind him. Charlie took that opportunity to scrub at her snout and dislodging all the dead mucky scales. It was peeling season after all.
"Talking with dragons about your problems again?" Heifer asked. Charlie turned to see the tall burly man smirking at him. He crossed his massive arms "you know they can't give you advice?" he pointed out.
"They can't blab either" Charlie pointed out "can you, Gertie?" he asked her, scrubbing with the brush under her chin. Gertie rumbled, pleased as the scratch was itched. She opened her large maw and licked Charlie, it knocked him off his feet.
"Sorry, you're like a Crumple Snorgack around here, a reclusive rarity. Everyone wants to know about the new guy who can charm just about every dragon on the reserve" Heifer suggested, pulling Charlie up with no trouble at all.
"Ugh" Charlie shook off dragon spit from his hands "thanks a lot Gertie" he sighed.
"See that, she's practically waggin' her tail" Heifer pointed out as Gertie raised her ear flaps, she was clearly pleased.
"So, what'd you hear?" Charlie asked.
"Honestly, I didn't hear anything except something about leaving for a muggle-born" Heifer replied.
Charlie nodded then pulled out his hand "aqumenti propulsion" he said and a jet of water began. He aimed at Gertie and it began to rinse dirty scales from her body. She clearly enjoyed it.
"Oh come on, Charlie, give me a bone. Come have a drink tonight?" he asked.
"Alright fine, I had no idea I was so popular" Charlie agreed.
"You are joking, right? Your good looking and you're charming as hell, the she-handlers are raving about you" Heifer said.
"Not particularly interested in the" Charlie muttered offhandedly.
"Oh, no worries then but still come. Wait, is that what you were talkin about? A boyfriend?" Heifer asked gleefully.
"Yeah but he's great, it's just me who's worried about stupid stuff," he replied.
"Well if you ever need some advice I'm here, actually you should bring your boyfriend tonight. My husband will be there" Heifer said.
Charlie blinked then immediately looked to Heifer hand, on his ring finger he had a thick silver wedding band. He really should pay more attention "I had no idea you were married and uh thanks" he said.
"So you'll bring him?" Heifer asked.
"I'll see if he's free" Charlie promised, "where are we going for drinks?"
"Leaky Cauldron, drinks have been bloody fantastic lately and food even better" Heifer explained.
Charlie grinned "you don't say?"
Xxx
Percy walked into the apartment covered in ash, it was like he'd rolled in the stuff. Oliver glanced at him from his perch on the couch "did you go chimney sweeping, babe?" he mentioned.
Percy rolled his eyes "I'm gonna take a bath" he said "making a wand that's isn't entirely wood isn't easy" he said.
"Ah" Oliver nodded understanding now, for months now Percy had been working on creating wands from different materials. He'd only recently discovered that many stones worked well as conductors but he still hadn't figured out how to fuse wood and stone together.
It was quite easy to tell when it didn't work as they exploded, Percy never came home defeated though which surprised him. Percy had never taken failure well in the past so the fact he was so passionate he was willing to fail spectacularly over and over again was frankly incredible.
Percy set an exploded stick on the shelf along with the others and headed to the bathroom. Oliver stood up to inspect their shelf of failures, all of Percy's failure wands sat on display on little pegs or sometimes little jars as there wasn't enough left of them.
Percy kept them in neat order by number, some were made with glass, crystal, and even stones embedded with feather-light charms to keep them light enough to carry easily.
Oliver took off his sweater leaving a t-shirt on and walked into the bathroom. Percy sat in the hot water staring at the waves, he sniffed as his tears fell into the water. "Oh, Percy" Oliver shut the door behind him and slowly went to his knees next to the bathtub. He reached out to pull him into a side hug.
"I'm so worried, Olly, what if I can't do it? What if it's not possible and I'm just wasting my time" Percy cried, his form shaking.
"Percy if there's anyone who can do it then it's you and don't doubt that for a second," he responded, running a hand through Percy's hair then kissing his cheek.
"How can you say that?"
"Because I love you and I've known you for years and you've grown so much. You've learned to drop the mask and be yourself and I love you best when you're just being you. Hey, why do you want to do this so badly?" Oliver asked.
Percy breathed in and out, calming down enough that Oliver released him to grab the rag on the faucet and start scrubbing Percy's smoke covered back. "Because… well just think how much more special they'd feel, the wands would be all kinds of materials. It could become some reassurance of who they are."
Oliver kissed Percy's neck then worked his way up to his face "that's wonderful and I know you'll be able to do this."
"I love you," Percy said "you know if I wasn't already going to marry you then I would have asked," Oliver laughed.
Xxx
Charlie arrived at the Leaky Cauldron around 5 pm after changing into more comfortable clothes. "Charlie, over here" Heifer motioned him over to a table.
Charlie walked over and sat at the table, the Leaky Cauldron had been redone months ago so that it maintained it's brick bones and aesthetics but added more creature comforts. The classic tables had been altered slightly to bring the original mahogany it had been back. On top of this was a glass covering spelled to glow a little, Ron's handiwork really.
He thought this detail was particularly brilliant because it gave off a nice lighting effect. Next, the paintings were all given new frames, there were extra tables to sit at. The bar had been altered to give off a redder shade.
Then there were extra little things that were Neville, Luna, and Ron's touches. The upside down coin fountain that Luna added and the hanging plants on the ceilings done by Neville. Ron had added an extra room in the restaurant area made specifically for muggle-borns and their families.
It was a little room with books, posters, and pamphlets on how to get money in Diagon Ally, where to get all their supplies from, and other essentials things. Charlie thought it was incredibly sweet as it was obviously done with thoughts of Hermione.
"Oh my Merlin, you finally got here," Jamie said, she was deceptively tiny for a dragon handler. In her uniform, she looked a bit like a little kid, her fireproof jacket and trousers. Right now though, in a tank top and shorts, you could see her muscles.
"She was worried you wouldn't come. I started to get jealous" the man beside her mentioned, it took Charlie by surprise as it was an American accent.
"Oh he's joking," Jamie said taking the man's chin and pecked it "this is Scott," Jamie said.
"Nice to meet you" Charlie greeted then turned to the person next to Heifer, he assumed male because while slightly androgynous, they wore a ring matching Heifer's. "You must be Heifer's husband?" he asked.
He smiled reminding Charlie a bit of Ginny in the calming feel he gave off. "I'm Aiden" he offered a hand and Charlie shook it "you know I dunno what it is but you Weasley's are just dripping with good looks," Aiden mentioned in an Australian accent.
"I take you've met one of my brothers?" Charlie asked, flushing.
"Well I did recruitment detail for your sister Ginny, I work for the Holyhead Harpies" Aiden explained "but then I also met your brother Percy when I got my wand repaired at Olivander's" he explained.
"Wait, we went to that joke shop" Scott mentioned "that George guy was cool, had to be your brother," he said.
"Yup, I'm the 2nd eldest so those are all my little siblings," Charlie said laughing.
"Did you bring your boyfriend?" Heifer asked.
"Wait, Charlie has a boyfriend?" Jamie asked.
"He said he'll come after rehearsal" Charlie replied, Dudley, sounded excited at the prospect when he recalled him earlier. Actually, Dudley seemed the only one he's dated that seemed to be fascinated in his work in general. He would listen even if he went on about the most mundane dragon handler stuff like buffing dragon scales or cleaning teeth.
"So what's he do?" Jamie asked.
"He…" Charlie wasn't sure how to put it, Dudley was a lead singer for a band but from he'd told Charlie he started to write songs with Nix. "Well he's actually a singer" he explained.
"Oh yeah?" Scott asked "a band or just alone?" he asked.
"In a band," Charlie explained, "it's kind of new but they are getting a lot of concerts especially lately."
"That's great, bands don't usually get so much traction early on," Scott said "I'm actually an agent, I go to underground concerts to see if I can scout for new talent. What's the name of the band?" he asked.
"Oh um..." suddenly the chimney lit up and Dudley stepped out of it wearing his usual public disguise of huge thick-rimmed glasses and long black cloak. His blonde hair was tied up in a bun, the hair tie was a WWW product that turned hair a different color as long as you wore it.
Dudley scanned the room then spotted Charlie and smiled. Charlie could never get used to how Dudley looked at him like he was the only thing worth staring at. Dudley took off the glasses first then the hair tie, shaking out his layered shoulder length hair.
As he took off the cloak, it transfigured itself into a leather jacket which he put back on. Dudley was incredible at charms despite not taking classes, he passed his practical magic test at the ministry with flying colors. Every bit of magic he was taught seemed to stick so well in his brain he wondered if Dudley was as brilliantly gifted as Hermione.
Dudley sat next to Charlie at the bar and pecked him on the cheek then the lips. "Hello," he greeted a little breathless "sorry I was late, Nix kept going on and on," he said.
Jamie squeaked in a pitch that Charlie was surprised he could even here because it seemed to register on a molecular level. "Y-you!" Jamie's mouth worked to come up with the words.
"Me?" Dudley said patiently and chuckled at how flustered she was. He must be used to this reaction by now considering it'd happened while they were out a few times. If people weren't speechless they were screaming and excited.
"Ooh, Charlie, your dating Dee from Chasing Fire?" Jamie demanded, flushed.
"Yeah, sorry, I wasn't sure if you'd show so I didn't want to mention it," Charlie said to Dudley as well.
"In case they didn't believe you, right?" Dudley said and Charlie nodded.
"Plus it feels like I'm bragging" Charlie added.
"Oh," Jamie said, Heifer laughed.
"Nice to meet you, Dee," he mentioned offering a hand which Dudley shook firmly "and this is my husband, Aiden" he added.
Aiden smiled offering his hand "I enjoy your music," he said.
"I'm glad" Dudley replied, flushed "um, you can call me Dudley though, Dee is just my stage name," he said.
"I'm Jamie," she said then pointed at her boyfriend "this is Scott."
"Nice to meet you, I'm an Agent for Wicked Records" Scott said offering a hand which Dudley shook.
"Ah," Dudley said then pulled out a card with his name on it and handed it to him.
"Right, here's my business card too, then," Scott said taking the one Dudley handed him and trading off. Dudley slipped it into his pocket.
"So, what are we thinking? I'm starving" Dudley asked leaning on Charlie.
"Why not just ask the chef" Charlie suggested placing an arm on Dudley's always trim waist. Dudley's eyes shifted to Ron walking over to them in his black chefs uniform. Charlie had never seen his brother look better than when he wore that uniform.
"God you're handsome in that, how do you get it to fit you so well," Dudley said without a moment of the preamble. See recently, Dudley started hanging out a lot with Ron and Harry. It was a good way to get closer to Harry and at first, Ron was just a buffer from the awkwardness between Dudley and Harry.
Now though, Dudley became a kind of best friend to Ron as well. Charlie wondered if Harry ever got jealous considering how often Dudley teased him about it. He doubted it though since Harry never laughed harder than when Ron and he did a bit.
Ron grinned in response to Dudley's words and jokingly raked his hair back. "Hermione never mentioned it but she definitely had it tailored the moment she saw me wear it. I just pretended not to notice" he said.
"I could kiss her, you need to be in a magazine," Dudley said with a teasing smirk and pulled him closer. "Oh? Are you jealous?" he asked Charlie who flushed.
"Of me, or Hermione?" Ron asked.
"You two are so cruel," Charlie said "well um anyway, everyone this is my youngest brother Ron who also happens to be the Head Chef" he puffed his chest showing him off. He was unbelievably proud of all his brothers, all of them but Ron had the disadvantage of being the youngest. Despite that, Ron outshined them all, a bloody hero, an Auror, and now a head chef.
"You held out on us" Heifer pointed out "and please, call me Heifer and this is my husband Aiden" he introduced.
"Your food is brilliant," Aiden said, "seems like there's a Weasley everywhere we go."
"Thanks, I really appreciate that. And no kidding," Ron agreed.
"I'm Jamie."
"Scott."
"Jessie and I work with Charlie on the Scotland Dragon Reserves," Heifer said.
"Oh, dragon handler's huh. For a bit I thought about being one because I wanted to be like Charlie but I was cured of that pretty quickly," Ron explained.
"Yeah?" Jamie asked.
"Had an encounter with a baby dragon is the first year, set fire to my shirt. From then on I thought if a baby was like that then I didn't want to get to know a full grown one. And then my best friend was almost set on fire in the Wizarding World Cup by a Hungarian Horntail and then I road one out of Gringotts Bank. Not the best encounters with dragons" Ron replied sardonically.
"Wait, oh my Merlin, is everyone you know and are related to famous?" Heifer accused him. Charlie laughed. "I'm such an idiot, your Ron Weasley, right!"
"Wait duh! The Ron Weasley" Jamie said.
"Fraid so" Ron replied with a small smile as he'd rather not talk about it. "Well um, any ideas on what you'll have? I thought I'd you guys special treatment since Charlie's with you."
"I'll have whatever you recommended, trust me I'll eat anything," Heifer said.
"I'm kind of on a little bit of a diet any suggestions?" Jamie asked.
"For Heifer, I'll suggest beer battered fish and chips. And Jamie, right?" Ron asked Jamie nodded "a vegetable and fried tofu stir fry should be perfect."
"I'll have the meatloaf," Aiden said.
"Seconded on the fish and chips," Scott said.
"Surprise me" Charlie shrugged.
"Cabbage rolls," Dudley said and Ron wrote everything down on a tiny notebook.
"Well I'll have everything out for you in a bit," Ron said.
"Your brother is adorable," Jamie said, "like really, this just proves my theory."
"And what's that?" Dudley asked.
"All Weasleys are good looking" Heifer filled in rolling his eyes.
"Well you aren't wrong" Dudley mentioned, carding a hand through Charlie's hair once before pouring himself water from a pitcher left on the table. "They just take on more unique traits like snowflakes. Imagine how the rest of us feel next to them."
"What do you have to worry about? You're um well, ugh this is stupid with all the compliments. You're a rockstar, you should know you're attractive" Jamie added.
"Somehow I get the feeling Dudley and Jamie will make good friends" Charlie mentioned to Heifer and Scott. They all laughed as Dudley and Jamie went back and forth.
The food came out so quickly it was like well magic. Floating plates descended onto their tables by Ron's wand, there curled up flower buds and with a flick of his brother's wand they opened to reveal steaming and beautifully plated meals.
"This is different then last time" Heifer mentioned "the plates I mean," he said.
"Yes, we're actually trying out a theme every month now. This month is Garden so the plates will take on a flower appearance. Neville and I wanted to think of something that would keep people coming back every week. Next month is Underwater, eventually, the month Hogwarts goes back to school is when we'll have a Hogwarts theme" Ron explained looking excited about it.
"These plates are really well made," Scott said.
"Goblin-made, actually," Ron said "Goblin's actually funded the revamping of this place and in turn, we show our thanks by buying their craftsmanship. However, the plates are going on display later. Hung from the ceiling each time our theme switches. Eventually, it'll be quite the spectacle" he added.
"That's incredible, what a brilliant idea," Aiden said.
"Aiden loves anything art, he sells wizard related art," Heifer said.
"That sounds so interesting-" Dudley jumped and frankly they all did when they heard a loud boom sound then screaming. It took only a second for Ron to pull out his wand, he paled considerably. There was nothing in the Leaky Cauldron that had made that noise.
"Ron!" Neville came running, wand in hand. "There are a bunch of random men in the streets, blew up part of the street" he panted "it's madness out there."
People rushed into the leaky cauldron suddenly, people shoving others "sonorous" Ron said "everyone stop right now" he said and if people recognized a leader they paused to look at him. "Come in and find a seat if you can, no one attempt to leave. Cooperation is key as arriving Aurors will need your testimony later. All staff personnel, please offer water and any essential aid. Is anyone in this crowd hurt?" he asked.
"This man is!" a young woman, not 16 announced. Charlie recognized a survivor of the Hogwarts Battle anywhere.
"Neville, take care of him and anyone else. I need you to take over" Ron said.
"Right," Neville said.
"Where are you going?" Charlie asked standing up taking his own wand out.
"I'm going to see what I can do," Ron said.
"Then I'm coming with," Charlie said.
Ron turned to him then sighed "alright," he agreed.
Dudley grabbed his arm "wait, I'm not much help but stay safe okay?" he said.
Charlie nodded kissing Dudley on the lips and then gestured for Ron to lead the way.