Chapter 2: Romania
Hermione sat up abruptly to Crookshanks pawing at her and one of the pages from Charlie's report stuck to the side of her face. She quickly peeled it off and put the pages back together before glancing at the clock. She only had an hour till she had to meet for the Portkey and she rushed to the bathroom to shower and dress.
Hermione had gotten so lost in Charlie's research she had even forgotten to pack, and she quickly grabbed her beaded bag with the Undetectable Extension Charm. She flicked her wand at her dresser and various items of clothing flew that she thought would be suitable flew into her bag. Crookshanks wound between her legs as she stood and debated on the weather of Romania, and if three jumpers were too many when she realized she never asked anyone to watch him.
Swearing under her breath she quickly penned a letter to Harry and Ginny and sent it off with a tap of her wand. Hermione gathered her bag and Charlie's packet, said a quick goodbye to Crookshanks and Floo'd to the Ministry to meet with Effie. Hermione felt the stares of her co-workers as she stepped through the flames. Was it honestly so odd to see her in casual clothing? She was only wearing a pair of muggle jeans and a white long sleeve t-shirt, but she felt as if she was starkers.
Effie stood at the Ministries Portkey waiting for her. "Hermione! Are you ready, dear?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" Hermione lied, she felt as if she had forgotten a million different things.
Effie frowned at Hermione's outfit, "Won't you be cold, dear? Do you have a jumper?"
Hermione smiled and shook her bag around, wincing slightly as she heard a few things fall, "I've got one here. But it's the middle of May, it should be mild enough to not need one."
"Well, the Portkey is set to leave in three minutes so I'll leave you to it. Owl me if you need anything." Effie made to leave but Hermione stopped her.
"Actually Effie, I forgot to ask, how long will I be in the field for?"
Effie tapped her finger to her chin, "Oh, I think until Monday would be sufficient? I know that documenting the Dragon shouldn't take more than a day or two, but I think it would be good to get some of our own research in the books as well."
Monday would give her four days in Romania, which should be ample time. Hermione thanked her and gave her a smile as she left. She turned to the Portkey, a small silver ball sitting on a stand, and glanced at the clock above her. The seconds ticked by and striking the time to leave, she gripped the ball and was whisked away.
Moments later, she spiralled onto wet grass and took deep breaths to steady her stomach. Portkey was definitely one of her least favourite ways to travel. Hermione stood and brushed herself off while taking in her surroundings. She had been dropped in the valley of a mountain range and she stopped a moment to bask in the warm sunlight and crisp air. She was certainly not in England anymore.
"Miss Granger, I presume?"
Hermione whirled around to face a wizard possibly in his late twenties with dark skin, short black hair, and a friendly face. She stuck out her hand for him to shake, "Yes, and you are?"
"Felix Rosier, at your service. Charlie and I work together, he asked me to come to collect you. We just got a new Longhorn today and he's getting close to calming it so I came to get you for him." He turned and gestured for Hermione to follow him down the valley a little ways.
They crested the hill and came upon a large clearing of what she thought to be a few hundred acres of open field. It was surrounded by snow-capped mountains and Hermione took in a sharp breath at the beauty of it.
Felix chuckled beside her, "Just wait till we pass through the barrier and you see the Sanctuary!"
They continued walking for a few minutes until Hermione felt the familiar barrier of a Ward and pressed through until she popped out on the other side. Glancing around, she now understood what Felix meant. From what she could count, at least a hundred different dragons roamed the ground and skies of the field. Dotting the landscape were small cabins and sheds of varying sizes and off to one side were large buildings made of stone which she assumed to be where the dragons slept.
She continued to follow Felix until they reached a large pen surrounded by quite a few people and Hermione quickly picked out Charlie among the crowd. He wasn't hard to miss being the only red-head, but he was also the only one standing on the inside of the fence with the Longhorn.
He had his wand at the ready, but kept a very neutral stance, almost as if he was bored. Hermione could tell, however, that this was a farce and noticed his eyes never left the dragon circling in front of him. The Longhorn was smaller sized, no larger than the Knight Bus but its golden horns were long and impressively sharp.
Hermione regarded the scene in front of her as Felix cut a path between the sea of people and walked her to the front of the fence. The dragon almost seemed to be second-guessing it's angry attitude as it regarded the indifferent wizard in front of him.
"Longhorn's don't like to be ignored, they find it almost annoying. If you can ignore them for long enough, they eventually settle and try to gain your favour instead of your fear." Felix explained as he raised his hand to get Charlie's attention.
Charlie turned his gaze to them and his bright blue eyes regarded Hermione for a moment before turning back to the task at hand. He glanced back to the Longhorn, who had begun pacing in front of him. He turned on his heel and showed his back to the dragon while crossing his arms.
The Longhorn stopped it's pacing for a moment before laying down on its stomach and scooting closer to Charlie. Hermione gripped the bar in front of her in nervousness. She knew Charlie was a skilled Dragon Keeper but still, to watch a dragon come up on someone's back like that would make anyone wary.
She had no reason to fear, however, for the moment the Longhorn reached Charlie's back, it gently nudged him with its snout and he turned around to pet it. Hermione watched in astonishment as this large fearsome reptile turned into a glorified puppy. It rolled to its side as Charlie lavished it with attention and flicked his wand to release the bubble dome enchantment surrounding the pen.
The dragon soared off to join a few others of its breed and Charlie jogged over to meet with her and Felix.
"Hermione! Good to see you, sorry I couldn't meet you at the Portkey." Standing in front of her now, Hermione smiled up to him. He wasn't quite as tall as his brothers, but he was by no means short and he still towered over her and Felix. He was easily the most freckled of the Weasley children, and his tanned skin only made them more visible.
Charlie pulled a strap of leather from his pocket and used it to tie his shoulder-length hair back into a bun. He climbed the fence and swung his legs over the top to drop down next to Hermione. She backed up a step to make room and wrinkled her nose at him invading her personal space.
To say Charlie Weasley was attractive was putting it mildly. He was exceptionally handsome in a rugged sort of way and the sweat dripping down his neck, that would have normally repulsed her, only made him more so. He wore a loose-fitting white cotton shirt that was damp and clung to his broad chest. Hermione looked down at his brown leather trousers and wondered if they made him as hot as she was feeling.
She looked back up to his face and felt a blush creep up her neck as she found him staring at her the same way she had been staring at him. His blue eyes sparkled with familiar Weasley mischief and Charlie gestured behind her with one of his insanely muscular arms.
"Let me show you where you'll be staying." He brushed past her and, for the smallest moment, Hermione felt like a silly school girl again as her heart raced from his close proximity.
He continued walking and she hurried to follow him, saying a quick thank you to Felix who only gave her a smile. She kept her eyes to the sky above her as dragons soared overhead. This was like a small heaven to her, to be surrounded by so much beauty of the wizarding world all in one spot.
They walked past the pen and down the valley a short ways before coming up to a cluster of five cabins all grouped together and it looked almost like a small town.
"How have you been? I haven't seen you since Christmas." Charlie looked at her over his shoulder and Hermione forgot how to speak for a moment. His eyes were the brightest blue she had ever seen, they almost seemed to glow and it always caught her off guard to look in them.
She cleared her throat when she realized he was still waiting for a response, "Fine, fine. I've just been working, mostly. I was actually just given a new project to study the rise in Cornish Pixie numbers when I got sent here instead."
They walked down the row of cabins and came to the very last one. Charlie stood in front of the door and turned to her, "Bloody hell, that sounds extremely boring. Aren't you glad you were reassigned then?" He gave her a grin of incredibly straight white teeth that would have made her parents cry from happiness.
She crossed her arms, "Actually, that's something I want to ask you about. My boss said you requested me? Why?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "I know you. I know you advocate for fair treatment of all magical beings and beasts. Dragons are severely misunderstood and I didn't trust anyone else from your department." He gave her another cheeky grin, "Plus I distinctly remember Ron complaining on multiple occasions of you being a bookworm know-it-all, so I figured you'd appreciate all of my research."
Hermione pressed her lips together at the back-handed compliment, "Well, speaking of your research I do have a few questions."
"Of course, let's go inside and you can see where you'll be staying." He opened the door and offered for Hermione to go first, shutting it after they both walked in.
The cabin was fairly comfortable, she felt like she was back at the campsite when they went to the Quidditch games before fourth year. Everything was made of wood, except for the large stone fireplace that sat against the living room wall. The entire downstairs was one room, the kitchen to the left and living room to the right and she saw a ladder against the back wall which climbed up to a loft.
"I built this one for you last night. My cabin is just next door." Charlie told her as he walked into the kitchen and started a kettle on the stove.
Hermione set her bag down on the chair in the living room and looked around a bit more. "I would have been fine in a tent, you know. You didn't have to bother building me a whole cabin."
Charlie shrugged, "It was only a few simple spells, it took all of an hour. I can't have my Ministry guests sleeping in a tent, especially one that's also a family friend. Mum would send me a howler if she found out."
Hermione laughed at the mental image of buff Charlie Weasley listening to a howler like Ron had second year.
He brought her a cup of tea and they sat in the living room while he started a fire. "Now, your questions?"
Hermione nodded eagerly and accio'd the research papers from her bag, setting them out of the coffee table in front of her. Charlie sat to her right and leaned forward to look at the notes she had scribbled on the edges of the paper. She couldn't tell if it was the fire or his closeness that made her feel suddenly hot but she edged away from both slightly.
He picked up one of the pages and read it in astonishment. "Hermione, I feel as if you've graded my paper."
Hermione blushed, in truth, she hadn't meant to but ended up writing quite a few comments on the sides of the pages that had truly made her feel like a professor grading a students work. She opened her mouth to reply but stopped short when Charlie let out a chuckle.
"Superb handwriting?" He grinned at her, "Thank you for the compliment, Professor, did I earn an O?"
Hermione's face burned, she must have written that while she was half-asleep and she quickly snatched the parchment from his hands. She collected the rest of the papers from the table before he could read anything else she may have embarrassingly written and shuffled them around as she looked for the questions she wanted to ask.
She cleared her throat and kept her gaze pointedly away from Charlie's, "You said here that the dragon grew rather quickly, but didn't list any measurements. How much did it grow since it hatched?"
Charlie scratched at the stubble on his chin, "I think she's nearing about twenty feet in length by now."
Hermione nodded and scribbled his answer down, "And it's four months old?"
"Yes."
"You mentioned at one point it looked similar to a Hebridean Black, do you think it could be some type of crossbreed?"
Charlie leaned back in his chair and sipped his tea, "I thought that at first too, but the Blacks aren't known to seek outside of their breed. None of the other known species would have produced a black dragon so my only thought is that she's something new."
Hermione brushed the feather of the quill against her lips as she thought and looked back to the parchment. Crossbreeds were common enough but a new species of dragon? The idea made her head spin. She could be one of the few people to document an entirely new dragon species for the Ministry, it could be one of her shining achievements. Sure, she helped take down Voldemort and a few generations of Death Eaters but this was a dragon.
She looked back up to Charlie and found his eyes trailing on the movement of her quill against her face. His eyes snapped to hers and she felt herself blush at the intense look in his eyes. She cleared her throat and quickly looked away, setting the papers back on the coffee table.
"When can I see it?"
Charlie's face split into a wide grin and he jolted out of the chair, "I can take you to see her right now!"
He strode to the door and opened it as Hermione quickly stood to catch up. He went to his cabin next door, saying he needed to grab something. When Charlie emerged, her mouth dried and throat closed at what he had in his hands.
"Charlie, I'm not getting on that."
"It's the quickest way around here, plus the dragon's love it! Sometimes they chase me like a toy and I have to race around to not get burnt to a crisp." He let out a loud laugh at the fear on her face and mounted the Nimbus. "C'mon, Hermione! I'm just kidding." He gave her a cheeky grin and Hermione felt her heart jump into her throat.
It took a few minutes, and several key points of negotiations on both their parts, before Hermione agreed to join Charlie on his broom. She agreed, but only if she sat in front of him instead of behind and his strong arms held her in place as she gripped onto them for dear life. Charlie's warmth seeped into her back as they flew across to the other side of the Sanctuary, dodging a few dragons in the process.
Hermione's heart was beating in her chest at a dangerous pace, but she didn't know if it was from flying or being pressed into Charlie Weasley. She felt such an odd connection to him, she felt this way every time she saw him. She was sure it was simply the fact he was so unfairly attractive but she couldn't help herself from settling closer in his embrace. Nor did she pay any mind to him holding her a little tighter.
Finally, as they neared a large stone building, Charlie began their descent and a silent scream lodged into the back of Hermione's throat. They finally came back down to the ground and her legs shook as she quickly climbed off the broom. She stumbled a bit and would have fallen had Charlie not caught her. He had pulled her tightly against him and she could feel every inch of his hard body.
A hot blush crept up her neck and she hurriedly pulled out of his embrace, "Yes, well. Thank you for that, I absolutely hate flying."
Charlie smirked at her, "Well, I hate to break it to you, Hermione, but that's how we travel around here."
She grimaced at him and jumped as a loud roar filled her ears.
Charlie's smirk turned into a grin, "That'll be Lumi."