Chapter 4: Keeper

Hermione woke to the tantalizing smell of frying bacon and she quickly roused herself from the bed. The skylight only showed the light grey of early morning and she groaned and she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

She glanced over the rail of the loft to see Charlie standing at the stove in the kitchen cooking eggs and bacon. A small smile graced her lips and she shook her head. It must be a Weasley thing, invading someone's privacy, Molly was notorious for it. The board under her foot squeaked and Charlie looked up at her with a grin.

"Morning, 'Mione."

"Good Morning, Charlie." She gave him a sleepy smile.

"Breakfast will be ready in a minute." He turned back to the stove, "Do you maybe want to put on something decent and join me?"

She scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion and looked down at her clothing. A deep blush covered her cheeks as she realized she wasn't wearing any trousers, and her shirt only covered the very tops of her thighs.

Hermione quickly ducked back out of sight and rummaged around in her bag, pulling out a pair of jeans and a fitted dark blue cotton shirt. She rushed to the bathroom and quickly changed, then inspected herself in the mirror. Her hair was a knotted mess and she whispered a beauty charm to tame her curls.

She pulled her hair into a ponytail that touched just below her shoulders and, satisfied with her appearance, made her way downstairs. She jumped off the last rung of the ladder to find Charlie sitting in the same spot in the living room as he had last night. She also resumed her spot and picked up a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast.

"This looks great." She took a bite of scrambled eggs and sighed at the taste. When was the last time she had breakfast that didn't consist of power bars?

Charlie watched her eat with a grin and she quirked an eyebrow at him, "What?"

He only shook his head and turned back to his own meal. Once they were done, he informed her they were going to check on Lumi, and then he wanted to introduce her to a few other dragons.

Hermione was so excited she actually bounded from the cabin and went to stand outside. Her mood instantly fell as she turned to find Charlie holding the Nimbus from yesterday.

She swallowed a lump in her throat, "Can't I just Disapparate?"

Charlie grinned and shook his head, "Sorry, unfortunately not. There's a block over the Sanctuary, no Apparating or Disapparating allowed."

She pressed her lips together as Charlie mounted the broom and looked to her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. She crossed her arms and debated how long it would take her to walk there.

"Two hours, if you walk fast." He smirked in arrogance from knowing what she was thinking.

With an aggravated sigh, she mounted the broom in front of him. They soared into the sky and Hermione tightly gripped the strong arms that wrapped around her. She felt the rumble of a laugh from his chest pressed into her back and the whipping wind swallowed the sound of the growl she let out in response.

They quickly flew through the brisk early morning wind. At this time of day, there wasn't a dragon in the sky and for a moment, Hermione closed her eyes to allow herself to enjoy the feel of the air whipping through her hair.

Hermione's enjoyment was quickly replaced by fear at the familiar sensation of plummeting back to the ground. Her heart leapt into her throat and her stomach somersaulted as Charlie dropped them. She half-turned back into his chest for protection, pressing her face into the crook of his neck.

He drew the broom up before they could crash into the ground and gently guided them to a stop in front of Lumi's barn. She nearly kissed the ground at her feet as she hopped off the broom with shaking legs.

Charlie let out a chuckle, "Any better today?"

She didn't answer but shot a glare in his direction as she stalked to Lumi's barn and quickly disappeared inside, another one of his laughs sounding behind her. She was going to wake up extra early tomorrow and walk before she was subjected to that again.

Lumi was sleeping, curled into a ball in the centre of the room and small puffs of smoke billowed out from her nostrils as she snored. Hermione stopped short a few feet away to gaze at her.

"Merlin she's beautiful," she mumbled into the chilled air.

"I'd have to agree." She felt Charlie whisper into her ear behind her.

Hermione looked over her shoulder to find Charlie bent over, his face only a few inches from her own. His words referred to Lumi but he was looking directly at her.

Her mouth went dry at the intense but oddly playful look he was giving her and her face heated at the feel of his hot breath on her face. He smelled like spearmint, one of her favourite scents. It made her slightly dizzy as it filled her nostrils and her eyes flickered between his lips and his eyes.

What would happen if she kissed him?

Did she want to kiss him?

She immediately knew the answer. Yes.

Why did she feel this uncontrollable pull to him?

Charlie's eyes left Hermione's to glance behind her and a wide grin spread across his face. He straightened, his height causing him to loom over her once again. Hermione turned her head to see Lumi, now awake and stretching her limbs like a cat. She flared out her wings and stretched them before settling back on her haunches. Hermione took mental notes of the way the light filtered through the thin membrane so she could draw it later.

"Good morning, Lumi!" Charlie called out as he walked up to her. Hermione tried not to think about how cold her back was now or the small amount of disappointment she felt. She was standing in front of a brand new species and all she could think about was a man! Even if he was a good looking man… A really good looking man. That smelled nice. And- Hermione shook her head, she had a job to do.

Lumi puffed out a curl of smoke as a greeting and Charlie ran his hand over her neck, inspecting over her scales. She nudged her head into him and he stumbled back, holding up his hands in surrender, letting out a chuckle. "Alright, alright. I'm sure you're hungry."

Charlie walked up to the barn door and opened it, allowing Lumi to immediately squeeze through and take flight. He placed his hands on his hips and watched her fly off, then turned to Hermione with a small smile.

"Now, how about those other dragons?"

Around midday, she had finally met with all of the other dragon species aside from the Hungarian Horntail, as Charlie told her the few they had were not comfortable with people. As interested as Hermione was, she remembered how brutal it had been to Harry in the Triwizard Tournament and she didn't really fancy being burned to a crisp.

They decided to stop by the Commons, a large series of cabins connected together with hallways. Charlie told her this is where the Junior Keepers stayed in dorms and took classes until they passed the test and became full Dragon Keepers. There was a large mess hall filled with rounded wooden tables that seemed to be the heart of the Commons and quite a few Dragon Keepers and Juniors filled them. The boisterous sounds of animated conversation reminded Hermione so much of Hogwarts that she instantly felt at home among the crowd.

Hermione's gaze landed on a small table in the corner, where a few people in lab coats huddled together talking enthusiastically. She pointed them out to Charlie and he turned to her with a grin.

"Figures you'd be interested. They're from the Research department. There's a department that handles breeding and hatching the eggs and another that studies the baby dragons as they age."

She eyed them enviously, wishing she could join them and spend her career studying dragons instead of just this once.

Charlie dropped her off at a table in the back with a few other Dragon Keepers and left to grab them lunch. Felix sat among them and he introduced her to the group.

Charity Beedle, a young girl fresh from Hogwarts who was still in training, introduced herself first, excitedly shaking Hermione's hand. She went on for a few minutes about how honoured she was to be meeting one of the Golden Trio and Felix had to pry her away before she cut off the circulation to Hermione's fingers.

A large older man, possibly in his forties, by the name of Orval Hedge introduced himself next. He had a thick accent that Hermione couldn't place and when she asked where he was from, he only grunted in response. The other Keeper of the group, Luella, introduced herself as his wife, which was surprising because she appeared to be only a few years older than Hermione.

She apologized for her husband's rude behaviour and told her they were from Bulgaria, to which Hermione asked them if they knew Viktor Krum. This seemed to light a spark in Orval, who began almost at once talking about Quidditch. When it became clear that she knew nothing about the sport, Hermione told them she had attended the Yule Ball with Viktor and was still very good friends with him. Orval had nearly jumped out of his seat with excitement at this.

Charlie came back a few minutes later to Orval firing off questions in a jumbled mess, most of which Hermione barely understood due to his thick accent. He quirked an eyebrow and she only shrugged in response, giving him a grin.

They ate their lunch and by the end of it, Hermione had decided she greatly liked everyone there.

Charity reminded her so much of Ginny that if it weren't for the blonde hair, she could have sworn that's who she was speaking to. Luella was mostly silent but she had a kind demeanour about her and her husband Orval now treated her warmly, impressed that she knew Viktor Krum personally. Felix and Charlie seemed to be close friends and animatedly told her stories from over the years that had her bursting at the seams with laughter.

Felix tagged along with her and Charlie as they left the mess hall and he continued telling a story of a newborn Common Welsh Green that had thought Charlie's hair was fire and tried to make a nest in it.

"You should have seen this thing try to climb up his shoulders and ruffle around in his hair." He said between laughs. "I still can't decide which was better, the look of confusion on the dragon's face at discovering his hair wasn't hot or the look of terror on Charlie's as a baby dragon climbed on his head."

Hermione wiped tears from her eyes as her laughter died down and grinned at Charlie. He had his lips pressed together in an attempt to hide his smile and he tried to look serious as he crossed his arms, which only made Hermione start laughing again.

Felix clapped a hand on his shoulder while he caught his breath, "C'mon, mate. You can't deny it was hilarious."

Charlie gave him a mocking glare, "I'd like to see you handle a twenty-pound, newborn dragon climb your head to try and nest in your hair."

"Oi, my locks are too beautiful for that." Felix dramatically ran his fingers through his short hair and Charlie finally let out a chuckle.

They parted ways and Hermione had only reluctantly mounted the broom again once Charlie had promised her a surprise. They flew towards Lumi's barn and, as much as she didn't want to admit it, she was starting to enjoy these small moments when his arms were wrapped tightly around her. She felt oddly comforted and safe, even though she was doing one of the things she feared the most.

Even during the ride to the Commons for lunch, she had felt this way and she couldn't help but be overwhelmed with what that meant.

She was pulled from her thoughts as they came to a stop in front of the barn, the door still wide open and no Lumi in sight. Hermione was able to get off the broom without her legs shaking and she felt a small bout of triumph.

"So, where is this grand surprise?" Hermione asked as she turned to Charlie.

He opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by the sound of someone shouting his name. They both looked up to the sky as a young girl dashed towards them atop a CleanSweep. She stopped short on her approach, nearly barreling into Hermione. She was trying to catch her breath and smooth her wild black hair from her face.

Charlie furrowed his brow, "Yes, and you are?"

"Oh! Sorry, Sir. I'm Junior Fanny Harpis!" She stuck out her hand for him to shake. "Commander Rollands would like to see you and Miss Granger, Sir."

Charlie perked up immediately, "Rollands is back?" Harpis nodded and Charlie eagerly mounted his broom, gesturing for Hermione to hop back on.

She sighed dejectedly as she got back on the death trap. Merlin save her, she had just gotten off the damn thing! They followed Harpis back towards the Commons and Hermione twisted slightly to yell back to Charlie

"Who is Commander Rollands?" Her voice was carried off by the wind but Charlie still heard her and leaned forward to speak into her ear.

"My boss! He's been gone for the last two weeks, investigating some black-market rumours. He must have just returned."

They dipped down to the back of the Commons and came down to a large cabin behind it. Harpis nearly collided with another Keeper, a surly old man standing outside, who yelled at her to get back to class. He had a hunched back and crooked nose that looked as if it had been broken numerous times. His voice came out in a raspy mess that sounded as if his vocal cords had been cut.

Charlie nodded in greeting to the Keeper before the hunched man turned on foot and walked back into the building.

Charlie gave her an apologetic smile, "Keeper Talpin, he isn't a real big people person."

They followed after him, quickly walking through a large reception room and up a flight of wide stairs before coming to a door close to the landing. There was a golden nameplate engraved with Rollands and Charlie tapped his fingers against the wood.

The door swung open to a brightly lit office with various pieces of wooden furniture. A large oak desk settled in the middle of the room, and a short burly man stood behind it. The sun glinted off his bald head and Hermione squinted her eyes against the glare. He was holding a file in his hand and snapped it shut as they walked in. Charlie rushed forward to shake the man's hand and Hermione trailed in after him.

"Commander, how was Japan? Were you able to find out anything about the eggs?" Charlie rushed out as he stepped back next to Hermione.

"Introductions first, Weasley." The man walked around the desk and came to stand next to her. Surprisingly, the man was only a bit taller than her, but still had a formidable air of authority about him. The thick grey moustache on his face twitched as he stuck his hand out for Hermione and she took it, attempting to match his hard shake.

"Commander Grant Rollands, at your service Miss Granger." He dropped her hand and walked back to the opposite side of his desk. "Have you settled in well? Weasley been treating you alright?"

"Yes, Sir. He's introduced me to quite a few dragons and a few other Keepers as well." She replied, giving the Commander a smile.

"Good good, now Weasley. To answer your questions- Japan was bloody awful. It rained the whole time we were there. Luckily we were able to catch the devils that stole the eggs and sent the bloody bastards to the Japanese Ministry for punishment."

"What eggs were they?" Charlie eagerly asked and Hermione tried to bite back her smile. He was as excited as a child in a toy store.

"A Ukranian Ironbelly and a Norwegian Ridgeback- don't know how they managed to get the buggers but they're in the hatchery now being looked after by the Research department. However..." He trailed off and glanced at Hermione as if he was unsure to continue.

She immediately took the hint and offered to wait in the hallway. Rollands gratefully thanked her and told her there was a small snack bar downstairs where she could grab some tea while she waited. She found herself there a few minutes later, curled up on a leather chair sipping a cup of tea in front of a large fireplace.

"You look mighty comfy." Charlie's voice startled her out of her staring in the fire and she spilt some tea on her shirt. Mumbling a swear and a quick Scorgify, she stood from her seat and tried to hide the embarrassed blush that appeared. Charlie didn't seem to notice, however. He had a tight smile on his face and he looked upset.

"That surprise is going to have to wait, Rollands needs me for something... confidential. I'll be gone for the rest of the afternoon."

Hermione tried not to let her disappointment show before quickly berating herself. Honestly, why was she even disappointed?

She gave him a quick nod, "It's alright but... How will I get back?" She was not going to ride a broom by herself and she imagined the walk had to be at least three or four hours to her cabin.

Charlie winced and scratched the back of his head, "Well..."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms, "Well what, Charlie?"