"I would appreciate it if you didn't call me blondie," Draco said snarkily as they walked out of the main building of the dragon reserve.
"What would you prefer? Dragon? Your name means dragon you know?" Charlie said with that same grin that haunted Draco's dreams after their first and only meaning.
"Of course I knew that," Draco said with his typical roll of the eyes, "I've come to work with dragons, for Merlin's sake."
Charlie suddenly changed the subject, "Are you excited for this job?"
"I am. I… haven't ever been so excited for a job in my life," Draco admitted.
"I'm glad. It's a great place to work. You never know what it's going to throw at you. It's a challenge, I'll admit."
"How long have you worked here?"
Charlie sighed with an almost dreamy look on his face, "A long time. Over twenty years. I'm the head dragon tamer now."
"Do you ever get bored of it?"
The redhead glanced down, smiling fondly, "No. It's the best job. I love it," he looked at Draco as they walked, "The potions master is a really important role here."
"I imagine it's a lot of burn potions," Draco said with a smirk, glancing up at Charlie.
Charlie laughed loudly and Draco felt his heart beat faster, "That is very true."
Draco finally saw a village up ahead. The cottages were all very similar, with thatched roofs and brick chimneys. Trees surrounded the homes. Draco thought it was like something out of a fairytale. It was nothing like Malfoy Manor, or the grand villa they had in France. They were small and cosy. Draco was looking forward to living somewhere smaller if he was going to be alone.
"Everyone who works on the reserve lives in this village," Charlie said when they stopped outside one cottage, "My house is just a bit further down. This is yours."
Charlie pulled out keys and opened the front door. The inside of the cottage was everything Draco expected and wanted. It was warm and looked incredibly comfy. It was the sort of place you felt at home in immediately.
"So your bags are in the bedroom, there's some groceries in the fridge. You'll get to the town if you keep walking down the street for about half a mile. There's shops, restaurants, bars and clubs there," Charlie told him.
"I can't imagine I'll be going to any clubs soon."
"Why not? I bet you would look good on the dance floor," Charlie smirked at him cheekily.
Every fibre of Draco's body and soul urged him to flirt back, but his mind stopped him, "I think we're a little bit old for that," Charlie laughed, shaking his head, "Thank you for all of this. You didn't need to do it."
"It's no problem, it was my pleasure," Charlie reached for the door handle, "If you need anything, I'm number fifty four."
Charlie walked out the room without a glance back at Draco. He stood there for a minute, confused before finally exploring his new home.
The next day, Draco spent the day in the potions laboratory. He sorted out the lab to his liking, cleaning all the vials and bottles, sorting out all the ingredients and wiping down all the surfaces.
Then, Draco studied the previous potions master's (whose name he still did not know strangely) book. He sat all day making the most crucial potions to the reserve, burn potions.
Draco read one of his favourite pieces of literature, Ovid's Metamorphoses. Draco loved classical literature. When the war was over, he began to explore parts of muggle culture he never thought he would encounter. He quickly discovered a certain time period which he found fascinating, classical Greece. He loved the art, the literature, the architecture. If Astoria wasn't so hell bent on going to live in France all those years ago, Greece would have been his first choice. He had given this book to Teddy on his eleventh birthday, before he went off to Hogwarts. Teddy had taken one look one at it and said, 'metamorphoses, that's what I am!' Draco had laughed and told him not quite.
When Draco was transferring the burn potions into the vials, Cassie walked into the room, smiling widely at him.
"How's everything going?"
"Good," Draco stated, "I've made a large batch of burn potions. Hopefully enough for a month."
"I'll warn you, it will definitely be more than one batch in just a month," she chuckled, "This is great, thank you. We've had to supply from outside sources since Slughorn passed away, it's been pricey."
Draco raised his eyebrows, "Slughorn was the potions master here?"
Oh yeah, I thought you knew that. Horace was here since the war. I guess he wanted to escape everything that happened."
Draco bowed his head, "I understand that."
"You've done a good job. I wanted to give your space today but you took the initiative," Draco liked Cassie but he had to stop himself from telling her to not patronise him, she was young enough to be his daughter, "I'll send one of the healers tomorrow with a list of what they need. And they'll pick up the burn potions. The breeders will probably need some things as well, I'm sure they'll come by tomorrow."
"May I ask, what precautions do the tamers take against dragon fire? Can they do anything to protect themselves?"
"Mm, most instances are when the tamer is taken off guard. They can use protective charms but it doesn't always work. Thankfully, most of the time the burns aren't too severe, but there is always the one off occasion."
As Draco walked back to his cottage, he thought about a protective potion he had been developing years ago. When Draco had been out of a job for three months and Scorpius had just started Beaxbatons, Draco was bored at home and was still having nightmares about the fire in the room of requirement. It was only a project he started out of boredom, he began to develop a potion which would render the recipient immune to fire for a period of time.
He stopped experimenting with it when he found another job and had practically forgotten about it until now. He had began to make some real progress with it, if he remembered correctly. Maybe it hadn't been a waste. Maybe this was the perfect opportunity to make a difference.
Draco decided to go into the town that evening. He went to a quaint Italian restaurant and had a pesto with pasta. It was nice and relaxing. He decided to go for a drink after and found a small, quirky bar. He had never been to anything like it before. He had always been taken to very sophisticated and boring places all his life. This was exciting. The counters were sticky and the music was heavy. Everything was blur between light and dark and Draco loved it.
The Malfoy was halfway through his drink when Charlie Weasley walked into the room.
Draco couldn't keep his eyes off Charlie. He greeted some people, standing next to their table and chatting. He was only wearing a t-shirt and Draco saw a hint of a tattoo under the bottom of his sleeve. Draco thought about his own tattoo. He had the dark mark covered after the war, a dragon funnily enough. Only a select few knew about the tattoo as he always tended to wear long sleeves. Teddy and Scorpius, and obviously Astoria. His mother knew about it, before she passed away.
Suddenly, Charlie was coming towards him. Draco quickly composed himself, staring inscrutably at the older man.
"I'm beginning to think you're stalking me," Draco said, with a mischievous tone.
Charlie chuckled, "You wish, dragon," Draco was about to protest Charlie's choice in nickname when he interrupted him, "You never said I couldn't call you that."
Draco tried to restrain a smile, but yet again, he couldn't help it. He didn't know what it was about Charlie Weasley, but he felt like a bumbling school girl when he was around him. Draco, for the first time in his life, struggled to contain his emotions.
Charlie suddenly turned to the bar and ordered them two drinks. Draco smelt it before taking a sip, concluding it was some type of rum. He could feel Charlie watching him, and had to try not to show his anxiety.
"How was your first day?"
"It was good. If you need a burn potion, you know where to come."
Charlie laughed again loudly and Draco thought he might be blushing, "You're very funny."
The Malfoy knew he was definitely blushing now, "I don't think anybody has called me funny before."
Charlie leaned on the counter, his gaze never breaking with Draco's, "Perhaps we share a particular sense of humour."
Draco smirked and continued to sip his drink. When Charlie wouldn't stop staring, he looked down. Damn, he thought, I really am like a bumbling school girl.
"How're you liking it around here then?"
"It's nice. Peaceful. It's good to feel like I actually have a purpose in what I am doing… But I am worried it'll be lonely. Especially after Scorpius comes and goes."
"You just need to get to know everyone," Charlie said, "Everyone's great here. We're like… a big happy family. Albeit, a little incestuous. People shag a lot here."
Draco couldn't help but scoff, "And how many of your co-workers have you slept with?"
Charlie shrugged and with a grin said, "Too many to count," Draco cast his eyes away and as if Charlie could sense his discomfort, "I'm joking."
Draco looked back at Charlie and felt himself relax a little. It was hard not to slip back into his snarky ways when he was around a Weasley. But Charlie didn't let him. He knew when Draco was uncomfortable and he knew when he said too much. It was an unusual trait for a Weasley, to actually think before they spoke.
"I'll take you around tomorrow if you want. I'll show you the whole of the reserve, and introduce you to everyone?" Charlie suggested.
Draco nodded, "That would be good, thank you."
Charlie leaned back and continued to stare at Draco. Draco gave him a blank look, "You know, you're not what I expected you to be like," Draco opened his mouth to defend himself but Charlie continued, "When Ron ever spoke about about you he made you sound like you were evil. When I met Scorpius… I didn't understand how he could be the son of that person Ron always described. But now I get it. You're not evil. Definitely not."
Draco shook his head then laughed, "Thanks?"
"I swear it's a compliment."
They had both finished their drinks and Charlie caught the bartender's attention.
"No, it's my round," Draco said, flashing a half smile at the red head.
~x~
Thank you JDTEA and GingerHannah for reviewing the last chapter! Nice to start getting some feedback! I don't think I've ever written a sequel before so I don't know what to expect! Hope you all like this chapter, it was very fun to write! It will be good to hear what you think about the first proper interaction between these two!