A/N – As usual I own nothing but my own characters. I hope you like my story so far! I will continue to attempt to update it around once a month. Hopefully I can keep up.

Please read and review and remember no flames!

Ottery St. Catchpole – Dawn.

Dawn rose quickly over the tired town of Ottery St. Catchpole. Light glittered and danced through open windows as tiny people scurried out to fetch the newspaper in their dressing gowns. Other people readied themselves for the day's work while bleary eyed school children complained about being woken on a near-perfect-for-sleeping-in summers day. One house in particular, odd in shape, size and design that was obscurely stacked against the skyline stood out against the horizon. Though, of course, the little villagers remained blissfully unaware of this houses existence even though it procured a rather large chunk of the St. Catchpole country side.

Inside this interestingly bizarre little house a single person was bustling around. She was a short slightly dumpy woman with flaming red hair. She was holding what looked like a simple stick from the garden and swinging it wildly towards the countertop where, it seemed, a wooden spoon was stirring soup very much of its own accord. Inside the murky soup boiled and emitted a warm smell one could only associate with love and with family.

The woman had a number of things on her mind. The peculiar little clock with the initials of each of her children and her husband all pointed towards 'home'. This in itself was a very rare occasion. Most of the woman's children had jobs, their own homes, and their own responsibilities. She had to admit that having them all at her house once more, although making things a bit more crowded than usual, gave her immense pleasure. Even her prideful son, Percy, who had been estranged from the family until about a year ago had joined them for the occasion. Of the things on the woman's mind, what she seemed to be worrying her most was her youngest boy (youngest of six others.) He was, no doubt, lying about on the top floor where his bedroom jutted out over the garden rather obscurely. No one had seen him for more than a few moments at meal time in nearly two weeks. The woman did of course understand her son's troubles. He was a man, after all. And men were bound to have troubles around the tender age of eighteen when innocent things suddenly turn horrid in a swirl of hormones.

A creak on the stairs announced another's arrival. Her husband, a balding kind-faced man ascended the steps. "Good morning, Molly dear" He greeted her, planting a kiss on her cheek. He clutched a briefcase in his hand which he laid upon the stretched kitchen table.

"Arthur…" She began. He picked up a cup of tea and a kettle zoomed from the stove top to fill it with boiling water.

"He just needs time, Molly." He assured her. He had been married to her long enough to know what would be troubling her at that particular moment. "Give him time" He added, because Molly had a tendency to be just a bit pushy especially when it came to her children.

"It's been two weeks!" She started. With a casual flick of her wrist the boiling pot rose into the air and poured itself into the waiting bowls upon the table until it was drained of its contents.

"He's had it rough" Arthur said, and then he flopped down into his seat at the head of the table and stuck his spoon into his mouth before she told him to march upstairs and have another talk with her son. Instead Molly kissed the top of his head and traipsed up the stairs to rouse her children. "Ginny! Fred, George, Percy! Charlie! Bill! Fluer!" She shouted each name as she passed the bedrooms in which they slept. "Breakfast!" She added just as she reached the top landing of the stairs. She could hear evident signs of waking from the rooms as she tapped lightly on the door in front of her. "Ron?" She inquired.

His room was haphazard as usual and he was curled under his favorite Chudly Cannons sleeping bag. Ron had red hair like the rest of his family though his was lighter than the flaming red of his sister's. He had chocolate eyes and freckles, his skin was a light pale color and he was nearly taller than his second eldest brother Charlie at only eighteen. Ron glanced at her from underneath his covers. She saw him hide the letter he had been obsessively reading for the past two days. She sighed. "Come down to breakfast. Afterwards I've got something I would like you to do for me." She spoke softly wishing that she could heal a bit of his broken heart with warm soup and kind words but knowing it was impossible.

"Alright" His voice was hoarse from disuse. "Be down in a bit."

"Make sure you shower" She added, unable to ignore the lingering smell in his room. He simply nodded and she shut the door. She passed her eldest son, Bill on the landing. He was fully dressed as if he had been up for a good while. He was trailed by his strikingly beautiful French wife Fluer whom Molly had become rather friendly to since the pair of them were married despite Bill's accident with the vicious werewolf Fenrir Greyback less than a year prior. "Morning, Mum" Bill greeted. Fleur greeted her with a hug.

At the table the twins, Fred and George, were already settled in and telling their father a rather extensive joke. Her second eldest, Charlie, was spread out across two chair with his eyes closed looking exhausted. Percy and his fiancée Penelope Clearwater were next to ascend the stairs. They were both looking quite smart as they no doubt had work soon and would be leaving quickly after breakfast. He too greeted her with "Morning, Mum" before taking a seat next to the immobile Charlie. Ginny followed down soon after. Unlike the others who were dressed and ready for the day to come she hadn't brushed her long hair and her eyes were bloodshot and sleepy. She stifled a large yawn as she plopped down into a seat next to Bill who was (as it was no secret) her favorite brother. Ron came down long enough to grab his own bowl of soup and retreat back up the stairs.

"Charlie, darling? Could I speak with you please." Molly asked her son. He removed his arm from his face and sat up straight.

"Of course" He said. His eyes were darker than the others and he was a good deal shorter than Ron and the twins. His skin was tan and his hair was sun bleached. Scars of every shape and size run up and down his arms and his hands were calloused. He gathered himself up and followed his mother out into the garden, scattering the feeding chickens and troublesome gnomes as they went. She didn't get too far away from the house before she stopped and turned to him. Charlie, who was used to the rather extreme Romanian temperatures wasn't fazed by the harsh winds brushing the countryside of Ottery St. Catchpole. After all, unlike the unsuspecting townsfolk, HE knew it wasn't a normal summers breeze. "Something up, mum?" His voice bore the hint of a Romanian accent atop his already prominent British accent.

"Well, dear, I was wondering. Your brother Ron's been in a right state lately. He's depressed. I thought it might make him feel a bit better if you would take him to the site with you today. You know how much he admires what you do." Molly was near pleading with her son. It was the only thing she could think of that might could shake Ron out of his depression.

Charlie seemed to be considering it. He rubbed his rough fingers against the stubble of his chin as he thought. Glancing off into the distance, he chewed on his nails. "Sure, mom. He will be the youngest one there but it shouldn't cause a fuss."

"Oh! Charlie! Thank you!" Molly grabbed her son up into a tight hug and planted a kiss upon his cheek. Charlie nodded and, now with new purpose, strode back to the house ahead of his mother. He pushed the door of Ron's room open and found Ron staring at the paper once again. "Oi, Ron" He snapped when his brother only vaguely registered that Charlie had entered his room.

"What?" Ron snapped back. He wondered if his brother was here to give him the same talk his father had when he had entered his room a few days ago.

"Your coming with me today. Get cleaned up. And don't argue" He added. "Wear your boots, too." Charlie said before closing the door and descending the stairs. Ron knew better than to argue with Charlie who was quite sizable despite his stocky stature. Ron would have been ecstatic at the prospect of following his brother to work though now it seemed his feelings were numb and unreachable. Somewhere deep within his stomach he felt a mild thrill.

Once dressed Ron bid his family, or what was left of them who hadn't gone to work goodbye, and followed Charlie out into the yard. He watched Bill apperate, followed closely by Percy and Penelope. Finally, his father disappeared with a little wave. "Got to apparate to the site" Charlie was saying "We have it under major protection, considering." He caught hold of his brothers wrist. A fresh gust of wind and displaced dirt seemed to consume them and by the time the dust cleared the pair of brothers had gone.

Not-so-far-away from the village of Ottery St. Catchpole nestled into a hillside was a wide clearing. It was protected by dangerous hillsides on either side of it. Constructed near one edge of the hillside was a rather large iron box. It looked like a massively oversized dog crate covered in a tarp that had been obviously expanded. It protected the creature inside the crate from the sun that had now reached the highest point in the sky. The pair of brothers landed among the clearing just near enough to hear the creature give a wild snarl. Around the opposite side of the hill tents were constructed and seemed unaffected by the wind caused by the giant beasts wing beats.

In the center of the site people were creating a large puddle of water, no doubt vast and deep enough for the creature to swim in, while others simply ran about barking orders. "It's a ridgeback?" Ron asked, squinting through the light. His eyes were wide with sudden interest, a spark of excitement sending adrenaline through his veins.

"Good eye" Charlie praised him. He edged a bit closer. Ron noticed that a few people were lounging by the tents where a campfire had been constructed. They were seemingly unawares of the creature causing such a fuss.

"That's the safe zone" Charlie said as he followed Ron's gaze. "I want you to stay over there for now. Looks like they are about to let her out for a bit." He gave Ron a stern don't-even-try-to-argue look before dashing off to join the others. Grudgingly, Ron headed over to the tent. Once he passed through the rift of protective enchantments he felt the warm caress of the campfire and burning sausages.

"Oh my!" One woman exclaimed. She was lounging in a chair that looked out of place in the field and her cheek was split in two, showing off her white teeth. Ron shuddered. Despite the chunk of flesh missing she gave him a warm smile. "Don't you look just like Bill! Goodness" She leaned forward in order to get a better look at him through the thick goggles. Ron recognized her as Anya, a girl whom Charlie often brought to dinner with him, despite his saying she's 'just a friend'.

"Spitting imagine of your mum's blood, you are." Ron blushed. Did she call Charlie the 'spitting image of your dad's blood' just like Percy and Ginny who were all a bit shorter and whose hair and eyes were darker than Bill, Ron and the twins. "Oi! You lot" Anya snapped "Come welcome Charlies little brother" In response, a number of women poured out of the tents. Some of them, like Anya, were Dragon women. Dragon women was a term Charlie had come up with to describe the dangerous girls who chose to work with Dragons. They were wild, had an unquenchable thirst for adventure, and lived off thrill. Most of them carried scars and tattoos and wore uniforms, leather clad.

"Good god, Anya! Which one?" An older, more sour looking woman asked. She had obviously just been roused. "Who know's how many kids the Weasley's have now." She added in a mutter.

"Oh hush, Tilda" Another woman, who looked as if she could snap Ron in half, growled. "Keeps the family name well enough alive, dunit?"

"Your just jealous Bill spurned your advances. He's married now. Time to bury the hatchet" Anya chuckled before pushing the tip of her wand against what was left of her cheek "Guess I oughta clean myself up for you, eh, Ron? Not every day you see something so grotesque, right?" She was no doubt commenting on the half-horrified look plastered upon Ron's face. Without muttering another word the wound began to repair itself, skin crawling up her jaw until it sowed itself shut leaving nothing but a thin line to ever prove there had been such a wound. After a few more seconds, that was gone, too.

Tilda, who seemed to be rendered speechless, returned to her tent in a huff. "Don't listen to her, Ron. Ruddy cranky woman. Took too long to get this ol' brute moved for Tilda's liking. Suppose she thought we'd be home by now." Anya said, nodding in the direction of the dragon. It was free from its cage and it had waded happily into the vast pool of water like an oversized Labrador. Charlie and his co-workers watched it anxiously, wands raised. Then, Ron noticed, something moved on the other end of the pool.

He almost couldn't believe what he was seeing. A girl, perhaps a phantom, stood at the edge of the water. He couldn't see her details through the haze of flame the dragon was spouting from its nostrils and he wondered for a moment if it was a mirage. The girl raised her arms above her head as if to dive into the depths of the dragon haunted water. Ron wasn't sure why because he knew the protective enchantments kept the dragon from seeing/hearing them as much as the other way around but he found himself yelling "NO! No, what are you doing!" He had risen from his chair and was heading towards the barrier when Anya caught his hand.

"Ron! Relax! If you go out there now Charlie will kill me. Sit down. She's ok" Anya pulled him back towards his seat. She had seen the suicidal girl, too, then.

"S-she…j-j-jumped!" He stuttered, not sure if he could believe his eyes. The girl hadn't emerged from the depths of the water. The dragon had stuffed his snout under the waves it's wings were creating and the flames had finally ceased.

"Yeah, she did. But it's ok. Mind, don't you go trying something like that." Anya scolded, watching ripples form in the water as the girl emerged. Her hair was a bleached sort of reddish color and her skin bore the hint of olive.

"What's she doing?" Ron squeaked. He couldn't believe anyone but Hagrid would be insane enough to swim with a dragon. And even for Hagrid, that might be a stretch.

Anya just shrugged as if this were the sort of behavior she saw all the time. "Haven't a clue" She said, flopping back down into the chair she had conjured for herself. Ron finally managed to drop down into his own chair, eyes wide.

"She's mental" He finally managed to say. Anya let out a pleasant, musical laugh.

"You might just be right about that" She was still laughing as the girl bobbed along the surface of the water. The dragon had noticed her and Ron found himself on his feet again, anxious. The expansive black dragon split the water as it paddled towards her. The suction it was creating alone would be enough to drown her. Instead, though, it stopped short of her and leaned it's head down until it was floating on the water like an odd, ridged flotation device.

"It's going to eat her" He stated. Anya laughed again.

The girl reached her hand out and placed it gently atop the dragon's snout. The creature quivered as if it had been struck by lightning. And then she swam closer until the dragons nose was nestled into her cleavage and she was hugging it awkwardly, lying her head against its forehead. "Mental" Ron found himself saying. But he was mesmerized. Despite his horror, he couldn't look away. The girl swam away from the dragon and pulled herself up onto the edge of the bank. She was wearing a bathing suit, of all things. Slowly, the dragon followed her, looking more like an oversized Labrador every second. Finally the beast tucked itself back into its cage with the girls prompting. Charlie and his men sprung into action and locked the dragon up once more.

Ron could see his brother shaking her hand. He dropped his tan-hide coat onto her shoulders and she turned away from him across the clearing. Once she past the pool of water the dragon went back to thrashing around and shooting fire as if that moment of calm had never happened. Ron convinced himself that he was dreaming. Until, that is, the girl stepped into the barrier with the other women.

She smelt weird; like dirt, sea water, earth and ash. She had sun-bleached blonde hair with a deep red tint to it. Her skin bore hints of olive color. She was tall, lean and fit. A smile, despite the danger of the situation she was just in, was plastered to her face. After ducking into a nearby tent she emerged a bit later with a towel in her hair. She too wore tight fitting neutral colors that were easy to maneuver in but didn't have an excessive amount of fabric attached. It looked like an outfit a warrior might sport.

She dropped Charlie's jacket into Anya's lap. "He is a good man, Charlie" She said. Her accent was deep and slurred her words. "He knows what he is doing better than some of those idiots" Her accent made her sound a bit older than she was though she couldn't have been older than Ron. By much, anyway.

"Some of those idiots are our husbands" Tilda snapped, emerging once more from her tent.

"That should not matter. If they do not have talent then they do not." The girl said, shrugging. Anya jumped up, evidently seeing the retort forming on Tilda's lips.

"Matilda! Why don't you go help with lunch, hm?" She said. The woman gave her a long scornful look but huffed off towards a camp fire farther away where some women were gathered, flicking their wands and making the food prepare itself. "Good lord" Anya muttered, dropping back down onto her chair. Charlie had joined them by this point and seemed to be inspecting the would on Anya's face.

"That looks better" He said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. Anya blushed fifteen shades of scarlet in the span of a few seconds.

"Charlie!" She stammered, swatting at him. He dodged it and conjured two more chairs around the fire. The other men were joining them too, grumbling about starving to death.

"So, Ron, what did you think?" Charlie asked. He sat across the fire from Ron and wore a haughty expression.

"It was mad. I mean she – she's mad!" he said, pointing to the girl who had flopped into the other chair Charlie had created. He still wasn't sure how she was sitting there in one piece.

"Not mad, little brother, brilliant. She's brilliant." Charlie grabbed the sausage Anya passed to him and stuck it in his mouth.

"How can you call that brilliant! You spend your life teaching people about how dangerous dragons are and she just decides to SWIM with them! Bloody hell, Charlie! That can't be LEGAL!" Ron bellowed, slightly enraged. Every rule of working with Dragons was embedded into his brain as it had been since his brother started working with them.

"Settle down" Charlie said, rolling his eyes. "She's a special case, Ron."

"Special? She needs to be committed to St. Mungo's!" He wasn't sure if he was just horrified by what he had witnessed or too amazed to be calm about it.

"If you were wondering" The girl spoke up "I may not speak very good English but I can hear every word you say." She growled. Ron's ears turned red and he mumbled 'I'm sorry.'

"Dun' worry about it" Anya intervened. "Look, Ron. This is Alexi Dragomir. She was born in Romania. Her people, well, they are closer to nature than wizards. They have powers that you couldn't imagine that protects them from getting fried. The dragon's trust them. This one is especially attached to Alexi."

"She was born in my village. I was the one who cared for her when she was little." Alexi spoke up. "She is like a familiar" Ron stared at her. If he was being honest, he had no idea what she had just said. Something about being born in a village and 'like a familiar'. Other than that, her accent slurred her words beyond his recognition.

"Er, uh, ok. Cool" He eyed his brother who was laughing.

"You might want to get used to Alexi, Ron" Anya said. Her tone sounded mocking which made Ron suspicious.

"Why? Will she be another one of my beautiful, hard to understand step sisters soon?" He retorted, feeling hot under his skin. It wasn't a surprise to anyone that he was still jealous of Bill for marrying Fluer, whom he had such a crush on in his fourth year.

Anya looked taken-aback. "Not if I can help it, she won't!" But she was laughing.

"Good try though, bro" Charlie chuckled too. Alexi either didn't understand them or didn't care about what they were saying. She was hyper focused on her breakfast. "She's Anya's half-sister"

"Half-sister?" Ron said, eyeing Anya and Alexi and comparing their features.

"I ended up in her village on accident while traveling after the war. I knew my father had another child but he had never allowed me to meet her. It was her mother in fact that stopped me and told me I looked just like my father. It was rather surreal."

Ron frowned. The war. He felt weird knowing that he was going back to Hogwarts this year. Last year, of course, Harry, Hermione and him had dropped out to go search for Horcrux's. Once the last of the Death Eaters had been rounded up they decided they would return along with Neville, Luna, Shamus and a number of other's who had their seventh years ruined by 'Headmaster' Snape and hadn't learned enough to properly pass their N.E.W.T.S. Of course this meant they would now be in class with his youngest sister, Ginny but Hermione seemed to think that their education was worth returning to once He-who-must-not-be-named was vanquished for good.

They didn't talk much after that. Lunch was served and everyone ate. Some of the men told Ron wild stories about their adventures overseas before they returned to work. Charlie and Anya both went to gather food for the dragon and left Ron along with the cranky, bristling Matilda and the elusive, thickly accented Alexi. Hours passed. Ron found himself zoning in and out of focus while he watched the Ridgeback that seemed to have peculiar habits for a dragon. Whenever a wizard would get close to her she would make a huge fuss. Once the wizards were a good distance away, however, she settled down as if she weren't the least bit worried about being caged by a bunch of tasty snacks. After a while, it seemed, Ron doze off in his chair.

Anya's face swam before his vision. "C' mon, Ron. Wake up, won't you?" She was lightly patting him on the cheek. Ron realized that he had fallen asleep and despite the fact that it was the first nightmare less sleep he had gotten since the beginning of the summer he couldn't help but be morbidly embarrassed by the drool hanging from his chin.

"Huh? Anya…" He glanced around. The dragon was sleeping, or so he assumed. Darkness had fallen and the cage looked like nothing more than another large hill. Most people had retired to their tents. Charlie was finishing off a messy lump of food and Alexi was staring at the fire without really seeing.

"Mornin' sleepy head!" Anya chirped. She suddenly reminded him painfully of Tonks.

"Is it time to go?" Ron asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Ah, yeah" Charlie said, setting his plate down by Anya's chair and standing up to stretch. "You coming?" He asked Anya. She glanced at Ron as if she should be embarrassed by the invitation. After a moments deliberation she nodded her head. Charlie grabbed Ron's wrist.

Charlie dragged Ron into the tight drainpipe that was Apparition before the lot of them landed in the garden. Mrs. Weasley could be seen peaking around her curtains. More likely to check and make sure they were all in one piece. Anya bounced towards the door to greet her.

"What kind of 'people' does Alexi belong to?" Ron asked. The question had been burning in his mind for some time now but he hadn't gotten an opportunity to ask. Charlie led the way to the kitchen and held the door open for Ron.

"She's a Gypsy." He said, and without another word, flopped onto the couch next to where Anya was sitting and rested his head upon her lap. Within moments, his snores could be heard.

"G' night, Ron" Anya said, and she too closed her eyes as if to sleep.

Ron ascended the steps to his own room. He felt exhausted as well even though he hadn't done anything but lounge in a chair all day. Still, the adrenaline of first seeing the Horntail had washed from his system and it left him positively drained. Without bothering to close his door he flopped onto his bed and fell immediately back into sleep.

The letter that so bothered him lay crinkled beneath his torso as he twisted and dreamed of flying through the sky on the back of a jet black dragon.

A/n – Thank you for getting this far in my story. If you enjoyed it please review and stay tuned for the next installment.