Damn People! I am supposed to be writing a take-home exam right now but nooooo… I mean, okay, I knew it was mean to give you all a cliffhanger but really, the impassioned pleas for the next chapter just made me feel bad! So here ya'll go…

Chapter Seventeen

The family was already gathered around the breakfast table when Harry and Charlie joined them.

"Draco! You're back? So, I guess introductions… Charlie this is Draco Malfoy, my brother Tainen, Cassi, and of course Daddy Dearest Severus. Everyone this is Charlie. So did you get everything handled for school Dray?"

Harry asked as he plopped down in a chair dragging Charlie into the one beside him. It was obvious that he wasn't going to acknowledge the situation as anything other then normal. He was pointedly ignoring Draco's almost shy eyeing up of Charlie, which quickly changed to amusement as he listened to Harry expertly take control of and direct the conversation. He pretended not to see Cassi as she unashamedly evaluated Charlie, happily eyeing her stepson, glad he was back no matter who he had brought with him. Of course she was happy to meet the man she had decided in her head and knew in her heart was important to her stepson. He also made a point of ignoring the almost hopeful look Severus kept directing his way, and the baleful look of anger directed toward Charlie.

"Yes, everything is all set for school. I figured since I had a few days, and had no idea when next I might see you I would spend the last few days until one of us has to leave here. Have fun last night?" Draco didn't think Alex should be able to gloss over Charlie's presence that easily.

"That'll be fun. And yes, last night was great fun! We went to dinner and a movie with some friends and then Charlie and I went on to a club for a few hours. Maybe we could spend some time together tomorrow. I love Muggle movies, have you ever been to the cinema, they show movies on a big screen? It could be great!"

"No, I haven't. I'm sure it will be great!" Actually Draco didn't even know what a movie was, and didn't think he would like anything Muggle for all that he had enjoyed the music Alex had shown him earlier in the holidays but he would do just about anything to spend time with his very cool brother.

"Maybe we can grab lunch in Muggle London too. I doubt you've ever had Muggle fast-food before."

"So, how old are you Charlie?" Seveus couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut any longer. He knew he shouldn't say anything, that he was risking pissing Harry off even more when their relationship was already on eggshells but he couldn't seem to resist.

Charlie tried not to blush, tried valiantly to keep his voice level, but he knew he had failed on both counts "umm… 24…" He really wanted to throw a 'sir' on the end there but he knew Harry would never let him live it down; and he was far more scared of the guy who held his future sexual bliss in various regions of his body then of the guy who had fathered him.

Harry couldn't decide between jumping in at this point to save Charlie, and to stop Sev before he did anything stupid, and just letting it go and letting the arsehole hang himself. Luckily for Severus, Cassi had no desire to see her husband destroy his rocky relationship with their newfound teenage son. This being the case she jumped in before Severus had a chance to comment further.

"So, dinner and a movie with friends and then on to a club? That does sound like fun Alex! Your usual group of Wizarding friends or some of your Muggle friends, I'm afraid I don't know who you spend time with in the Muggle world." She knew she was bordering on asking too many personal questions but she was fairly sure that Harry would recognize that she was trying to avoid anything about Charlie's personal life, Harry's was currently the lesser of two evils. She really hoped her stepson would cut her some slack today…

It seems he was in a forgiving mood. "Wizarding friends, but we were in Muggle London. You know I have made it a bit of a holiday project to broaden the horizons of my Wizarding friends." Although Mi was Muggle born she had been raised in the suburbs reading books, not spending time at nightclubs or listening to the various forms of Muggle music. "What have you guys been up to Cassi? What adventure has my little brother been on the last few days?"

Severus seemed desperate to speak but he knew he shouldn't, and the fast flow of conversation, everybody seemed to be jumping in with answers almost before the person before was finished speaking, helped him to curb the almost painful desire to question the 8-years-his-sons-senior guy who his son just happened to be fucking, apparently on a semi-regular basis for the last 2 years!

Conversation flowed around the table, carried between Harry, Cassi and Draco. Charlie seemed distracted by wishing that the floor would open up and swallow him now, and by praying to every deity he could think of and several random ones covered under 'anyone who may be listening' kinda prayers that he would A) survive this breakfast, or B) die a quick and painless death right this very second- he wasn't much picky how.

It was Draco who failed to resist the siren call of temptation and asked the next question of Charlie. And Harry knew that all he could do to Draco was glare at the guy a little and maybe a few hours of silent treatment, anything beyond that would be considered over reacting and give rise to further questions, keeping Draco from asking questions on any topic was a 24/7 job.

"So, what do you do Charlie?" Draco wasn't surprised when his brother seemed to be trying to end his life with a single look from across the table. In fact, it was part of the fun of asking the question. But he knew not to ask too many questions, Alex would kick his arse for that, but he could get away with one or two… probably best to stick to one.

"Dragon Handler at a Dragon Preserve in Romania." Of course that got everyone's attention. Even in the magical world, were it was well known dragons existed, they were rare and VERY cool, or rare and very dangerous of the 'insane to want to spend quality time with them' variety!

Draco couldn't help the shocked looked which quickly changed to awe before he had managed to get control of his face. His very cool brother was kinda dating a Dragon Handler! Did life get any better?

Serverus knew that his face clearly showed how incredulous he was with the situation- A Dragon Handler? His son was screwing, unofficially but in reality dating, a Dragon Handler. He had always been of the opinion that you had to be slightly insane or have a death wish to work in that profession; neither boded well, in his opinion, for the kind of man his son had managed to form an attachment to, almost better that his son keep sleeping around. Of course, his son was still sleeping around so it was actually more of a 'the worst of both worlds' kinda situation. And he was 8 years older then him! Could that damn boy, whom he loved more then life- don't get him wrong, do nothing simple?

Cassi was torn. On the one hand she herself had had a thing for bad boys in her youth, and she very much considered anyone who would go into such a profession to be a bad boy, really, they spend all day playing with giant fire breathing lizards, that wasn't a real job, that was a thrill ride. And she could certainly see the appeal to her son in this handsome man, especially added with that bad boy image she now had of him. But on the other hand, she was a mother! And no mother wanted their son dating a bad boy who's job was a thrill ride, that said far too many things about the type of man he was.

Tainen hadn't really been listening to what all the big people were talking about, far too content to play with his breakfast, but the word dragon got his attention. He knew a Dragon Handler meant someone who spent a lot of time with dragons, he could just picture them riding dragons around all day, and getting dragons to breathe fire to toast marshmallows at night.

It was Tainen who broke the silence before it had really had a chance to settle. "Dwagans, Dwaaagansssss!" The boy giggled and laughed, clapping his hands happily. "Tell, tell!"

Harry couldn't resist grinning at the little boys antics, he seemed to have lost all thought but for the dragons, breakfast lay forgotten, and the idea of using full sentences, which his parents had been attempting to teach him of late, was readily forgotten. Charlie had thought the boy's response was adorable but when he saw Harry's face, he remembered why he had fallen in love with the unobtainable young man, why he put up with being in an open relationship, sharing the young man with anything half-decent looking in the world, when he knew it was going to hurt some days, a lot of days. It hurt when he saw marks on his lover's skin that he hadn't left there, when he called and Harry was already out, when Harry didn't write for weeks sometimes, but he still loved him, and he knew what he had with the young man was better then nothing, that the occasional hurt was well worth the good times, was well worth the opportunity to see Harry smile at his little brother like that. Now if only he could keep that smile on his lover's face.

"Yes, dragons Tainen. I tell you what, how about when I get back to the Preserve I send your brother a present for you? A surprise from Dragon Land, would you like that?" Tainen was squealing and babbling excitedly but it was the look on Harry's face, out the corner of his eye, that was responsible for Charlie's grin. He had done good, Harry was happy, and all was right in his world. And as a bonus, he bet Harry would find an opportunity to say 'thank-you' before he left… Harry's thank-yous were always a good thing.

Severus didn't seem too thrilled by the prospect but before he had a chance to speak, before anyone had a chance to speak, Harry was already moving. "Well, I'm finished, Charlie looks done, and we have plans today before Charlie heads back to Romania, so I'll see you guys later. Don't wait lunch for me, or probably dinner." He grabbed Charlie and made it perfectly clear that they were leaving now. Charlie however had been raised to always be polite, and this was the family of the man he loved, so he took a moment to thank them for breakfast and make the appropriate comments about meeting them etc., before following Harry toward the door.

They almost made it too, but Cassi couldn't quite seem to resist one little dig at her stepson. She was smirking when she called her stepson's attention back to her before he and Charlie could make their escape. "Oh, Alex dear, I sent your shirts to the laundry, I know you probably didn't mean to leave them in the hall. Oddly enough one of them seemed to be too big for you… I guess it was an over-shirt or something…" Draco was gallantly trying not to laugh at the looks on Alex and Charlie's faces, Cassi's smirk could not possibly have gotten bigger, and Severus' faced was going bright red as he attempted to hold in his anger, knowing his son would kill him if he dared bitch at Charlie.

Harry decided retreat was the best option in the face of this situation, and Charlie needed no encouragement to quit the room, knowing it would take a lot more then wild horses to ever convince him to meet with Harry's family after this. He knew today wasn't a lucky day!

There you go guys! I know it wasn't as long as most of my chapters but I really do have things to do… more later! Oh, and I know that the varying ways Dragon Handlers were thought of was odd, they all had hinky different views of what that job meant but I'm sure at some point I will introduce Dragon Handling as an actual job not a Lion Tamer kinda deal.

Reviewing encourages me… and you know ya'll wanna do that! SO DO!