Disclaimer: Ah, I wish I did have Charlie. Too bad I don't.

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Of Glorious Lives and Obituaries

Of Dragons and Loneliness

He was lonely, and so was she. They were both lonely. So it was no surprise they spent a lot of time together.

Her name was Ardea, and she was a beauty. His name was Charlie, and he wasn't that bad either. The beautiful friendship between them would have surely developed into something more, had the circumstances been a tad different.

"You're lonely, girl, aren't you?" he asked her, just like always. She opened her mouth in answer and let out a stream of white fire, which he dodged with the nonchalance of a person who has done it for years.

"You don't appreciate me telling you this, do you?" he remarked wryly, and stepped away from another beam of flames.

He had been lonely for many years but until recently it hadn't bothered him. He loved his job, his colleagues were great people, and he had had his fair share of girlfriends as well.

But lately things had changed, without them actually changing. During the day, he was fine. He did his job, he had lunch with his co-workers, and everything was normal. But then he went home to his little apartment, had dinner alone, spent the rest of the evening alone, and went to bed alone.

And what had felt a great sense of privacy and freedom before, was now nothing but pure loneliness.

Which was the reason he was not in his lonely apartment at the moment, staring into the lonely flames at the fireplace, or sleeping in his lonely bed.

It was a passing stage, he was sure of it. Sooner or later he would either find someone to share his life with, or simply get over it.

"And so will you, girl," he told her, and she breathed a fine burning pillar into the night sky.

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The next day Ardea was gone. She had broken free of all the chains and charms that had restrained her, and flown away.

"She was lonely," Melinda said in a way of explanation, getting his attention by speaking his exact thoughts.

"Went to get herself a husband," she smiled, and he suddenly saw his long time colleague in a completely different light.

"We have to bring her back."

"Yes," Melinda concurred. "She is not safe on her own."

Their search for Ardea took days, and during that time Charlie and Melinda had to work together a lot. He had known her for years now, but during their nights spent over a map marking down all the place she could have flown to, and during their days of looking over all such places, he learned many things about her he hadn't known before, and came to appreciate her company a lot.

Their fifth day took them to a place called the Dragon Caves.

"There are no dragons here anymore," she said.

"Let's hope there is at least one," he spoke, trying to cheer her up.

And she did smile at him.

"You take that cave, and I'll take this one," he told her. "And remember, if you do find her, don't try to Stupefy her or anything, it just gets her angry, and one spell is not enough to get her down. Make sure she is all right, then get out, and charm the cave's opening to keep her inside. Again, one spell is not strong enough to restrain her for good, but it should hold till the rest of the team gets here."

Melinda rolled her eyes.

"I know the procedure, Charlie. I have worked here almost as long as you have, in case you haven't noticed."

"I know you know it," he said quickly, his ears turning slightly pink. "Just be careful."

"You too, Char."

He watched her proceed up the rocky hill towards the cave, and had an urge to follow and make sure she would be all right. But he didn't want her to think that he considered her incapable of doing her job, which he certainly didn't.

Still, he called after her.

"Ellie!"

She stopped and turned, giving him a questioning look.

"Go out with me tonight?" All right, perhaps not very suave, but she had once said something about liking straightforwardness, and he dearly hoped she had meant it.

Melinda stood in silence for a second, whether contemplating her answer or trying to find the best way to let him down, he didn't know. But in the end she smiled, and that was a good sign.

"I'd love to," she said, and continued her way.

In a much better mood, Charlie went into the other cave.

It was deep and dark, but he noticed a spark of light at its far end. Carefully moving closer, he soon found the object of their search.

"Here you are, girl," he sighed in relief. "You got us rather worried, you know."

Ardea's answer was fire, which he sidestepped with ease.

"You don't want to come back? I understand it, girl, but you should. It's dangerous for you to be on your own – you are not ready for an outside life yet."

Another beam, and yet another. She was unusually aggressive.

"What's wrong, girl, are you hurt?" he asked in concern.

She didn't seem to be, but clearly there was something that made her angry, or nervous.

"Still lonely?" he ventured. "Don't worry, I'm sure there is a nice lad waiting for you back at home. Someone you have known for years, but never realized that you would be perfect for each other."

But it was obvious she wanted him to leave her alone, and knowing what she was capable of, he made his retreat.

He had taken but a couple of steps backwards when white oblivion washed over him, and the last thought in Charlie Weasley's mind was that just like him, Ardea had found someone to banish her loneliness.

The End.

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Note: Aww, this was sad. I didn't want to kill Charlie, but my beta demanded. So blame it all on her. (devilish grin).

Ardea comes from the Latin word 'ardere', which means 'burn' and 'be in love'. Very suitable, me thinks.

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