Chapter Two
Hermione froze as her eyes clashed with blue orbs before she registered the red hair of the man in front of her. Charlie Weasley. She suppressed a groan; if there was someone she did not want to see at the present moment, it was a Weasley.
There mere sight of the familiar red hair was enough to trigger the release of the floodgates. Her vision clouded over completely, the light dancing within her freshly formed tears before they slid down her cheeks at an uncontrollable rate. She tried desperately to recall them, forcing away all thoughts of the past. But it was futile and so she let herself go.
She felt warm arms surround her as she registered her inability to support her own weight as she let the grief consume her. There was a voice inside her head forcefully growing louder and berating herself for being so weak. She'd left England to escape the pain, and before she could even observe her new surroundings she was blubbering like an idiot.
What a wonderful impression that made.
"Hermione? What's going on? Is everyone alright?" asked Charlie. Hermione could easily hear his fear—she knew it well after the number of times they had all used that same tone. "Hermione? Please! What's going on? Do I have to come back?" urged Charlie. She sympathised with him, she really did. Here she was turning up on his doorstep of all places and having a breakdown. Naturally, he—like anyone else who had suffered through the war—was bracing himself for the worst.
It was with that realisation that Hermione finally forced herself to reign in her emotions in order to appease Charlie's fears. "Everything is alright. Don't worry," she finally managed to say, her voice hoarse.
"Everything is not alright. Please, Hermione, what happened?" asked Charlie, disbelieving of her previous statement. She didn't blame him in the least, despite hating his curiosity. She wanted to be left alone. She didn't want him—or anyone else, for that matter—finding out about what had happened that drove her from Britain.
"Charlie… May I ask you a favour?"
"Of course, Hermione," spoke Charlie, softly adequately conveying his sincerity.
"Please… You must not call me 'Hermione'. I am to be known as 'Monica Pince'." She was desperate. That much was obvious even to the casual bystander had they witnessed their current scenario.
"Why? What are you doing here? Are you hiding from someone?" Charlie slid a hand through his short red hair and began to roll the inside of his cheek between his teeth. Hardly noticeable to anyone but those that knew what the slight twitch of his jaw meant.
Hermione disentangled from his embrace and turned her gaze upon him, "Please respect my confidentiality. Perhaps I may one day disclose the events that lead me to you, but for the moment, I just ask that you tell no one of my presence or my true identity." Hermione held his gaze, pouring her emotions into her eyes and feeling the urge to kneel and clasp her hands together like a begger. After all she had gone through, Charlie could so easily ruin everything.
"Hermione, surely my family will worry? What about Ron? And Harry?" he questioned, and Hermione fought the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose, contemplating the idea of a well-intentioned confundus charm.
"Charlie, please don't fight me on this. It is important that you respect my wishes," said Hermione, unsure if she was able to keep the frustration out of her voice. She had to remain calm and collected.
"Hermione, please! Are you in trouble? Let me help you," replied an exasperated Charlie. This time he turned his gaze on her and searched her eyes. There way no denying the despair and anguish that was present. Charlie reached out for Hermione and pulled her in for a hug. "You know you can talk to me, right? You are like family!"
"No, Charlie, I'm not." Hermione removed herself forcefully from his grasp and gave him a meaningful look. "Please just lay this issue to rest. All I want is to begin my new work." Her voice was beginning to steady now and she tried to sound convincing.
"You just broke down in tears, Hermione. I don't want to see you hurt."
"I am a grown woman, Charlie. I would appreciate it if you were to just allow me to get on with my new job as if I were any other person. If it gives you any peace of mind, I can assure you that if things get worse, I shall seek you out. Until then, Monica Pince is reporting for duty." She hoped that sentenced will settle his mind at peace so that he will finally leaver her alone.
"So you have decided to become a dragon tamer? What happened to pursuing your studies?" Charlie quirked an eyebrow, unable to believe that Hermione had chosen what appeared to be the one job that was the most unsuited to herself and her strengths.
"My decisions are my own. I know what I'm doing." Inside her head her thougths were spinning. Did she really agree to be a dragon tamer ? Well after all she already rode on one so why not try to take care of some ? She had to make the best out of this so wrong situation.
"Do you really, Hermione? Ron used to describe you as hard working, not someone—"
"I don't care what Ron said," Hermione cut in. "I don't want to be remembered. Please, just drop this," she pleaded. Hearing his name—
"Alright, Monica, grab your luggage. I'll start the official tour." Charlie finally decided to consent to her wishes. However, Hermione wasn't so blind as to recognise he would not let the issue drop so easily. She had to prepare herself for future interrogation.
"So, to begin, it is impossible to apparate within the Reserve—just your standard security measures, of course. Whenever you exit or enter the reserve a security scan is required and is done so through the wards. So be careful not to forget in your pocket something coming from a dragon. For example a nostril's hair. It happened last year to one of our trainee."
"I have dragon string inside my wand. Will that be a problem?"
"Not at all. The wards have been thoroughly thought, don't worry. Now, if my lady would be so kind…"
Hermione smiled at his attempt to make her laugh as he continued on with the official introduction to the Reserve.
Of course, while the official tour was taking place, Charlie could not drag his mind of the one question that he continuously kept going back to—why on earth was Hermione Jean Granger, smartest witch of her age, commencing a job as a dragon tamer? She had never had any prior interest in dragons, because if she had, she'd have likely picked his brain for hours on the subject at the first available opportunity. He had been in contact with her enough time to know. But not only that, why did he have to keep her presence here a secret? What had forced her to take up a whole new life and alias? Last thing he had heard was that she was preparing a new policy to present to the Wizengamot and prepping for pending nuptials with Ron.
Eventually, after a full and comprehensive tour, they reached the living quarters. Charlie stopped, turning to face Hermione.
"Well, my dear Miss Pince, we have a slight problem," said Charlie, twisting his hands together.
"What?" asked Hermione, completely missing the sarcastic use of her new alias.
"Well, considering we have really only ever known dragon tamers to be men, we share three to a house. That means shared kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. We don't have any spare houses at the moment, and it'll take a while to get in the necessary materials and workmen in order to extent the living quarters to accommodate you."
"I don't see how it is a problem," said Hermione, a bit miffed.
"Surely you don't want to share a house with two other men…" Charlie trailed off, glancing around the room, looking everywhere but at Hermione.
"Charlie, you know perfectly well that I lived with two boys in a tent for a year. It doesn't bother me at all." Hermione frowned.
"Fair enough. You will have to share with Archibald and myself. Our room has the only spare bed. John only just moved out to be with his family in the village."
"There is a village?" Hermione was unsure of the true location of the Romanian reserve. In fact, her knowledge of geography and Romania was severely limited.
"Yeah, three kilometres from here. Strictly dragon tamer's and their families, sorry Herm-Monica," said Charlie, unfamiliar with Hermione's new name. She treated his slip with a glare rivalling that of Professor McGonagall's.
"Sorry! I'm doing my best, don't hex me!" defended Charlie.
"Whatever," said Hermione, accompanying it with a roll of her eyes, "So, anything else I should know?"
"Nope. Today is just to familiarise yourself with the reserve. Be prepared, tomorrow will certainly test your skills as you learn to handle the beautiful dragons!" Charlie said with a glint in his eyes. Hermione was unsure as to whether that was a positive sign, or whether he took after his twin brothers. The glint was similar to that of theirs before the set a particularly nasty prank on someone.
The pair walked in silence before coming to halt in front of a door.
"So Monica ready for a little surprise?" asked Charlie with a grin.
Hey guys I'm back ! I would like to thank my wonderful beta Dubious Sight. She did an amazing job and if you haven't read it yet go and see chapter one she really improved my story !
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