Chapter 16: Dungeons and Dragons or just Dragons really
Chapter 16: Dungeons and Dragons or just Dragons really
Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Harry Potter, only Shawn and Salem and stuff.
"What were you doing with her?"
I laughed out loud as I sat next to Carmen.
Yep, definitely 14-year-olds.
The next week had flown by, and suddenly, the task was only four days away. I still had not made amends with Nick, though Troy and Carmen had taken to helping me prepare for the task. The only problem was that no one knew what to expect. We had researched previous tasks, and gone over every spell we knew, but our only clue was that the task was made to test my daring. It was three days (November 21st) before the task, when our prayers were answered.
I was sitting at breakfast with Carmen and Troy, discussing the war (what else was there to discuss?) in America, when suddenly a barn owl swooped down in front of us ("That was my bacon!"). I didn't recognize it, but the letter in its claws had my name scrawled across the front. I turned to my two friends and shrugged, before taking the letter.
They both looked over my shoulder as I flattened out the parchment.
Dear Shawn,
Hey mate, how's your year been going so far? I saw the article written about the champions in the Daily Prophet, and I think I know of a way to help you out in the first task. If you can, meet me out in front of the Forbidden Forest tonight at 11:30. Come disguised (yes, Bill told me of your wonderful talent). If you can, just meet me at the forest, and if you can't, then respond to this letter. I hope to see you tonight.
Trust me,
Charlie Weasley
I stared at the letter in confusion. The last time I had spoken to Charlie Weasley was the brief stint at the Quidditch World Cup. So why did he want to help me?
"Are you going to meet him?" Carmen asked as she took a bite of her eggs. I stuck a bit of mine into my mouth and chewed thoughtfully.
"Well, he says he going to be able to help me." I shrugged for the second time in as many minutes.
"But isn't that considered cheating?" Troy asked worriedly. I sent him an incredulous look.
"You know as well as I do, that cheating is basically a part of the tournament." I raised an eyebrow. He nodded his head, conceding, and put more bacon on his plate.
"Well, I guess I've got my plans for tonight. Now, Troy, what class do we have first?" I asked cheerfully as I finished off my plate.
"Potions and Herbology. It's a B-day." He said glumly. I groaned loudly.
"I bloody hate Potions…" I whined.
"Did you just say 'bloody'?" Carmen and Troy asked simultaneously.
I couldn't stop the blush from creeping up my cheeks.
At 11:20 that night, Carmen was helping me put finishing touches on my disguise. I had decided to turn my black locks into bright blonde shoulder-length hair, and traded in my gray eyes for dark blue ones. I had made myself about 4 inches shorter, turning my noticeable height into an average 5'7". I shrunk my nose a tiny bit, and had it upturned slightly, and made my lips a tad bit larger and redder. And with that, I was totally unrecognizable.
"And hot." Carmen grinned as she applied eye shadow to my eyelids as I smoothed out my jeans. We had decided that I would be Charlie's dragon-tamer friend from Romania, who was getting a little friendlier, if you know what I mean.
"Are you saying that I wasn't hot before?" I asked insulted as I flipped my blonde hair aside.
"Yes." She said bluntly, before bursting into giggles. I joined her, and it took us quite a few moments to quiet down, until Troy came in.
"Carmen? Shawn…?" He trailed off as we both straightened up. His jaw dropped slightly and he blinked owlishly, before taking in a large gulp of air, his Adam's apple bobbing amusingly.
"Actually Troy, the names Annie White." I grinned as I walked over to him.
"Wow, you look…different." He looked up and down my body, before stopping at my face.
"And you know how to make a situation awkward." I said flatly as I grabbed his arm and whirled him to the door.
"Is the coast clear?" I asked irritated.
"Yeah, yeah, the coasts clear, so get out of here, and make sure you disillusion yourself on the way back." He warned, finally getting over my new look.
"Thanks, I'll tell you about everything later." I hugged Carmen, and then Troy, though Troy lingered a bit longer, and then darted off into the night.
I jogged along to the side of the forbidden forest, looking for any sign of bright red hair. I saw him nearing, so I picked up my pace a slight bit, before arriving next to him.
"Hey Charlie." I said casually from behind. I giggled as he leaped into the air, whirling around to stare wide-eyed. His hand was fumbling for his wand, and I couldn't help but laugh even louder.
"It's me…Shawn." I said, as if talking to a three year old.
"Oh, sorry. You just surprised me. Nice disguise by the way, does it come with a name?" He asked charmingly. I rolled my eyes in disgust. Really, could guys think of nothing besides looks?
"Yeah, it's Annie White. So what did you want to show me?" I asked curiously as he took my arm and led me into the forest.
"Well, the first task really. I won't tell you, I'll just show you, that way, it won't look so bad if we're caught." He winked conspiringly as he led me even deeper in. Off in the distance I could hear shouts, and see bursts of light coming from behind the trees.
"Is that what I think it is?" I asked slowly as we neared them.
"Five of them, one for each of the champions, I reckon." He sighed dreamily.
"What are the breeds?" We had come in full viewing range of the beasts. There, straight ahead of me, stood five majestic looking dragons. All around them, trainers were trying to tame them down.
"I recognize the Chinese Fireball, and the Swedish Short-Snout. But what are the others?" I pressed when he didn't answer.
"Well, that one right there," he pointed to a particularly vicious one, "is the Hungarian Horntail, and over there," he pointed to a calmer green one, "is the Welsh Green. And that beauty over there, that is the Hebridean Black." He pointed to a ferocious looking black one, with spikes all along its tail.
"Oh yeah, he's a real beauty…" I looked at him as if he was insane, and he shook his head.
"Oh no, these are all female dragons." He grinned. I groaned.
"Which means they're more dangerous and temperamental, of course?" I exclaimed.
"Of course." He teased. He tensed up for a moment, and silenced me.
"Over there." I could see Madame Maxime (the Beauxbaton's headmistress) walking over to another man. They were both huge, appearing to be half-giant.
"The filthy cheat." I whispered harshly. Charlie chuckled.
"Says you."
"Damn right, says me. You know they're going to tell." I whispered again. He laughed, before pointing into the bushes.
"Over there too, isn't that the Durmstrang's headmaster? Karkaroff, or whatever?" He was right. Karakaroff was sneaking around behind bushes, trying to get a glimpse at the dragons. I glowered.
"It seems that Hogwarts is the only school playing fair." I noted.
"Naw, I'm willing to bet that Hagrid brought Harry over, they're close. And Harry's going to be noble and tell Cedric. He won't want anyone to have an advantage you see." Charlie said expertly. I nodded, it seemed plausible. But wait.
"Who's Hagrid?"
"See that man, over there, talking to the Beauxbaton's headmistress? That's the grounds keeper, Hagrid. He's really close with Harry and his friends, from what I know." He whispered. Just then, Hagrid called Charlie over, and having spotted me, Charlie had to drag me along as well.
"Play along." He whispered urgently, before taking my arm once again.
"Hey there, Hagrid." Charlie grinned as he walked over. I saw a shift in the air beside him, and new it must have been Harry under James Potter's old invisibility cloak.
Filthy sneak.
"How'r things going Charlie?" He asked, looking pointedly at the dragons.
"Well, we had them under a sleeping draft earlier, and they just woke up, and as you can tell, they aren't too pleased." He winced slightly.
"What sorta breeds ya got there?" He looked at the dragons longingly, and I wanted to puke. Really, who likes dragons?
"That one right there is a Hungarian Horntail, that's the vicious one. The Common Welsh Green is over there, then there's the Chinese Fireball, that's the reddish one, and then the Swedish Short-Snout is over there, and over there is the Herbidean Black, though she could give the Horntail a run for her money." He pointed to each dragon as he ticked them off. Hagrid nodded, almost in a trance like state. By now, Madame Maxime had left Hagrid's side to walk around.
"I didn't know you were going to bring her Hagrid, or else I wouldn't have told you." Charlie said solemnly. "The champions aren't supposed to know, and she's bound to tell."
"I jus' thought it'd be fun, is all." He at least had the decency to look sheepish.
"Real romantic date." He laughed.
"And who's this pretty lass, hmm?" He asked challengingly. I shook my head in disgust, but he didn't notice.
"Oh, this is my girl Annie. Yeah, we just started going out not too long ago. She works on the reservation too." He pulled me closer to him and kissed me cheek chastely. Part of me was gagging on the inside, but the other part didn't mind. I mean, there was no denying that Charlie Weasley was hot, and well-built, and funny, and charming, and…that's it.
He grinned playfully at me as I slipped an arm around his waist, playing along.
"Well, you know this one's a wild one. I went into dragons for the thrill ya know?" I looked at Hagrid to see him nod. "And, well, let's just say I could quit my job and still get that same thrill." I smirked as Charlie's face flamed up clashing horribly with his hair.
"So, there's 5, one for each champion hmm?" Hagrid boomed loudly, trying to escape the awkward air.
"Yeah, and don't try anything funny, Hagrid. I've got those eggs counted." He said sternly as he caught Hagrid eyeing the eggs longingly.
"Yes, well, I mus' go fin' Madame Maxime. G'day Charlie, and it was nice meetin' ya Annie." He nodded towards the two of us and walked off. I immediately pulled away from Charlie as we began to walk back out of the forest.
"Oi! I'm your girlfriend now?" I asked him incredulously as he laughed.
"Relax, I didn't want you to seem suspicious. Besides, I'm a wild one?! Thanks Shawn, real mature." He groaned, and it was my turn to laugh.
"You should have seen your face though, it was horribly red." I grinned as we neared the edge of the forest.
"I can imagine, though you turned bright red when I kissed your cheek." He grinned back as we stood in the darkness. I grabbed his hand to keep from losing him as he dropped me off near the plane.
"What can I say, this pale skin just reveals my emotions to well." I said wistfully. We stood in an awkward silence for a few moments.
"Well, I best be off." I nodded at him. He smiled politely and pulled me into a hug.
"I'll see you right after the task." He nodded and kissed my forehead. I stood back and disillusioned myself. As I was pocketing my wand, I said it one more time.
"Did I really have to be your bloody girlfriend?" I whined.
"Did you really just say bloody?" He laughed.
I groaned silently, glad that the disillusion charm was in place, so he couldn't see me blush.
I'd said the word 'bloody' two bloody times in one day!
Stupid British slang.
A/N: I got the Herbidean Black from the HP Lexicon, so yeah. Thanks for the reviews last time, it really helped get this one out faster. This one's longer, as a thank you! See what happens when you review? Good things come to you! Please let me know what you think!
Oh, and the scene where Charlie is talking to Hagrid, I tried to change it around from GoF, so it's not exactly the same, but that's where the gist of it came from. It's pages 327 and 328, from Chapter 19 'The Hungarian Horntail'.
-Shawn
