"Here we are, Aten! Romania!" Nova told a shell-shocked looking dog, while gesturing to the three sedate dragons sleeping in a fenced area. She ran a hand through his now-silky and clean coat while explaining, "There's usually more excitement, but these three have been moved away from the rest of the dragons. They're nesting mothers, and we will be bringing them to Hogwarts later this year,"
Aten cocked his head at her, confused as to what use Hogwarts would have for three dragons. Nova took his tilted head as a sign of understanding, and continued the tour.
They walked about a mile past the sleeping dragons, to where the living quarters were, and she let herself and Aten into the building. She gave a nod to Ben, who was in the recreational area playing ping-pong with Charlie, and introduced her new companion to them. Not wanting to interfere with their game, or their obvious flirting, she quickly kept moving to the magical equivalent of an elevator. The dog stepped into the box cautiously, and startled as they began to move upwards. He noticed that his new "owner" was completely at ease, but couldn't help staggering a bit as he walked out once they had reached their floor.
"It's a little bit disorienting, I know, but if we didn't have it, we would be stuck walking up thirteen flights of stairs." Nova said, as Aten noticed the massive window they were in front of, looking out over the Reservation. "We live up here so high not only because of the great view, but also so that we can keep an eye out for trouble. The dragons get a little bit too curious sometimes, and like to see where we go once we leave them for the evening shift. This way, we can see them before they get too close,"
Nova and Aten walked a little ways down the hall until she pulled her wand out and tapped a door labeled "24" with it.
"I'll change the wards so that if you put your paw on either side of the door, it will open for you. Just please remember to shut it once you're through!" She smiled down at her new companion. He seemed surprised and pleased to be allowed access to their rooms whenever he liked. Wagging his tail and giving a small bark of happiness, he looked around. The rooms were fairly sparse. There was a small kitchen with a refrigerator and a stove, but not much else. His nose noticed the menagerie of teas that she had out on the counter near a well-loved teapot. They continued through the kitchen and into a living area. Aten took in the fireplace against the wall, the black leather couch, and matching coffee table. "I know it's not much," Nova explained to him, "But I don't stay here all that often, and really most of my time is spent out with the dragons." She enlarged a pillow from the couch to nearly the size of the couch itself and set it on the floor near the fire. "Feel free to bring that wherever you'd like and use it as a bed, or any of the furniture. I don't really have many rules for you, just please try not to tear anything up," The thin dog gave her a deadpan stare full of intelligence, and Nova chuckled, knowing that it wouldn't be a problem.
The pair explored the last room of their quarters and Aten noticed that this room looked more lived-in than the others did. There was a queen sized bed with deep blue hangings and sheets. On either side of the bed was a cherry wood nightstand holding trinkets, a lamp, and a muggle alarm clock. Along the walls were photographs of nearly hundreds of people, each including Nova at various ages. The largest thing on her wall was a Ravenclaw banner with smaller Gryffindor and Slytherin banners underneath it. Her broom, a practical Nimbus 2000, was propped up against the dresser, and was the only other homey touch to the room.
"As you can probably see, I was in Ravenclaw, but nearly all of my best friends were in Gryffindor or Slytherin. I was a bit of an anomaly, really, but my whole family has been in Ravenclaw," Picking up a picture from her wall that was larger than the others, she showed it to Aten. It showed Nova looking a bit younger with her arms around an eight year old girl who looked similar to her, but with a dreamy look in her eyes that contrasted with the sharp intelligence in Nova's. Beside them was a man who seemed a bit… eccentric with his mismatched clothing and feathers sticking out of his hair, and a woman who was looking onto her family with a warm smile playing on her lips. "The younger girl is my sister, Luna. She's in her third year now at Hogwarts. A Ravenclaw like the rest of us. On the right is my father. He's always done his best by us, but it was hard when Mum passed away a few years ago. Luna was only nine, and I think that while she's always been a little bit different, Mum's death pushed her even further away from the kids her age. She and Dad are very similar in that way, they see things and believe things that other people don't. I think it's their way of coping," She smiled a little bit, running her finger over her mother in the photograph. "Mum was a researcher, always looking for something new to come up with or create. She had a shed out back that she would work in, and made sure that it had every safety precaution, but it wasn't enough. One day she was working on a new project that she was extremely excited about, but it was for the Department of Mysteries, so she couldn't ever give us a hint as to what it was. We heard the explosion as I was helping Luna chase the Nargles away from her flowers in the garden. I ran as fast as I could to her shed, but there was nothing I could do," Putting the picture back on the wall as she finished her story, she sighed. "Well I'm exhausted, Aten. What do you say we cook some dinner and call it a night?"
Aten wagged his tail, and gently licked the lone tear off of her cheek. He nudged her gently towards the kitchen, and she chuckled, petting his head with a fond expression. She stood up, and the pair wandered to the stove to prepare some food.
The next morning, Nova woke up to a mouthful of black fur. Utterly confused, she sat up, noticing the large if thin dog sprawled out next to her. Huffing a laugh, she ran a hand through the dog's coat, lying back down to snuggle for a bit. She turned to look at her clock, seeing that it was only five o'clock in the morning, and decided she had some time to lie in bed and think about what was coming up.
"We get to see Harry soon," she whispered to the dog, still carding a hand through his fur. Aten seemed to perk up at the mention of Harry, and they shared a grin. "I guess you and me are stuck together, then. At least until Harry can take care of you when he's older," Aten bumped her hand to get her to keep petting him, and placed a small lick on her nose. Nova gave a small giggle, and continued petting him, giving the dog a moment to think about his situation. Now that he wasn't dirty or starving anymore, the uneasiness began to set in. He had known Nova in school, though she was a few years younger than him. He remembered her as the girl who would discuss theory with Lily in the Gryffindor common room, sticking out like a sore thumb in her Ravenclaw robes. She was the one that no one seemed to ever mind having around, and she had friends everywhere, regardless of house or year. They had become friends, though not very close, because she was the sort of person people couldn't spend time with and not become friends with. She was his only contact with his brother, Regulus, and she would discretely let him know how he was doing without ever having to ask.
It felt a bit weird now to be lying next to her in bed, even as a dog. It had seemed perfectly natural last night, when they were stuffed and completely exhausted from their day of traveling, but now he was unsure. He shifted a little, as though he needed to go outside, and she understood. Grabbing her dressing gown, she took him out and showed him how to do so on his own. Knowing that he was a smart dog, she added in up and down buttons on the elevator at dog height. While he went off to do his business, she wandered over to the community garden. She heard a wolf whistle and turned to see Charlie leaned up against a rake and leering at her. "Say, what's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" He called as a form of greeting. "Get stuffed Charlie, we all know you're as bent as a paperclip," She shot back, tightening the tie of her robe anyways to stave off the slight chill. Aten chose that moment to trot up to her and gave Charlie a stare.
"Charlie, you met Aten for a moment last night, Aten this is Charlie Weasley. A good friend of mine, and my main contact here at the Reserve," Nova told her furry friend. Charlie gave her a look and questioned, "Why are you talking to your dog as is he's a human?" Nova shrugged, "He seems to understand English, I've written it off of as yet another miracle of magic mixed with what seems to be a lot of intelligence." Taking her word for it, Charlie held out his hand for the dog to scent and said, "Well welcome to the family then, Aten. Nova has a habit of collecting us," He sent a smirk at Nova and ruffled Aten's head. "You may want to go get dressed, the sun's nearly up and that means we need to go relieve the night shift." She nodded and waved a small goodbye before heading back upstairs with Aten.
"Well you heard him. I'll be heading out to work the day shift with the dragons. You're welcome to join me, and you can head back here any time you get bored," Nova let her companion know. "I'll make us some breakfast and we can start our day,"
Aten stared in amazement at the sheer number of dragons Nova introduced him to. Most of the dragons had been friendly to her, if not a little bit cautious towards him as a newcomer. One dragon though, had taken a particular liking to him. Norberta was a massive Norwegian Ridgeback who was only a few years old, but was already larger than nearly all of the other dragons on the Reserve. She was currently wrapped around him, keeping him warm near her belly. He heard a snap and looked up to see Nova had taken their picture. Norberta flicked the tip of her large tail as if she was amused, and went back to her afternoon nap. Aten wasn't nearly so sleepy, but he knew from previous attempts that if he tried to leave before the large dragon decided she wanted him to, she would just grab him by the scruff of his neck and settle him right back in the same spot. He sent a pleading look to Nova, who took pity on the poor pup and told him Norberta's story.
Norberta was hatched by Hagrid in his hut with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Originally named Norbert, because it was difficult to tell the gender until the dragon hits puberty, Hagrid raised it for a few months until she got to be a fire hazard. Nova told him all about how Harry and his friends had contacted Charlie out of concern for their friend's wooden house, and snuck him off of Hogwarts grounds in the dead of night. Norberta had been here ever since, but with no male Norwegian Ridgebacks at the Reserve, she never was able to lay eggs and have children of her own. Nova laughingly confided that she must have decided that Aten was her new baby dragon to take care of. Exceedingly amused with the story, and happy to get any information about his godson that he could, he drifted off for a small nap with his new dragon friend.
Later in the day, Nova took Aten around with her to show him how they got on brooms and encouraged the dragons to exercise and socialize with the other dragons. They wore fireproof protection, as the dragons were known to get too aggressive on occasion, but fortunately there were no problems. All of the dragons were preoccupied with the new canine addition to their numbers. They nosed Aten as if wondering where his wings were, and why he wasn't flying.
After, Nova released the livestock that would serve as the dragons' dinner and let them go to hunt it. A completely different side of the Reserve was run by farmers with the task of raising cattle, sheep and other livestock for the dragons to eat. The dragons took off to find their meals, and Nova cleaned up the area of the dragons she was working with for the day and left, leaving the rest of the work for the Tamers that worked in the evenings. The sun was setting as she stretched and walked Aten back to their living building.
They ate dinner with the other Tamers that evening in the massive diner-style area of the common floor. Everyone sat around one large table, sharing the food around and swapping stories both about their days as well as other aspects of life. Nova was able to introduce Aten to the remainder of the Tamers that worked during the day, and they had all taken his understanding of conversation in stride.
As the days went on, it wasn't out of the ordinary for Aten to be seen trotting along with other Tamers, or curled up with Norberta. Before long, Aten had been at the Reservation for a month and a half, and everyone was getting ready to move the three nesting mother dragons to Hogwarts. Nova and Aten would be going, as would Charlie, Ben, Alaina, Robert, and Anton. They were the trainers that had the most contact with the three dragons, and therefore the ones that they were most friendly with. It was decided that each dragon would have two handlers, with Nova and Robert taking care of the Swedish Short-Snout, Charlie and Ben taking care of the Chinese Fireball, and Alaina and Anton caring for the Common Welsh Green.
The three dragons were being fed sedatives, and were about to be packed for travel, when an urgent missive arrived. "Need four dragons" was all that it said, and Charlie and Ben scrambled to get the only other nesting mother on the Reservation, a Hungarian Horntail with quite the temper. It was one of the few dragons that didn't get along well with the Tamers, though it seemed friendly enough with Aten. Because it was so last minute, they weren't able to bring any more Tamers with them. They would have to make due, and work with who they had.
It was quite a process getting the Horntail to relax enough to be injected with a sedative. As soon as she was, though, she was quickly packed up and put with the other three dragons so that they could travel to Scotland. The Reserve had a modified form of the Floo system that was specifically to be able to transport dragons that were sick to places that were more specialized.
The Tamers and their scaly cargo stepped in, and were soon to be on their way to Hogwarts.