"I need to take some time to try and figure out what I'm going to do about this situation," Augers informed the group. That didn't sound too bad to Charlie, although it didn't sound too good either. "We still have representatives at the other two reserves who are reporting back to me. As far as I know nothing this," Maria paused trying to find the right word, "controversial has occurred." Charlie frowned. That definitely did not sound good. "Be that as it may, nothing is decided at this point. I'm going to be here for the next day or so and evaluate what's going on."
"That sounds good," Schmidt said, already on his feet walking over to Maria Augers. Eric Wentworth nodded in agreement. It was the best that they could hope for. They weren't being shut down yet. Yet, being the key word. Augers nodded her head and disappeared to Merlin knows where. Everyone else turned to look at Schmidt.
"Take the rest of the day off," Schmidt told the group. Charlie's jaw literally dropped in shock. Never in the history of ever, had Schmidt once given him the day off. "I know you all must be pretty stressed out. Just relax. Go back to Tent City and hang out. Do whatever. I've gotta go do some things." And with that Schmidt was off. Charlie turned to look at Jake and Lea. They wore the same shocked expression that he had.
"I can't believe he just gave us the rest of the day off," Lea said. She sounded slightly awed when she spoke. Jake nodded in agreement.
"Me either," Charlie agreed. It was unheard of.
"It's barely even half a day," Jess commented completely unimpressed with what had just occurred. "You guys must be so stressed. You deserve more than half a day off."
"We never get days off," Jake told her. Jess looked scandalized.
"I wouldn't say never," Lea added hastily. "If we ask for a day off in advance they will take that into consideration when they make the schedules. It's just hard to give spontaneous days off when the smoothness of the program requires a schedule." Jess nodded taking what Lea said in.
"Let's go back to Tent City," Charlie suggested. He figured he should probably say hi to his family. They probably didn't like being left alone when they'd come all this way just to visit him. Pretty much everyone was in agreement so they began to make their way back to the tents.
Jake and Lea broke off and made their way over to the keepers' tent. They were undoubtedly slipping off into Jake's room for a good session of snogging. Jess and Charlie kept walking until they got to the tent where the Weasleys were staying.
"Oh Charlie I'm so glad we caught you. We're about to head off," his mother exclaimed as Charlie and Jess walked into the tent.
"Already?" Charlie asked, surprise evident in his voice.
"Yes, well your father could only get so many days off work. And I hardly ever get to see you but I don't really want to send him home alone," Molly Weasley began ranting. Charlie recognized the speech. She'd given it to him many times before. His mother often tried to make Charlie feel guilty for not coming home to visit his family as often as she would like. Charlie decided to cut his mother's speech short. He really wasn't in the mood for it. So he made the usual empty promise.
"Okay mum, I'll try to visit more often." Molly Weasley gave her son a scrutinizing look. She never believed his promises that he would visit home more often. He looked to his right, expecting to see Jess standing next to him but Charlie was surprised to see Bill just packing his suitcase. Jessica was in the corner of the tent talking to Ginny. Charlie couldn't help grinning at the sight of the pair of them; two of the girls that he cared the most about in the world getting along so well.
Still smiling, Charlie walked over to say goodbye to his father and Bill. Charlie then looked over at Ginny and Jessica. Ginny's suitcase was still open on the floor. She had stopped packing it halfway through, having decided she really didn't want to leave the reserve.
"You can always come back and visit any time you want," Jessica was telling Ginny in an attempt to get her to finish packing up.
"Promise?" Ginny asked skeptically. Jessica glanced over at Charlie and shrugged her shoulders.
"We promise," Charlie told his little sister.
"Alright then," Ginny sighed grabbing the rest of her belongings and cramming them into the suitcase. Molly watched her daughter smash her unfolded clothes into a pile with a frown on her face. When Ginny wasn't looking Mrs. Weasley flicked her wand at the mound of clothing in the suitcase and the clothes were suddenly folded into neat piles. Ginny didn't even notice the difference.
After about five more minutes the Weasley family was finally ready to leave the reserve. It had been nice seeing his family at the reserve but Charlie was ready for them to go. He loved when his parents and siblings came for visits but the reserve was getting slightly chaotic with the whole situation with the Department. Charlie didn't want his family to have to be at the reserve during such a stressful time. He couldn't imagine it being very fun for them.
Charlie gave his mother one last hug. He and Jessica then stepped back as the Weasleys gathered around the portkey Schmidt had arranged to take them home. Charlie watched as the members of his family all grabbed on to an issue of the Dailey Prophet. Ginny let go to wave goodbye to Charlie and Jessica but Molly grabbed her daughter's hand and got Ginny to touch the portkey just in time for it's departure. The Weasleys disappeared into thin air.
"What do you feel like doing on your day off?" Jessica asked turning to look at Charlie. Charlie thought about it for a moment. He wasn't quite sure what he felt like doing. Outside Jake was teaching Lea, Rob, Eric, and Colin all about the muggle sport soccer. However, Charlie didn't have the energy to join the game.
"I feel like relaxing," Charlie informed her. He led Jess into the common room area of the keepers' tent. Because it was such a beautiful day the area was quiet and deserted. "Excellent!" Charlie exclaimed collapsing onto his favorite couch. He lay sprawled out on his back staring up at the ceiling. Jess sat down next to his legs.
"The past few days finally catching up with you?" she asked with a slight hint of amusement in her voice.
"I'm losing energy in my old age," Charlie joked. Jessica laughed and shook her head.
"You Quidditch players never lose energy," she said thinking of Rob and his endless supply.
"Not true. All the pros are dead tired after a good day of training," Charlie pointed out with a laugh. "If I'd gone and played for England my career would practically be over by now."
"You were going to play for England?" Jessica asked in shock. She was surprised that he'd been internationally recruited.
"You don't need to sound so surprised," Charlie said with a chuckle.
"I'm just really impressed," Jessica told him resting her elbows on his now raised knees. "You must be amazing." Charlie just shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not that good anymore," he sighed. "If I'd gone to play right out of school when they wanted me I suppose I still would be but it's been years since I played competitively."
"That's still really impressive," Jess insisted. Charlie shrugged off her compliment but he was pleased. Charlie knew that Jessica Sloan was not easily impressed. He took pleasure in the fact that she was impressed with him. Charlie stretched out his legs and the movement caused Jess to lose her balance and fall onto his legs. She shot him a look, which he ignored. Charlie just pulled her closer to him so that she was lying on his stomach. Jessica narrowed her eyes at him but Charlie could tell she didn't mind his actions.
"I would hate to think Quidditch is the only way I could impress you," Charlie told her jokingly.
"I'm sure you're clever enough to think of other ways," Jess assured him. Charlie smirked at her.
"A few things do come to mind now that you mention it," he said with a devilish grin. Charlie kissed her before she knew what he was doing. He could feel Jess smile into the kiss and it floored him. Charlie could have spent the rest of the day kissing Jessica but he really was tired. Apparently Jessica was too because she eventually came to rest her head on his stomach.
"It would appear that my old age has stolen my energy as well," Jess sighed as she closed her eyes.
"I could fall asleep right now," Charlie agreed. And without further ado Charlie and Jessica decided their afternoon off would be best spent napping. Jess fell asleep still sprawled out on Charlie and he in turn fell asleep on the couch.
As Charlie drifted in and out of consciousness he realized several things. Firstly, he could really get used to napping with Jessica Sloan in his arms. Second, he was in trouble. Charlie had developed incredibly strong feelings for Jessica; stronger than he'd believed he was capable of. And yet, part of him knew it wouldn't last. Jess wasn't going to be at the reserve forever. She was going to have to leave and go back to her real life. And then what?
What would Charlie do? He wasn't quite sure. He had to figure out a way to get over her. There was no use in harboring romantic feelings for someone who didn't even live in the same country as he did. And as much as Charlie wanted to attempt to keep a relationship going he knew Jess would never go for it. So Charlie would have to get over her. The only problem was, he didn't want to.
The next morning Charlie's entire life seemed to shift before his very eyes. Maria Augers announced that she would be going back to the Ministry and that it would no longer be necessary for Chase, Robert, and Jessica to stay at the reserve. No one knew what her announcement meant in regards to the fate of the reserve. In fact, it was even more frustrating because the Romanian Reserve was still uncertain as to it's future. Augers was calling back the representatives from the other reserves and they were all going to sit down and make the decision as to which reserve was going to be shut down.
Augers arranged to have a portkey set up to return the three representatives and herself back to the Ministry later that evening. It was going to be Jessica Sloan's last day on the reserve. Charlie was slightly panicked to say the least. He wasn't ready to say goodbye.
He found Jess sitting with Lea outside of the keepers' tent. The two of them had their heads bent down, deep in discussion. Lea looked extremely serious. It was a little bit unnerving. Lea was always carefree and upbeat. The somber, serious, Lea was almost downright alarming.
"Hey," Charlie said walking over to the two of them. Lea and Jess looked up at him. Upon further inspection Jess looked just as serious as Lea. Lea looked extremely upset. "Are you two alright?" Charlie asked worriedly.
"Yeah," Lea sighed heavily.
"You don't sound okay," Charlie observed.
"I'm just—oh I just—I don't know," Lea sputtered. She was clearly frustrated.
"Well now that you've explained it," Charlie said with a laugh. Lea shot him an irritated look that instantly shut him up. "Sorry, sorry," Charlie muttered hastily. "What's bothering you?" Charlie asked, honestly worried.
"It's just that—I don't know if—I should probably," Lea broke off looking rather distressed. She ran a hand threw her hair and sighed in aggravation. Jessica gave Lea a sympathetic look.
"Maybe you should just go talk to Jake," Jessica suggested.
"I really should, shouldn't I?" Lea decided.
"You really should," Jessica urged. Charlie nodded his head in approval even though he had no idea what they were talking about.
"Alright I guess I'll go find him then. I'll see you guys later," Lea said getting up in search of Jake.
"Okay what the hell is going on with her?" Charlie asked Jess once Lea was gone. Jessica sighed looking rather flustered herself.
"She's just worried about what to do if the reserve gets shut down and some other things," Jess informed him.
"Some other things?" Charlie prodded.
"Her and Jake," Jess said with a shrug.
"Her and Jake?" Charlie exclaimed. Was Lea rethinking her decision to be in a relationship with Jake? They couldn't break up. That would completely destroy the friendship between Charlie, Jake, and Lea. And it would break Jake's heart. Charlie didn't think his friend would recover.
"Just about their future," Jess sighed. "She'll tell you eventually I suppose." Charlie raised an eyebrow at Jess. It was weird that she knew things about his friends that he didn't. "Charlie it's a girl bonding kind of thing. I'm not about to tell you everything she told me. She confided in me." Jessica laughed. Charlie frowned. He was dying to know what was going on.
"Well," Charlie said in irritation. "Well, I hope it's nothing bad."
"I'm leaving tonight," Jessica reminded him. It was rather out of the blue.
"Yeah, I heard," Charlie sighed looking at his feet. He didn't need reminding of that. He was still trying to come to terms with the fact that she was leaving.
"Sorry, Lea got me thinking about stuff and it reminded me and I just—I don't—It's," Jessica trailed off. Charlie waited for her to finish the sentence but Jessica seemed to have run out of words.
"You've been spending too much time around Lea. Between the two of you maybe one day we'll have an actual conversation," Charlie said with a laugh. Jessica shot him a withering look.
"I'm trying to express my feelings here!" she exclaimed.
"Sorry," Charlie mumbled holding back a laugh. Jess cracked a smile too.
"You know I'm complete rubbish about the whole talking about our feelings things," Jessica sighed.
"Alright, alright, I'm not saying anything anymore until you finish," Charlie promised.
"It's just that Lea reminded me—we aren't going anywhere," Jess tried to explain the whirling thoughts inside her head. Charlie waited for her to continue but Jessica seemed to have given up on words again.
"So we're not going anywhere?" Charlie wondered.
"Charlie I'm leaving tonight. I have to go back to my real life. Where I work. In France. France is not Romania. You work in Romania. Do you see where I'm going with this?" Jessica asked looking at him imploringly. Charlie looked at her and sighed exasperatedly. He'd been thinking along the same lines as Jessica the night before. What were they going to do now? There was no denying the fact that they had a connection. Charlie had never felt such a strong attachment to a person that wasn't one of his family members, Jake or Lea. He didn't want to have to say goodbye to Jessica but what choice did he have?
"I don't want you to go," he told her finally.
"There really isn't much of a choice," Jess sighed. "I really do care for you Charlie. I let myself get close to you even though we both knew it could only end badly. I just couldn't help it…there's something about you," Jessica said with a laugh. "But I don't know what we can do. I don't know how beneficial it would be for me to be sitting in France wishing I were somewhere else."
"I know," Charlie said feeling defeated. The situation really was out of his hands. There wasn't much of anything he could do to change things. "But I don't know what else we can do. I've never felt so connected to someone before. I don't want to lose you but I don't see what other options we've got."
Something changed in Jessica's face. She fixed Charlie with a resolute look. It wasn't cold but it wasn't friendly either. She got up and Charlie mimicked her actions. Jessica frowned at him. Charlie got the feeling she was disappointed in him but he couldn't quite figure out why.
"I should go pack my stuff," Jess said excusing herself. Charlie watched as she disappeared into the tent. He sighed and set off in search of Jake and Lea. Charlie found his friends in one of the office buildings.
"Did you figure everything out?" Charlie asked Lea when he finally found them. Her odd behavior from before was still troubling him.
"Oh yes," Lea said blushing at the memory of her stammering inability to speak before. "I was just a little flustered."
"It happens to the best of us," Charlie said with a smile.
"We're going to get married," Jake exclaimed with a grin. Charlie's eyebrows shot up in shock. The two of them had only started a romantic relationship two weeks ago. Charlie didn't want to appear unsupportive but it was all happening way too fast. He stared at his two friends completely at a loss for words.
"I know it's a bit fast," Lea said when she saw the look on his face.
"A bit?" Charlie choked out.
"Let's face it. We've been practically living together for five years now. I've loved Lea for ages," Jake explained.
"And I've had feelings for Jake for almost as long," Lea added.
"You have?" Charlie exclaimed in shock. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Charlie!" Lea exclaimed laughing. "You and Jake were my best friends but I wasn't about to talk about my crushes with you. It's more of a girl talk thing."
"Anyways," Jake continued. "We've been like family for five years. We've been in love with each other for the better part of those five years. And if the reserve closes down we can move back to England and start a family." Lea and Jake were grinning happily. Charlie couldn't keep a smile off his face for long. Their smiles were infectious.
"Are you sure about this?" Charlie asked. Jake and Lea both nodded their heads enthusiastically. "It's not some rash decision you made because you think the reserve is going to be shut down?"
"Well obviously that had some influence but it would have happened sooner or later," Lea said with a shrug.
"And if the reserve doesn't shut down we can still enjoy the benefits of married life," Jake said suggestively. Charlie rolled his eyes but he was convinced. If Jake and Lea were happy Charlie was behind their decision one hundred percent.
"So now you're engaged?" Charlie wondered.
"I suppose so," Jake said with a shrug. "Although I reckon I probably should have proposed or something."
"Don't be stupid," Lea said rolling her eyes. "I will physically harm you if you ever get down on one knee and try to put jewelry on me." Jake shrugged his shoulders and Charlie laughed. The way the two of them were going about this was rather unique but seemingly fitting for their relationship.
"So where did Jess go?" Jake asked as the three friends started walking back to their tent. "I'm surprised to see you without her."
"We're not always together," Charlie protested.
"You've been bloody inseparable," Lea said laughing. Charlie sighed and told his friends about his conversation with Jess before. He gave them a pretty detailed account of what had been said and done.
"Merlin Charlie you're an idiot," Jake said shaking his head.
"What do you men?" Charlie asked feeling rather confused. He had thought that he'd handled the situation rather well.
"Isn't it obvious?" Lea exclaimed.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Charlie said shaking his head.
"Men are so daft," Lea sighed. "She's cross with you."
"Why?" Charlie wanted to know.
"I bet she's already left the reserve. Probably didn't even bother waiting for that portkey," Jake added.
As it turned out Jake was absolutely correct. Jessica was nowhere to be found. Charlie had looked everywhere. Finally Rob put him out of his misery by telling Charlie that his sister had already gone back to France.
"I don't get it," Charlie said to Lea who just rolled her eyes at him.
"It's so obvious Charlie. She wanted you to fight for her," Lea explained. Charlie just looked at her. "She wanted you to ask her to stay. She wanted you to show that you actually cared."
"But she knew I cared!" Charlie protested.
"I don't know about that," Lea disagreed. "You have this very relaxed air about you. You come across as very nonchalant about a lot of things. And judging from what you told me about your conversation you seemed rather apathetic towards the dissolving of your relationship."
"Well I'm not bloody apathetic!" Charlie argued. "I'm pissed off. Why do women have to be so bloody confusing?" Lea laughed as she shook her head.
"I'm sorry Charlie but even Jake caught on and you know how he's always got his head up in the clouds. I think it was rather obvious. You seem to have missed the point on this one."
Charlie left his friends feeling rather put out and angry. He couldn't remember ever having been in such a bad mood. It didn't help that one person he wanted to vent to was nowhere to be found. It also just so happened that the one person who he wanted to vent to was partially the source of his anger. Why couldn't she just have come out and tell him how she felt?
Then again, Jessica had never been one for sharing her feelings. Charlie had known this about her from the very beginning. Charlie sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He was feeling pretty overwhelmed by the whole thing. He shouldn't be thinking about girls right now. Charlie had more important things to be worried about. The reserve was on the verge of collapse and here he was worried about his romantic issues.
Charlie spent the majority of the afternoon moping back in the keepers' tent. He didn't quite feel like doing much else. He was in an unbearably bad mood and Jake and Lea seemed to have made a mutual decision to ignore him. He was so irritated with Jessica for not talking to him. But he was even angrier at himself for not realizing that she'd wanted to talk. He finally left the confines of his tent around dinnertime. He was upset but he wasn't about to start skipping meals.
"You've decided to resurface?" Jake asked when Charlie took his usual seat.
"A man's gotta eat," Charlie said shrugging his shoulders. Lea shook her head but Charlie could see that she was smiling.
"Hey guys I just wanted to tell you that I'm heading off," Robert Sloan said as he walked over to them.
"Already?" Lea asked. "You're not even going to eat dinner?"
"Ah, well seeing as Jess already left I figured I should get going," Rob said casually avoiding looking Charlie.
"Well it was really great to meet you," Jake said shaking Rob's hand. Lea smiled and did the same. Charlie offered Rob a curt nod.
"I expect you'll be hearing from one of us soon," Rob hinted. Charlie wasn't quite sure what Rob meant by that. Did that mean the Department had already made a decision about the reserve?
"Looking forward to it," Lea said with a smile as Robert left.
"Was it me or did it sound like they've already made up their minds about the reserve?" Jake asked looking at his friends.
"It did sound a lot like it," Lea nodded thoughtfully. "But they can't have!" she said shaking her head. "It's too soon. I don't think they've even talked to the reps at the other reserves. It's just too fast!" Jake and Charlie considered what had been said in the past five minutes. If Robert didn't mean that the decision was already made what could he have meant?
A week went by and there was still no word from any of the representatives. Robert Sloan had assured them that they would be hearing from him soon but so far nothing had occurred. The reserve was in a state of limbo. Schmidt didn't know what to do. He tried to keep everything operating as normal as he could but everyone felt the question of the reserve's future hanging over their heads.
Jake and Lea were officially engaged. Despite Lea's protests Jake had insisted on getting down on one knee and proposing to her the old fashioned way. Charlie suspected that Lea was secretly glad. As much as Charlie loved his friends it was getting rather annoying to always be with the happy couple. Charlie found himself wanting to spend time with someone else; someone who appeared to have left his life for good.
"Why don't you just try sending her a letter or something?" Lea asked after the third time Charlie brought up Jessica Sloan. Charlie had thought about writing to her but he'd discarded the idea almost instantly. He had no idea what he would say. Hey Jess, sorry I got you mad at me because I suck at expressing my feelings. I miss you. Throw away your job and come live in Romania with me. Charlie shook his head at the thought. That would not go over so well with Miss Sloan.
Then after almost two weeks without a word from the Ministry an unexpected visitor arrived on the reserve. Jessica Sloan was back. Charlie saw her walk into the cafeteria during breakfast one morning. She was headed straight for Schmidt. With a pang, Charlie noticed that she had gone back to wearing her uptight business looking clothes. However, her hair wasn't in that terrible bun so maybe there was still hope.
"Hey is that Jess?" Lea asked following Charlie's gaze to Schmidt's table. Jake peered over their heads to see.
"Looks like it," Jake affirmed.
"I wonder if that means they've made a decision about the reserve," Lea mused. Suddenly, Charlie didn't have an appetite. If Jessica was back it had to mean that they'd made a decision about the reserve. There was no other reason for her to be back there. He wished that Jessica had thought to write him and let him know what had happened.
Charlie, Jake, and Lea watched as Jessica and Schmidt engaged in an apparently very serious discussion. They talked and talked and then finally Schmidt got up and led Jessica out of the cafeteria.
"C'mon let's go!" Jake exclaimed leaping up and running after them. Charlie and Lea followed suit. The three friends kept their distance from Schmidt and Jessica but they absolutely had to know what the decision was.
"And the decision is final?" Schmidt asked Jessica in a business-like manner.
"Absolutely," she said nodding her head in affirmation.
"The Committee won't reconsider? There won't be any more reevaluations?" Schmidt implored. Charlie exchanged a nervous look with Jake. That didn't sound good. If Schmidt was asking about reconsiderations…
"Nope," Jessica said shaking her head. "I fought very hard to create these circumstances. I can assure you that there will never be another evaluation at this reserve." Charlie's jaw dropped. Jessica had fought very hard to get the reserve shut down? It didn't make any sense. Charlie thought that she was having a good time. She'd told him so herself. She said the reserve had changed her. Had she been lying to him this whole time?
Furious, Charlie stalked away from his friends. He was blinded by anger. Charlie paid no heed to where he was going. He just knew that he had to get as far away from Jessica Sloan as possible.
"Charlie!" Lea called out to his retreating back. But Charlie didn't want sympathy from his friends. He couldn't believe Jessica would lie to him like that. It was such a cruel thing to do. He was losing everything. Without the reserve Charlie had nothing.
Without even realizing it Charlie had walked to Jamaya's quarters. The fireball roared at him in greeting. Jamaya looked at him expectantly. She was probably expecting him to whip out some lettuce and start feeding her.
"Sorry girl I don't have anything for you today," Charlie told her apologetically. Jamaya seemed to glare at him. Or maybe Charlie was just imagining things. The dragon just looked at him patiently.
Charlie sat down on a rock close by where Jamaya lay down on the fields. He regarded the dragon thoughtfully. Jamaya used to be downright impossible to manage. But ever since Jessica discovered that Jamaya was a vegetarian the dragon had been much more agreeable. It didn't make sense. Why had Jessica helped him and the reserve so much while she was there if she was only going to head back to the Ministry and try to get it shut down.
"Women," Charlie said to the dragon, "are the most confusing creatures ever to walk this planet. Dragons, Manticores, and Hippogriffts I can handle but women…forget about it." Jamaya just let out a snort of fire. Charlie got the impression that she was laughing at him.
"You would find my problems amusing," Charlie said to Jamaya. "But I'll have you know I was the only one who stood up for you when all the other keepers called you names."
"You are truly the only person I know who would attempt to have a conversation with a dragon." Charlie jumped and spun around in surprise. Standing right behind him was none other than Jessica Sloan. "I thought I might find you here." She said to him. Charlie only glared at her.
"How could you?" he asked angrily.
"How could I what?" Jessica wondered. She was pretending to look confused.
"Are you really going to stand there and act like you don't know what I'm talking about?" Charlie asked her with a frown.
"Charlie I really don't know what you're talking about," Jessica said earnestly.
"You got the reserve shut down!" he exclaimed.
"What? No I didn't!" Jessica yelled in surprise. "How could you even say such a thing? You know I would never do that!"
"I fought very hard to create these circumstances. I can assure you that there will never be another evaluation at this reserve," Charlie said repeating her words from earlier, verbatim.
"Eavesdrop much?" Jessica asked sarcastically.
"You aren't denying it?" Charlie countered.
"If you hadn't run off like an idiot you would have heard Schmidt announce to the whole cafeteria that the reserve had passed the evaluation. You would have heard the announcement that Chase Roland got fired for trying to sabotage the evaluation process. You would have heard Schmidt tell everyone that Robert and I were promoted and that we worked our asses off for a whole week so that the reserve would stay open and never be considered for shutting down ever again!" Jessica exclaimed angrily. She was glaring at him with such ferocity that she reminded Charlie briefly of a dragon.
Charlie was speechless. He had not been expecting that. Perhaps he shouldn't have run off the way he had. Charlie blamed his Weasley red hair for his highly flammable temper. He wasn't quite sure what to say and now Jessica was glaring daggers at him.
"That's good news," Charlie said finally. "I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions," he added. "I'm sorry I doubted you."
"Yeah, well you should be," Jessica said defiantly rolling her eyes at him.
"I just thought with you being cross with me and all," Charlie started to explain his thought process.
"When was I cross with you?" Jessica asked raising an eyebrow.
"When you left the reserve without saying a word of goodbye," Charlie reminded her. Jessica rolled her eyes.
"Well of course I was cross with you. I gave you a perfectly good opportunity to make a move but you just sat back and let things happen. You didn't even try to stop me from going Charlie. You didn't even bother to fight for me. Of course I was cross with you. But just because I'm cross with you doesn't mean that I would try and get the reserve shut down. I'm not Chase Roland I don't seek petty revenge." Jess said glowering at Charlie.
Charlie tried to process what had just been said but it was a lot to take in. He was still having trouble comprehending the fact that the reserve was still open and would never be in danger again.
"What did you want me to do?" Charlie asked finally. "There you were telling me how things were and I had to accept it."
"No you didn't!" Jessica retorted shaking her head. "You could have tried to find away to make things work!"
"Well why should I be the one who has to figure everything out? You didn't try either. You just ran away. You always just run away from all your problems. It took you two bloody weeks before you would even talk to me like a normal human being!" Charlie exclaimed, all his frustration finally pouring out of him. Jessica fixed him with one of her cold stares. Charlie almost winced. It had been ages since she looked at him that way.
"I'm sorry," he said feeling guilty under her cold gaze. "It's just—I don't have a lot of practice in this whole romantic business. It's new to me and I don't know what exactly I did to make you so angry but I suppose I could have tried harder to make you stay." That was clearly more than Jessica had expected. The look on her face practically fell right off.
"I'm sorry too," she hastened to apologize. "It's always just been me and Rob I don't really know how to care for other people. I've never actually cared about someone else that wasn't related to me."
"You care about me?" Charlie asked her with a cheeky grin.
"Of course I do!" she sighed exasperatedly. "You think I would have slaved away for a week trying to protect this place if I didn't?" Charlie had never thought about things that way. He figured she just worked to keep the reserve open because she liked it there. He never suspected that he would have had anything to do with it.
"I care about you too," Charlie found himself admitting. "I wasn't just being nice to you so that you would write a good evaluation about the reserve. I genuinely care for you. I've never really had a connection like this with someone before. When you left all I wanted to do was go find you and talk to you."
"So why didn't you?" Jessica asked him. "Why didn't you come find me?" Charlie raised an eyebrow at her.
"Somehow I don't think you would have appreciated it if I turned up at your door demanding you quit your job and come live on the reserve with me," Charlie laughed sarcastically.
"I might have," Jessica admitted in a small voice.
"What?" exclaimed Charlie, completely dumbfounded. Jessica just looked at him steadily. Charlie couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You would just drop everything like that?" he asked incredulously.
"Well, yeah. I told you before. When I'm with you, here, everything feels like it makes sense," Jess reminded him.
"So why don't you?" Charlie urged. "Quit the Ministry. Come live here on the reserve with me. That would make me the happiest person in all of Europe!"
"I'm not sure," Jess sighed. "Rob and I were just promoted. And I don't know if I could bring myself to leave Rob. We're the only family each other has."
"That's not true!" Charlie insisted. "Family isn't just the people we're related to by blood. Family is everyone who cares about us. Jake, Lea, Reese, they're my family here on the reserve. And if we were here together we would be each other's family."
"Oh I don't know," Jessica sighed heavily. "You're bound to grow bored of me one day." She added with a laugh.
"I wouldn't count on that," Charlie said shaking his head. "Don't go back. Stay here, with me."
"And just live in the tent following you around everywhere?" Jessica asked with a laugh. "I wouldn't have a job and I would just be in the way. "
"We'd work it out. We would make it work. Nothing else would matter because we would be together," Charlie continued grabbing her hands in excitement. Jessica hesitated.
"I just don't know Charlie," she shook her head.
"Then let me persuade you," he said smirking. Before Jessica could stop him Charlie leaned in and kissed her. "Think about it," he said kissing her again. "You could live here on the reserve. You love it here, don't even try to deny it." He added kissing her neck. "And you could make even more discoveries about dragons." Another kiss.
"Charlie!" Jessica gasped pushing him away. "I can't think straight when you do that!" Charlie laughed.
"So then my plan is working." He declared. "C'mon Jess, think about it. We could live here, together, forever."
"Charlie," said Jessica with a hint of warning in her voice.
"I'm serious!" he said earnestly.
"So am I," she insisted taking another step back. Charlie laughed. "Don't you laugh at me," Jess said smiling despite herself. "You are making it very hard for me to think logically right now."
"So don't think logically!" Charlie exclaimed overcome with excitement. "Just go with your instincts. What do you really want to do?" Jessica regarded Charlie for a moment. She bit the corner of her lip apparently deep in thought. "Just think for a second…what do you want?"
"I want you," Jessica admitted. Judging by the look on her face she'd surprised herself by saying that. She laughed and looked slightly abashed. Charlie smirked devilishly at her.
"So that answers your question," Charlie declared happily.
"Does it?" Jess asked in mock wonderment.
"Of course it does," Charlie said casually. He opened his mouth as if he were going to start talking again but Charlie was interrupted when Jake came running over to them.
"Charlie! Jess! Charlie!" Jake yelled doubling over panting. He'd clearly sprinted his way to where they were.
"What is it?" Charlie asked curiously.
"It's" pant "Norberta" pant "eggs" pant "hatching!" Jake managed to choke out between breaths. Charlie and Jessica exchanged looks of excitement before running off to where Norberta was currently hatching her eggs. The three of them were completely out of breath by the time Charlie, Jake, and Jessica reached Norberta.
"Oh good thing you got here now. You're just in time," Lea informed the trio as they approached the dragon. Norberta was eyeing the keepers warily as she prowled around in a circle guarding her eggs.
There was a small rattling noise and that signaled to Charlie that the first egg was ready to hatch. The egg began to shake and then suddenly a small crack appeared on the shell. The four friends watched as the crack lengthened and the shell broke even further. Slowly but surely a small baby Ridgeback began to climb its way out of the shell.
The other four eggs began the same process. They started with small cracks and it wasn't much later that there were five baby dragons crawling over to their mother. Norberta shot flames warningly in the direction of Charlie and his friends. It was as if she was telling them to keep away from her children.
"They're beautiful!" Lea sighed wistfully.
"That was amazing," Jess acknowledged. Charlie grinned at her. He knew he had her now. After seeing that there was no way she could turn down his offer to stay on the reserve.
"Jessica Sloan is that you?" Christopher Stevens was walking over to them apparently on his way back from collecting some sample or something.
"Hi Chris," Jess greeted him.
"I heard you were back," Chris said happily. "Listen when you're done out here I really think you should head over to the lab. Dr. Bartlett has something he wants to talk to you about."
"Oh I don't know," Jessica protested. Truth be told she wasn't completely sold on the idea of staying on the reserve. Yes she loved it here and yes she wanted to be with Charlie. But was that worth giving up her job and her life? She would hardly ever get to see her brother if she decided to stay.
"It's really important," Chris insisted glancing significantly at Charlie. Charlie wasn't sure what the meaning of that particular look was but he assumed it would be in his best interests to get Jess to talk to Dr. Bartlett. Charlie knew that Jessica loved everything Dr. Bartlett did on the reserve.
"You can go talk to him," Charlie said to her. "Now that you're staying you've got all the time in the world." Jessica shot Charlie a look as if to say this conversation isn't over, but ran off after Chris, unable to resist the chance to talk to the talented Dr. Bartlett.
Turning away from her retreating back Charlie focused on the young dragons before him. They were hiccupping small flames as they looked around at their new world. Charlie couldn't help smiling. The idea of five more dragons on the reserve excited him very much. He couldn't wait to start working with them.
Charlie eventually found Jessica sitting outside in the fields in front of the keepers' tent. The night air supplied a pleasant breeze as she reclined on the palms of her hands staring at the sky. Jess was still wearing the business clothes she'd shown up to the reserve in but her shoes were tossed casually to the side. Charlie got an odd sense of déjà vu. This scene reminded him of Jessica's first night on the reserve when she'd told him about growing up as an orphan. Just like he did that very first time Charlie settled himself down on the grass next to her.
"Nice night," he observed casting his head skywards. The stars were shining as brightly as ever. Jessica looked over at him and laughed. "What?" Charlie wondered innocently.
"Déjà vu," Jess acknowledged the similarity of the situation. Charlie chuckled to himself. "I guess everything has finally come full circle."
"Does that mean you've made a decision about the reserve?" Charlie asked trying not to appear too pushy. He didn't want to pressure Jess into anything but he wanted an answer. It wasn't as if Charlie couldn't live on the reserve without her. Charlie loved the reserve more than anything. He would still be happy even if Jess decided to go back to France. But now that she'd come along and shown him how great his life was when he got to share it with someone he wanted her to stay. Jess however showed no signs of being ready to broach the topic in turn Charlie changed the subject.
"What did Dr. Bartlett want?" Charlie asked her.
"Just wanted a consultation on some experiment he was doing," Jess said brushing the topic away. So what did she want to talk about?
"Listen I know we both suck at the whole talking about our feelings thing but I think we have to do it," Jess sighed.
"I suppose you're right," Charlie agreed.
"Okay I guess I'll start," Jessica said when Charlie didn't begin talking. She paused to gather her thoughts. "Charlie I didn't come to the reserve expecting any of this to happen. I thought it was just going to be another job. Get in, observe, report, and get out. But you changed all that. You got me involved with life here and I really do thank you for it. I never knew what I was missing out on."
"Yeah well, it goes both ways. I loved living on the reserve before you came along. I didn't think it could get any better. But then you came here and it did," Charlie confessed with a small smile.
"I've never felt so close to another person before. It's always been me and Rob looking out for each other. But you came along and changed all that too," Jessica continued, encouraged by what Charlie had said.
"That's me as well," Charlie said in agreement. "I've never felt so connected to a person that wasn't part of my family."
"Charlie, I—I really like you," Jessica told him. Her cheeks flushed with the confession. Charlie got the feeling she hadn't said that to someone else before.
"I really like you too," Charlie assured here.
"There's something else," Jess confessed. "Dr. Bartlett offered me a job." Charlie felt his eyebrows go up in surprise.
"Did he now?" Charlie had definitely not been expecting that. "Well what did you say?" If Jess accepted Dr. Bartlett's job that would mean she would be staying on the reserve!
"I told him I would think about it," Jess sighed.
"Why? What could you possibly have to think about?" Charlie exclaimed. Sometimes she was just so bloody confusing. "Jess that's like the perfect solution. You could stay here and you wouldn't feel like a burden because you would have a job and we could stay together and—" Charlie could barely contain himself. He only stopped talking because Jessica interrupted him.
"I told him I had to talk to you first," Jessica revealed.
"Oh really? Why?" Charlie was honestly confused by her actions.
"I just wanted to tell you that I had feelings for you. And that this job has nothing to do with my staying here. I would have chosen to stay on the reserve whether or not Dr. Bartlett had offered me the job." Charlie was relieved that Jessica was saying everything he'd wanted to hear.
"So you're gonna stay?" Charlie wondered. He couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face. Jess nodded firmly; her grin mirroring his own.
"Wild hippogriffs couldn't keep me away," she said with a laugh. Life on the reserve had suddenly gotten ten times better. Jess was staying. She was going to work there. Jessica wasn't going anywhere. But then Charlie realized she'd only agreed to stay on the reserve after she'd gotten a job offer. After a moment's pause she added, "Charlie I love it here on the reserve but I owe the great majority of my happiness to you. I wouldn't want to be here if you weren't."
Convinced that Jess was making her decision for the right reason Charlie smiled at her. She laughed lightly and the evening seemed to brighten. Charlie had no idea how long the pair of them sat there grinning at each other but he did know one thing. For the first time since Charlie head heard the reserve was going to be evaluated everything felt right in the world.
Epilogue: One year later…
Charlie was rather rudely awakened by a pillow making violent contact with his head.
"Ouch! What the hell was that for?" Charlie demanded to know as he sat up rubbing his head.
"Charlie Weasley you would sleep through a mandrake screaming its head off. I've been trying to wake you up for the past five minutes," Jessica exclaimed returning the pillow back to his bed.
"Why in the name of Merlin are you waking me up at," Charlie paused to look at his watch, "eight a.m. on a Sunday morning?"
"Because your best friends are getting married in an hour and you're supposed to be the best man!" Jessica reminded him.
"Bloody hell!" Charlie yelled hopping out of bed. Jake was going to kill him. Charlie had completely forgotten that today was the big wedding day. Mentally cursing his abysmal memory, Charlie began a frantic search of his room. His dress robes had to be there somewhere.
"Closet top shelf," Jess called out. She was sitting on his bed, already wearing her own dress robes. Charlie thanked her before yanking his robes on over his head. He attacked his hair with a brush and rummaged through his bedside drawer until he found his wand.
"Ready!" Charlie declared happily.
"Shoes," Jessica reminded him.
"Shoes, right," Charlie muttered scanning his closet for his nice shoes he'd bought just for this wedding. "I had them two days ago. I know they're around here somewhere." Jessica flicked her wand and suddenly his shoes came zooming out from under his bed. Charlie slid them on his feet and gave his girlfriend a quick kiss on her cheek for thanks. She just shook her head.
"Ready for sure this time," Charlie announced. Jessica hopped off the bed and together they made their way over to the sectioned off area of the reserve where Jake and Lea were to be married.
"Charlie!" Jake exclaimed happily spotting his best friend. Some of the guests had already started to arrive and Jake had been scanning the crowd for a sign of the red-headed dragon keeper. "In forty-five minutes I'm going to be married!" Jake declared joyously. Charlie nodded and Jessica smiled brightly.
"I'm going to find Lea," Jessica told the two men. "Someone has to make sure she gets into that dress." Charlie laughed as Jessica disappeared in search of the bride. Lea hadn't wanted an elaborate wedding, or at least that was what she said. Lea was a consummate tomboy and hardly ever dressed up. Jake and Jessica had insisted that she indulge in a full out wedding though. Jake was a romantic at heart and Jessica thought that Lea might regret not having the experience later in life.
"I don't know how she managed to convince Lea to do this but I owe Jess big time," Jake said thoughtfully. "She's too smart for her own good. I'm just waiting for her to discover the thirteenth use for dragon blood."
"I reckon she's about half way there," Charlie said shaking his head.
Half an hour later Charlie found himself standing beside Jake watching Lea walk down the aisle towards them. Jessica smiled at him from her spot as maid of honor. Charlie grinned back.
The ceremony was short and sweet just like Lea wanted. It was a rather beautiful affair. Everyone on the reserve had dressed up in their finest robes. Several members of the Weasley clan had come to stay for the wedding as well as both Jake and Lea's parents. Even Jessica's twin brother Robert, who was extremely busy with his new job, managed to take time off to celebrate.
"You know what," Charlie said to Jess as they twirled around the dance floor.
"What?" Jessica asked looking up at him.
"I was just thinking Jake and Lea will be lucky to be half as happy together as we are," Charlie surmised.
"Don't let Jake hear you say that," Jess scolded Charlie. She was laughing and looked rather pleased despite herself.
After the wedding party had dispersed Charlie and Jess made their way back to the keepers' tent. They sat in front of the fire by themselves seeing as Jake and Lea had taken a week off to honeymoon in Venice. Charlie couldn't even fathom why they would go to Venice. Dragons hated that place.
Jessica was curled up comfortably in Charlie's lap reading a huge book. It was no doubt one of those informational books that often put Charlie to sleep. But she found them interesting and Charlie found that rather endearing. He gazed steadily into the fire feeling rather satisfied with the way his life was turning out. Charlie couldn't recall ever having felt so perfectly content.
THE END
Author's Note: So that's it. It's officially the end! Hopefully this chapter is long enough for you all to get your full of Charlie love :) So this picture...which I've mentioned before (Charlie 100: Relax by *The-Starhorse on deviant art . com) is what I based this story off of. The scene depicted in the drawing occurs in this chapter. I think everyone should go over and look at the picture because it's great! I'm trying to think of everything I wanted to mention...OH! Right, this story is also partly inspired by the movie How to Train Your Dragon. Haha I know it's a kids' movie but it was so cute! So I feel like if you've seen this movie the weird ideas in my story would make a lot more sense haha. I'm rather satisfied with the finished product for this story. I'm still not sure who I prefer with Charlie though...Jess or Rachael. Jess is pretty cool but I'll always have a soft spot for Rachael. So I really am curious to know what you guys think. If you've read my other story about Charlie, let me know!
yellow 14: Very true. Everything Augers did was pretty justified I think. Thanks for being my most loyal reviewer! You're the best :)
XxXTwilight-SinXxX: It's so rare to see a Charlie fic and I agree that he's very cool. Thanks for the review!
Evisawesome: Definitely let me know which character you like better if you read the other story. I'm interested to see what you think.
ForeverTeamEdward13: Thanks for the review :)