Chapter 2:

Charlie Weasley grimaced as Emily Arins rubbed the healing salve over his newest burn which had made a large red welt appear on his already heavily-scarred forearm.

"Aren't you supposed to be a big, tough, dragon keeper?" She teased him lightly, catching his expression as she looked up into his bright blue eyes.

Sticking his tongue out at her momentarily, Charlie grinned before answering, "Usually. But I'm trying to provoke just an ounce of sympathy from you here."

"Won't work." She had lived and worked around these guys since leaving St. Mungo's School for Healers almost ten years prior, not much surprised her anymore.

Charlie looked around the hospital ward, taking in the odd potions that lined the walls, some sparkling strangely in the mid-afternoon sunlight. As with all of his co-workers, he seemed to spend half his time on the field, and in the dragon keep, and the other half right here on one of the five beds that were set up.

Romania typically had a cooler climate than even England, but in this valley, the dragon's body heat could be felt for miles, and it was very difficult for the dragon keepers to wear their protective gear, especially during high sun when the air seemed to simmer, even in winter. Charlie looked ruefully at his arm, where a protective leather pad had been strapped just an hour before.

"I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times…" Again, Emily seemed to be able to read his mind, "Wear the bloody pads, and you won't be in here as much."

"Maybe I just like seeing your beautiful face." Charlie shot back with an easy familiarity. Emily made to step away to grab a clean bandage to bind the wound, when his large, callused hands shot out and grabbed her hips, drawing her between his legs.

"Charlie…" She warned in a low voice, hazel eyes darting around for Healer Riley, her supervisor. "You know I'm not allowed to…"

"I know." He grinned again, pulling her even closer to his stockily-muscled body. Her hands shot up to brace against his chest, and she closed her eyes at the feeling of the firm muscles flexing against her fingers. "I can't wait though…"

Leaning forward, Charlie kissed the side of her pale neck, exposed by her uniform, drawing the skin there between his teeth as he heard her sigh in pleasure. Her small hands shot out to clamp on his skull, feeling his coarse, short hair brush against her skin.

Charlie lazily ran his hands up her torso, feeling her shape through the lightweight Healer's uniform, until her reached her full breasts. Cupping them gently, he ignored the brief groan of protest that she gave, and focused on massaged them to his heart's content. Feeling her large nipples peaking beneath the material, he drew back to grin at her again, chuckling deeply as he took in her flushed face, the way her light brown hair was pulling free from it's confines to settle in damp curls against her skin.

Emily took a shuddering breath, and stepped away, sighing in both relief, and disappointment when Charlie's strong hands fell away without a fight. "Charlie…"

"I know. Bad me." He looked up at her through bright golden-red eyelashes contritely, "You can spank me tonight if you wish."

Laughing, she hit him lightly in the shoulder before grabbing that bandage that he had thwarted her from wrapping around his arm earlier.

They had been dating for about a year, and had finally moved in together almost a month prior. Charlie loved working on the reserve, and he loved being with someone who was as passionate about this place as he was, though it would take another year or so before he would expose her to his family, most importantly his mother.

"Ok, you're done." Emily shooed him out, even as he tried to grab her again for one last kiss.

"You won't even kiss me goodbye?" He pouted, his bottom lip almost too full against his much smaller upper, and she laughed again at his antics. "No! Get out! You won't distract me again. Remind Keiran that he has a checkup in another hour."

"Aye aye." Charlie saluted smartly and turned on his heel to make his way to the dragon keep where his partner Keiran Delch was holding down the fort with the new horntail that they had acquired after a Ministry of Magic raid on an illegal breeder the month before.

Relaying the message, Charlie looked into the large pen where the dragon, whom they had tentatively named Hubert, was curled up, and seemingly asleep. It was not incentive to get any closer though, this particular dragon was found of pretending slumber, and then attacking any keeper who let their guard down.

Keiran and Charlie both had the scars to prove it.

"Can't believe you got nicked by Talia, Charlie." Keiran called out as he walked down the long aisle to check on a very young dragon that had been born the week before.

Charlie's lip curled slightly, and he watched Hubert, trying to ignore his partner, whom he was not entirely fond of. The Director matched the keepers up into partners based on experience, and an affinity for certain dragons, and Charlie generally ended up with partners that he got on well with.

Not in Keiran's case, however. There was just something about the younger man that got under Charlie's skin, and Charlie was somewhat shocked by this, as he generally was able to make friends with anyone. Because of that feeling, he tried to simply stay away from his partner as much as possible considering that they spent nearly every day in each other's company, and their small cottages were side-by-side.

Pushing his thoughts away from his partner who had never done anything to earn his dislike, Charlie smiled slightly as he caught Hubert open one eye to glance around, only to snap it closed again when he realized he was not quite alone. Gotcha, Charlie thought humorlessly.

Hubert was quite small for his breed, standing only about twenty-five meters from the ground, but then Charlie estimated his age to only be a year. He had not yet gained the ability to convey thoughts telepathically, and he had a brutal temper due in large part to the abuse and training that he had received from the breeder.

While not the most difficult dragon Charlie had ever worked with, he was definitely not the easiest by any stretch of the imagination.

An endangered species, the dragons had been hunted by wizards, and to a lesser extent, muggles in the middle ages, and had thus developed a deep distrust and weariness of all humans.

Part of Charlie's job was to familiarize them with non-aggressive humans, and make it possible for them to leave around the world again without the violence that had so defined them in the centuries after they were hunted.

A few things made this job difficult. The reason the dragons had been hunted in the first place was still an ever-lurking fear: greed. Their scales, as well as their breath, while heavily controlled by Ministry regulations in the last one hundred years, were worth more than almost anything on the black market.

Used in some very strong potions, as well as some Dark Arts, scales were highly prized, as well as for jewellery, whereas dragon's breath was generally used as a weapon. A highly effective weapon.

Charlie had only ever had one run-in with poachers coming into the reserve, but once was more than enough. His eyes hardened at the memory of what those soulless men were determined to do in order to take hold of their prey. While he had not used the killing curse, he had definitely felt the urge for the first time in his life. He felt an incredible affinity for the graceful creatures, and thus made his life's work their continued survival.

Watching Hubert intently now, Charlie took in his silvery-grey scales which reflected the sunlight, making him almost sparkle, the tips glowing pink at the moment, probably due to his irritation at Charlie watching him. Hubert had been trying to escape from the reserve since he had arrived, and he was intelligent enough to make it happen if he had been a less experienced dragon keeper, and he knew it.

Charlie smirked as the pink turned into a smarting red, Hubert was not happy and it was amusing after all of the difficulties the young dragon had put him through. He waved at the giant reptile with a flutter of his fingers and left to see how his other dragons were doing.

Talia was a bright turquoise colour, and to Charlie's fanciful eye, she looked like how the waters of the Caribbean would be. Her black eyes conveyed gentle intelligence as she watched Charlie approach, bypassing the wards of her home with a practiced flick of his wand.

Charlie Weasley, I can always see your hair before I actually see you…She mused as he got within her range, her mind gentle as it touched his, I grow weary of being 'kept'.

He grinned up at her, checking to make sure she had sufficient grains and water. Contrary to popular belief, dragons were generally vegetarian, and those who did eat meat, did not enjoy the human body, as they were, to quote an old dragon Charlie had once known, 'just full of bones'.

I'm sorry Talia. You deserve to have your run of the forest, to have your hatchlings, but alas, my hands are tied by bureaucratic nonsense, he responded, properly contrite. She nodded a regal head in recognition. Charlie was popular with the dragons, it was always felt he was tough, but incredibly fair, and always will to help them in any way possible.

Talia had been brought to Charlie as a hatchling, barely larger than his torso, almost five years prior, sent by the Chinese Ministry of Magic who had found her in magical animals store in the back streets of Hong Kong, her mother had been killed for her scales which were circulating the black market for magic-repellant armour, not thought to be high enough quality to be used in potions.

Missing her mother horribly, Talia had become almost a child to Charlie, and he had raised her to the almost-grown dragon she was now. She had only been able to convey her thoughts and feelings for a year, and found Charlie a warm recipient to anything she wished to say.

How is that new dragon? He refuses to speak with me. She asked him now, somewhat perturbed by the unhappy new inhabitant in the neighbouring pen.

Charlie thought for a moment, turning to sit on the grass just feet away from her large silver talons, and he regarded her carefully. He has had a difficult time of it, and he is still too much of a youngling to converse his thoughts. It must be very frustrating for him.

You are too patient with him. He needs a much firmer hand. Talia spoke firmly, mildly upset on his behalf.

As you did? He grinned back at her, and she pushed her amusement at his comment into his mind with force. Charlie winced at the strength of the thought, cautioning her to be careful. She inclined her large head slightly in acknowledgement.

Anyway, he could talk to me if he liked. He's only too young to talk to humans.

Charlie started, not having realized that Hubert was old enough for that, Are you sure? Again, the sound of husky laughter filled his head, and he laughed along. Sorry. I shall bow to your superior knowledge in this case.

I wonder though, if he can talk to you, or if he simply chooses not to. Charlie mused to himself, looking at Talia speculatively.

I honestly wouldn't know. She looked away, well aware of the direction his mind had taken. Don't even think about it Charlie.

Please? He decided to play his trump card in order to get some sort of insight into the problematic dragon, if you do, I'll forgive you for torching my arm.

Talia's head snapped around, smoke curling out of her nostrils dangerously, That was an accident, as you well know! How dare you?

Charlie stared at her impassively, not saying anything to her outburst. Talia sighed, a small flare of fire shooting from the corner of her large mouth, her teeth glinting dangerously, Fine. But then we are even. No more favours for you.

Agreed.

Charlie was still smiling over his triumph when he made his way back to the small cottage that he shared with Emily later that evening. A charming little abode, the cottage included a fully functioning kitchen, a bedroom, and a small study where he kept all of the paperwork pertaining to his dragons.

Making his way through the small space, Charlie called out for Emily, frowning when he realized she wasn't home yet. It was unusual that he beat her home, but not unheard of.

Shrugging his wide shoulders, he made his way to the study to update his files on Hubert and Talia, making sure he followed the full bureaucratic process laid down by his supervisor, and also read the new reports on how one of his old charges, Cara, was doing in her new habitat in North America.

Ten minutes in, Charlie sighed, realizing his eyes were smarting from the small, cramped script of the habitat director, and he gave in, pushing his small, dark-framed glasses onto his nose. Feeling a tiny bit silly, and every bit his twenty-five years, Charlie turned back to the report.

Feeling hunger pains a long while later, Charlie made his way to the small kitchen, checking the icebox for the leftovers of the pot roast he and Emily had had for dinner the evening before.

Idly checking the clock as he pointed his wand at the plate he had arranged his supper on to cast a warming spell, he realized how late it really was, and that Emily was still not home. He frowned, slightly concerned, and made the decision to go down to the hospital ward if she hadn't made her way home by the time he was finished eating.

Emily walked through the door halfway through his meal, her cheeks flushed from the chill that fell over the reserve late at night, even with the concentration of dragons.

"Hey you, I was just getting worried." He remarked, and frowned slightly as she jumped in surprise at seeing him sitting at the table.

"Oh, you frightened me." Emily smiled at him, and walked over to kiss his cheek before pointing her own wand at a glass, filling it rapidly with water, "I had to finish some paperwork, that just couldn't wait until tomorrow, and then my quill exploded. It was a mess. Because of that, I had to completely clean my desk, and it took at least three banishing spells. God, what a horrible evening."

Charlie's pale eyebrows rose as she managed to say that much without taking a breath, "I'm sorry darlin'. There's some pot roast left in the fridge if you're hungry."

"I had something already, but thanks." She grinned at him brightly, before making her way to their bedroom to change out of her uniform. Charlie frowned, thinking there was something strange about that entire exchange.

Shrugging off his ill-feeling, Charlie headed back to his study to write his weekly letters to Ginny and the twins.

--

Ginny stared in the mirror at her pale features, noting the slight shadows under her too-bright eyes. She had no idea what to do, and felt so incredibly alone.

Blaise and Draco had retrieved her from the hospital earlier in the afternoon, asking her questions about how she was feeling after her fall, and she could honestly not remember the rest of the conversation.

She had been the recipient of more than a few strange looks from both of them because of the fact that she had closed herself off from them so strongly, but neither had said anything. Yet. Ginny knew that she had limited time until they started the interrogations, and she needed to decide a few things before that happened.

What was she going to do? Her hand slid to her still-flat stomache, and she felt her insides clench at the idea that there was a baby growing in there.

She had no idea how Blaise and Draco were going to react, and she honestly had no idea which one of them was the father. On further reflection, however, she found that she really didn't care about that.

She wasn't married to either of them, and though they loved each other, they had not really talked about the future in anything but the vaguest sense of the word.

Ginny also thought about the fact that she wasn't finished school, and in all likelihood, would have her schooling completely interrupted by the arrival of a child. What would that mean for a career of her own? Of her independence? She had fought so hard for that after what had happened in her first year with Tom Riddle, was she really ready to give that up?

Her slender fingers clenched the edge of the porcelain sink, and she leaned forward for her forehead to touch the reflective surface of the mirror. Staring intently into her own eyes, she realized she was no closer to answers than when she had started, and she could feel a headache breaking at the back of her skull, made possible either from the concussion, or from her stress over her present condition.

Ginny had always assumed that she would leave school, decide on a career, spend a bit of time traveling, get married, and then have children. Was she to do everything backward? Or would she have to give up more than her dreams because of this? That thought was staggeringly, and a lone tear rolled down her pale cheek.

No matter what, she had to tell Blaise and Draco, but that thought scared her more than anything. She knew why… they were both so incredibly sure of themselves, and she was worried that they would influence her thoughts on the matter before she was even sure about what she thought about it all.

Sighing, she pulled back from the sink, and picked up her wand from the tiled surface to cast a few quick glamours. Recognizing her reflection a little bit more, she tried an experimental smile. A little tremulous, but hopefully it would pass muster.

She smoothed her kilt over her hips, and made her way into Blaise's bedroom, where her two favourite Slytherins were sitting at his large desk, working on some of the incredible amount of schoolwork that came with the impending threats of their N.E.W.T.s. Her breath caught as she realized that was yet another thing she wouldn't really be able to do with a newborn.

"Hey guys." Draco waved at her over his head, not looking up from his Potions essay, whereas Blaise looked up at her with a ready smile, "Hey kitten. You look tired, why don't you take a nap?"

Ginny smiled back, shaking her head so her bright hair swirled around her slight shoulders, "Yeah, maybe. I think I might go back to my room tonight."

At that, Draco finally looked up, fixing her with intent silver eyes, and Blaise frowned slightly before asking, "Why? What's wrong?"

Sighing, Ginny rolled her eyes, "You two are arsedeep in schoolwork. I want to sleep… Plus, my head's kind of pounding."

"Give me five minutes, and I'll walk you up." Draco watched her for another moment, concern flooding his usually expressionless features, making Ginny feel even guiltier that she was keeping something this huge from them.

Blaise got up to pull her into a big hug, "If you stay here, I'll play nursemaid."

Laughing reluctantly at the idea, Ginny pushed him away playfully to collect her bag, "You can practice on Draco. I'm sure he'd love that."

Ensconced in her bed after ignoring her roommates shocked looks at her surprise appearance for the first time in… well… months, Ginny stared up at the canopy and was unable to think about anything else but the new life growing within her.

The idea was just so incredibly foreign to her. She couldn't seem to wrap her mind around it.

Ginny flopped over onto her side, facing the closed curtain, and again placed her hand on the slight swell of her belly caused by lying in such a way. The fanciful notion that that was what a baby swelling her body would feel like floated through her mind, before she violently shoved herself back into her original sleeping position.

Thinking of something… anything else… anything that was not controversial to her overworked mind became her overwhelming priority. Ginny thought about school.

For some reason, Luna Lovegood had been searching her out more and more in their shared classes, in her own dreamy way. Not altogether upset at the idea of a friend in her own year, Ginny had more than welcomed her, and found a sly, witty conversationalist if you ignored her Quibbler nonsense.

She was also surprisingly adept at Potions, and Charms, and Ginny found that her grades had risen in both classes to an astonishing degree upon her closer association with Loony Lovegood.

Ginny was somewhat surprised also at how easy and stress free her sixth year was in comparison to the year before, with the O.W.L.s over. It was almost like a year in limbo before the stress of the seventh year began.

Padma. Ginny frowned as she thought about her good friend. She hadn't really seen the other girl since the beginning of school after the break. It was almost like she was avoiding her, and Ginny couldn't really figure out why.

They had had no fight, no confrontation… Padma had seemed fine before the break. Ginny made a decision to corner Padma before the end of the week in order to find out what the hell was going on, why she was mad at her.

Across the school, Padma lay in her own bed, staring at George who was asleep across her couch, his long legs hanging off the side. He had taken to sleeping over whenever possible, and would always head for the couch before Padma could even ask him to.

She was starting to wonder if maybe he was just too respectful. Hating that she was being so uncharacteristically self-conscious, Padma wondered if he had acted like this with any of his previous girls, who she found she was jealous of. The idea of his long, slender body entwined with some other 'slut'… she clenched her teeth at that thought, before pushing herself to relax.

George sighed in his sleep, and his arms stretched over his head in a lazy gesture, his t-shirt slipping up to expose the muscles of his abdomen. Padma's mouth went dry at the sight, and she resolutely turned onto her back, trying not to think about the temptation of George Weasley not even two meters away.

Rubbing her hand over her face, Padma realized that she wasn't going to be sleeping anytime soon, and she pulled her History of Magic textbook off her bedside table, along with her wand, and with a quiet Lumos, she started reading ahead of what they were currently studying. At least sexual frustration had the added bonus of helping her with her schoolwork, she thought resentfully.

--

Ginny liberally sprinkled her porridge with brown sugar and honey, listening to Lavender describe her crush on a younger Hufflepuff absentmindedly, as Dean sat down beside her with a light shove to get her to move over slightly to give him more room.

"Hey, don't you remember the injury?" Ginny complained lightly as she moved her bowl over, "All on your behalf, in pursuit of a Quidditch win just for you."

Dean laughed at her antics, and poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice, "I call bullshit. Are you coming to practice tonight, or did Pomfrey not give you the go-ahead yet?"

Ginny stared at her breakfast, feeling her stomache jolt, "Well, actually, I won't be able to play for the rest of the week, at least. I had a mild concussion."

"Ah," Dean nodded knowledgeably, not noticing her hesitation, "I totally understand. I took a bludger to the ankle in second year, and it hurt like a bitch. Let me know when you're back up and going, and we'll go out and play just the two of us to catch you up."

"Thanks Dean." She grinned at him, and then noticed how the table seemed to still, even Lavender pausing in her description of a 'body that would be the envy of the gods'. Ginny sighed. Only one thing had that sort of affect at the Gryffindor table…

"Hey kitten." Blaise placed his hands on her shoulders, leaning down to kiss her forehead, Draco lounging indolently a couple of steps behind him.

Ginny found it somewhat amusing that the two Slytherins still had this kind of affect on her classmates after all this time, but soon enough, the table was back to normal as she got up to head over to the Slytherin table with Blaise and Draco.

Pansy watched Ginny sit down between the two boys with a critical eye. She looked pale, and astonishingly still when compared to her normal frenetic energy. Pansy was absolutely shocked that neither Blaise nor Draco seemed to have noticed anything wrong. On second thought, though, it would not be completely out of the two boys' nature to wait for Ginny to say something first… Maybe she was still sore from the Quidditch fall.

Shaking her head of her thoughts, Pansy concentrated on her eggs, smiling over at Vince who was discussing beater techniques with Greg, while trying to eat as much of his breakfast, and hers', as possible. She smacked his hand as he reached over for more of her roast potatoes, and he turned to grin at her unabashed.

"Stop that, you have your own." Pansy tried to glare at her boyfriend, she really did. It didn't quite work out as well as she had hoped as she paused briefly to lean over and kiss his chin.

Ginny seriously felt like she was going through the motions. Laughing when appropriate, teasing Draco, pushing Blaise away, sparring with Pansy, shielding her plate from Greg, complimenting Daphne on her hair… It felt so mechanical, but no one said anything, no one looked at her oddly… She must have been doing something right. Everything felt so incredibly wrong though.

Blaise caught Draco's eye over Ginny's red head, and arched an eyebrow in her direction. Draco nodded. He had noticed. Something was very off about her, and he couldn't push it aside as a byproduct from her injury, like he had the night before.

Theo stabbed his bacon with force, watching the exchange. He still couldn't help but hope for some discord. Draco and Blaise together were too great a force to be reckoned, as Vince had pointed out all too logically, damn him, but apart… Well, Theo had just not given up on it. The Weasley girl was nothing more than a blood traitor from all that he could see, and it made his blood boil that she was even sitting at the Slytherin table.

Draco reached forward, and in an uncharacteristic gesture, caught Ginny's small hand with one of his, squeezing lightly when she looked up at him in surprise. He smirked at her lightly, before letting go to take another bite of his ham. She would tell him soon enough, he was sure of it.

A/N: A very big thank you to AirmidM and tkmoore for their offerings of their expertise, I bow to their superior knowledge… and thank you to all who reviewed!!! I loved reading what everyone thought… Yeah, I wandered dangerously into cliché waters with the pregnancy, but hopefully this chapter brings it back down to earth a bit.

Please read, enjoy, and let me know what you think. Yeah, I still love the smut (which there has been an astonishing lack of, huh), and that should make a re-appearance next chapter… hahahah, plus I have been challenged by Airmid and JulieMalfoyZabini to write a one-shot, and I should have that up this weekend if anyone reading this is interested.

p.s. I edited and changed the first chapter to reflect Madame Pomfrey's proper name instead of Madame Pinch. SO SORRY!!! I can't believe so many of you caught that! I have no idea what I was thinking. Again, my apologies.