((Okay, just a few things:
1.) As I'm sure you've noticed, I don't write accents. Ever. But I felt like I needed to, sometimes, for Hagrid. The result is a little awkward, but you know what he sounds like, anyway. So I'm not too concerned.
2.) This chapter is actually kind of random, but it was a ton of fun to write, so I hope you enjoy it.
3.) Next chapter should be pretty darn fun, too. And might even include our dear Charlie and Shay getting closer than this awkward friends stage thing.
4.) I love you all. The end.
5.) POTTERMORE OHMYGOSH. If you got in, let me know, because I'm officially over-the-top excited.
The end.)
Standing next to Hagrid, cast into shadow by the half-Giant's bulk, was the familiar figure of Cat and, on Hagrid's other side, a collection of Weasleys. Charlie was grinning already, Shay noticed, just at seeing his family from the lane. As they approached the gates, Shay began to smile, as well – Cat was nearly jumping, she was so excited.
"I take it that's your sister?"
Shay nodded, the grin plastered across her face.
"Welcome back!" Hagrid called as the gates opened to admit them.
"Shay!" Cat cried, running headlong into Shay and hugging her.
"Hey, Cat," Shay said. "How has my favorite Hufflepuff been?"
Cat smiled broadly, eyes sparkling above her black and yellow scarf.
"Great!" She said enthusiastically. "And guess what? I'm actually really good at Potions! Can you believe it, Shay?"
"I can," Shay said. "I knew you were going to do well, Kitten." She extracted herself from her sister's arms and turned to see that Charlie and the rest of the Weasleys were waiting. "Are you ready to meet some dragons, Cat?"
Cat jumped on her toes, eyes and smile betraying just how excited she really was.
"Let's get going, then," Charlie said from behind them. "Before they decide it's time to wake up."
"They're sleeping?" Cat asked.
"Sleeping Draught," Shay explained as the sisters joined the Weasleys.
"Shay, these are my siblings. I take it you recognize Fred and George…"
Both of the twins grinned. Shay smiled in response, rolled her eyes.
"I'm familiar with them, yes," she replied.
"And this is Ron, and, of course, Ginny. Guys, this is Shay Morse. She's helping with some research at the Reserve."
The Weasleys all said hello, Shay introduced Cat, and the group set off across the grounds toward the Forbidden Forest.
"Where are we going?" Cat asked, looking at the trees apprehensively.
"The dragons are in the forest," Shay said. "To keep people from snooping."
"Not that that'd stop us," one of the twins said with a grin.
"So it's a good thing Charlie's here to make it all official," the other chimed in. Shay smiled and shook her head. She was familiar with the twins, but not enough to know the little things that would tell them apart.
The group came upon the crates soon enough – not a very exciting view, to be sure. Wooden boxes filled with sleeping dragons. Ron and the twins looked almost crestfallen. Charlie simply grinned conspiratorially at Shay and waved his wand. One side of the crate nearest them appeared to vanish. As Charlie continued to point his wand in various directions, the rest followed suit.
"Blimey," said Ron, mouth agape as he looked in at the dragons. "They're huge!"
The sarcastic edge of Ravenclaw that had never quite left Shay was quite eager to answer this. She quelled the urge. Besides, it was much more amusing to watch Charlie roll his eyes at the comment.
"D'you know what the first Task is going to be?" Ginny asked her brother eagerly.
Charlie shook his head. "Not a clue, really," he said. "Although it might have something to do with the…"
Shay made a quick slicing motion with one finger across her throat, eyes darting to Hagrid. He seemed quite enamored with the dragons, and may have totally missed any reference to dragon eggs. But you could never quite be sure.
When the charm of the dragons had finally worn off, they headed up to the Castle to drop off the younger Weasleys and Cat.
"I'll be around for a little while, Kitty-Cat," Shay said as her sister hugged her good-bye. "You'll see me again before I leave, promise."
"How about joining me in me hut for tea?" Hagrid asked as the doors closed behind Cat. "It's not often that two've my favorite Hogwarts students come back fer a visit."
As much as Shay liked Hagrid, she never could stand his rock cakes. After spending more time slowly sipping tea and pretending to chip away at a rather large version of the dreaded things, Charlie and Shay headed back out into the grounds.
"Oh!" Hagrid exclaimed, "before I forget – these are from Dumbledore and the House Elves. He said it didn't make much sense for you to go back to Hogsmeade, just to come back again."
Shay and Charlie each took a package of what could only be food, and started back into the chilly confines of the Forbidden Forest. The dragons had needed to be hidden well, and so were a very long trek down the perimeter of the forest.
"It'll be a good thing when they wake up," Charlie said. "Things'll be louder than hell, then."
Shay nodded, glancing up at the darkening skies.
"Do dragon handlers always keep such strange hours?" She asked.
"Only for Hogwarts."
They found a fallen tree to sit on just outside of the cluster of dragon crates.
Shay yawned, flicked her wand, and summoned a pile of dry wood. Another flick, and it had assembled in something resembling a fire pit. With a murmured "Incendio," she soon had a warm, flickering fire.
"Good thinking," Charlie said, already pawing through the contents of his food package. "Oh, excellent. I always did like those House Elves."
Shay's effort to contain her laughter wound up as more of a very unlady-like snort.
"Visited the kitchens often during school?"
Charlie had just bitten into a thick chicken sandwich. He settled for a nod.
"All the time," he said when he had finally swallowed his food. "The elves loved me."
Shay crunched into an apple, considering the fact that she really wasn't at all surprised about this.
"It's amazing how close you and your family are," Shay said. "Even with you being in Romania so much."
Charlie shrugged. "We talk a lot," he replied. "Floo and letters, mostly. And that's not even the whole lot of them, as I'm sure you know. Bill's the one I hear from most often. He works for Gringotts."
"Oh, really? So does that have anything to do with the fact that the reserve works with Gringotts in dragon security?"
"Probably helps a bit, yeah."
Shay rolled her eyes, tossing the wrappings from their meals onto the fire. Both of them watched it burn, appreciating the warmth of the fire as the evening got progressively colder. The rest of them weren't supposed to reach the site until fairly late. Most of their work was to take place between eleven-thirty and midnight. Charlie seemed to be falling asleep, sitting on the ground with his back against the fallen tree. In a bid to get closer to the fire (…and, alright, the proximity to Charlie didn't hurt, either,) Shay had adopted the same technique. She drew her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them, hands idly resting on the ground by her feet.
"Shay?"
"Hmm?"
"You've got…stuff…here."
…What? Shay's brows furrowed, and she turned to glance at Charlie.
"Pardon?"
"You've got…oh, nevermind. Here."
Charlie reached out, plucking forest debris from Shay's hair. Bits of leaves had gotten caught in the weaving of her braid. Shay watched him, still and quiet as a startled deer.
This…this was foreign, and she didn't quite know what to do about it. Not that there had never been other boys (she hadn't been a recluse) but this was different, somehow, from even those. For just that moment, Charlie seemed so focused on the simple task of removing the leaves without pulling her hair. It was an almost child-like focus…until he caught her watching. And that was even more foreign – their gazes met and held for several long, rather awkward moments in which neither seemed to know where to look or how to move (forward or back?).
"Um…" Shay caught her lower lip between her teeth and looked away, back to the fire. "Thank you."
"No problem." Charlie's voice was gruff, and Shay sneaked a glance at him from the corner of her eyes. He was staring resolutely at the fire, his expression inscrutable until the rest of the handlers came through the trees. His features quickly rearranged themselves to something resembling composure.
"Alright, then," he said, jumping to his feet. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"
The Task came more quickly than Shay could have imagined possible. And Hogwarts seemed transformed. Excitement had taken over, bubbling over an underlying tension. Hogwarts students, and even some staff, had been split. Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory both had loyal followings, though Shay rather thought Diggor's side was stronger. Or, at least, more visible.
While the handlers had needed to be on hand in case of emergency, Shay was allowed to sit in the bleachers along with the Weasleys, who had come to see Charlie. Luna Lovegood was sitting on her other side, completely oblivious to the noise of the crowd. She had even fashioned an elaborate pair of dragon wings for the occasion, which were thankfully somehow folded against her back.
Finally, a whistle blew – the first task was officially set to begin. Ludo Bagman appeared, running into the enclosure to take up his post as announcer. Without further ado, the games had begun. Cedric Diggory was the first to perform.
The Swedish Short-Snout Cedric was up against had been one of the more interesting ones Shay had come across. It wasn't exactly unreceptive, but it was rather dumb. It tended to change its mind at the slightest provocation, and was known to be distracted by things that were extraordinarily shiny. There really wasn't much in its head but instinct, which had made communication a rather lost cause.
At first, Shay couldn't tell what the boy was doing. He seemed to be taking in the sight of the rocks around him, then eyeing up the dragon. Suddenly, he pointed is wand at a nearby rock, Transfiguring it into a Labrador Retriever that sprang up with a bark. Tail wagging it raced away, catching the dragon's attention as it dove among the rocks. The bluish-grey creature turned to the dog, preparing to blow a jet of fire at it until…it decided that Cedric was the real threat. With a growl so sudden it caused several in the audience to jump, the short-nosed dragon whirled around to face the oncoming wizard. Cedric noticed and broke into a sprint, leaving the dragon staring in confusion at the place where Cedric had just been. When it realized what had happened it let out an infuriated roar and dove for the running boy, who snatched up his prize egg and darted away just in time. The whistle sounded, ending the first round of the First Task.
The Beauxbatons champion, facing the Welsh Green (the granddaughter of Dracul, as it turned out) tried to perform some kind of spell Shay didn't recognize, attempting to put the dragon into a trance. Which, as Shay had learned through bitter experience, was next to impossible if you didn't have a handy spare flask of Sleeping Draught on you. The dragon had sneezed a jet of flame, igniting the poor girl's skirt. Shay turned her laughter into a cough, but noticed the amused glance of Mrs. Weasley.
But really, who wore a skirt to a Triwizard Task?
It was Viktor Krum's round which caused Shay's blood to boil – almost immediately, and with a totally expressionless face, he cast a spell that went flying right into the dragon's eye. The Chinese Fireball, an extremely clever creature and fiercely protective of anything it deemed its belongings, went tramping around the enclosure in agony. Shrieking and blowing smoke, it managed to smash several of the real eggs.
Shay could have spit fire herself.
"Excuse me," Shay said to the Weasleys and Luna, "But I should go see if I can be of some help."
This dragon had been one of her favorites, an intelligent, brave creature with a gift for human language. It had "spoken" its first word ("Food?") just before they'd had to leave for Hogwarts.
"Shay, is that you?" Charlie was craning his neck above the other Handlers as they attempted to contain the raging dragon.
"Yeah," she called back, "I'm coming. That idiot boy, what I wouldn't do to…"
One look at the dragon, hunkered down in its restraints and covering its face with its wings, made Shay's face soften.
"Oh, sweet," she murmured, approaching slowly. "What did he do to you?"
Eggs, was all the dragon could think. Eggs, eggs, eggs. The unspoken word preceding was "my." My eggs, the dragon wanted to wail. It just didn't have the words. My eggs, my eggs, my eggs. They were gone, and the dragon didn't understand why.
"I know," Shay murmured. "I'm so sorry, beauty. I know it hurts."
The dragon peered at Shay over one of its wings as the crowd grew louder.
"Ignore that, okay?" Shay said firmly. "Ignore it. They don't matter. Now, come on…let's get you some food and then you can sleep on the way home."
The dragon looked interested at the thought of food, and near to happy at the idea of going home. One of the handlers tossed the Chinese Fireball meat laced with Sleeping Draught, the large dose of which took effect almost immediately. Several handlers set to work on healing the dragon's eye before they conjured the crate around her. Shay didn't notice her fists were clenched and shaking until Charlie pointed it out.
"I could have killed that boy," she told Charlie darkly. "I could have murdered him for that. I know, I know, those eggs didn't have baby dragons in them, but she didn't know that…"
Charlie, somehow, was grinning.
"What?" Shay snapped, swiping hair from her face with one hand. The other was propped on her hip.
"How in the world were you not Sorted into Gryffindor?"
Shay, reluctantly, smiled. "Too rational, I guess."
"Or something," Charlie said, eyes shining in the enclosure's dramatic lighting. The sudden, murmuring quiet alerted them to the fact that the Task was over. Harry Potter, they were soon told, had tied for first with Krum. Glancing at Shay when this news reached them, Charlie half-smiled at the expression on her face.
"Don't worry," he said, "Harry will squash him, next time."
Shay nodded dumbly. Charlie simply grinned.
"I'll see you later," he said, checking quickly to see that the handlers had managed to successfully wrangle all of the dragons back into crates. "I want to tell Harry, and then I've got to owl my mum, I promised I'd tell her what happened…"
"Yeah, of course," Shay replied. "I'll see you back at the Three Broomsticks."