Chapter Six: Training Marcel

"So, you must stock the belt vith ropes, hooks, first aid supplies including potions for burns and bites, spare gloves...and..."

The young trainee paused for a moment as he stared at the one spare pocket on his utility belt. His hazel eyes focused behind his thin glasses as he tried to remember the tool that was designated for that spot and was coming up completely blank. Looking up from his deep thought, he was confronted with several pairs of eyes staring at him and awaiting his answer like hungry Horntails.

"Vhat is the last pocket for again?" he asked at last, admitting his defeat.

"It's meant to be an empty pocket," his mentor explained, standing straight from where he was leaning against a metal storage unit. "We usually have bags for collection specimens and materials, but that pocket is meant for any collecting that isn't a required task. For example, if you find a shed scale or a broken horn, you could place it in your spare container."

Marcel nodded at the answer. "So...I got all the equipment needed?"

"Yes," Charlie affirmed. "Yes, you did."

A large smile broke out over the young man's face as he raised his hands triumphantly, which unfortunately caused his loose belt to fall from his waist down to his hip bone and expose the rim of his white underpants. The nasal snicker from Valerie as she turned away alerted Marcel to the problem, which he quickly pulled up as his cheeks flushed crimson.

"You vill vant to make sure the belt is tight to your vaist before you add the equipment next time," Simeon said, waving his wand towards the trainee dragon keeper to prevent his pants from falling again.

Sebastian quickly took over the focus of the room as he rambled off their tasks for the shift, which included collecting dung for the fertilizer that the reserve shipped internationally. A few groans echoed around the space, any chore regarding dragon excrement being among the least favourite jobs for every employee, as everyone added a shovel and bucket to their group of tools. With fallen shoulders, everyone followed Sebastian out of the enclosed room and began to make their way to the dragon's domain.

"Thank you, Charlie," Marcel said as they walked at the rear of the group, "for all of your help in this. I vould not have learned so much this past veek vithout your help."

"You're welcome," nodded the redheaded dragon keeper with a small smile as he looked at the scrawny young man as he stumbled over a rock in his path.

Charlie had to give himself credit where it was due; he'd worked hard at getting his trainee ready for the task ahead. While Marcel had shadowed him at work he'd been sure to go over as many things as he could down to the tiniest details for the thin man to make note of. Following shifts, he would go through every note made with him and quiz the Romanian on facts and procedures. He'd also introduced Marcel to the reserve's weight room and had started him on a workout regime designed to build strength on his skinny frame, which also forced Charlie to bring him to the infirmary for muscle-relaxant ointments. Nonetheless, he'd prepared Marcel well and it showed in the young man's growing confidence.

"You vill allow me to repay you somehow?" the trainee questioned just as they entered the dragon's domain and the group began spreading out in pairs in order to complete their job efficiently. "I owe you much, Charlie, so any thing you may need you just need to ask."

"I'll keep that in mind," replied his mentor, though the thought of a favour had already escaped him. "Just remember to watch your step."

As soon as the words had left his mouth, Charlie felt his boot land in something squishy. The weight of his foot sunk deep into the soft matter and an awful scent was immediately apparent. He lifted his leg slightly as the brown gunk slid off the heel in large chunks to land back on the ground with loud slaps and splatters.

"So, not like that?" Marcel asked with a small smile.

"Precisely."

After many hours of shovelling dung in the late summer morning the last thing any of the dragon keepers wanted to do with their afternoon was lift weights, which prompted Charlie into changing his work-out plan for the day and take his trainee on a run through the surrounding woods. To his logic Marcel had undoubtedly worked his muscles already and fresh air following the smelly task would likely do a world of good. On top of that, he'd also managed to convince Simeon to join them.

"I vill talk to Bella about your idea," Simeon said to Charlie as they waited in front of the reserve for their running companion. "She vill probably be happy to help, but to be sure. Regardless, you know I vill do it."

"Thanks," his friend replied whilst stretching out his calves with a deep lunge. "I appreciate it."

"No trouble," was all the Bulgarian said on the matter as his black trainer kicked at the dirt in the road. "Have you run vith Marcel before?"

"I've put him on the treadmill," Charlie answered honestly as he brought himself back into a standing position. "He's decent."

"Can he handle the terrain? The forest is not an easy vork-out: the fallen logs, tree roots, uneven ground..."

"I suppose we're about to find out."

Marcel appeared at the entranceway to the main building at that moment, having traded in his work boots for a pair of trainers, and ran down the stairs to meet his waiting running mates. The sunlight showed the partially-dried sweat stains from the morning's work on his light blue T-shirt and a light line that divided his skin between what sections of his lower arm was hidden beneath dragon-hide gloves. His smile was just as wide as it had been earlier, and there was no denying his enthusiasm as he suggested that they get started with their daily exercise right away.

The trio jogged in unison down the flat dirt road, all of their feet hitting the ground in near perfect sync along the marked running route as their bodies became accustomed to their exertion. With nowhere to look but ahead, they all kept silent. Slowly Simeon began to pick up the pace just before the turn off into the trees, his darkly clothed body leading the way over a fallen birch and continuing over the natural terrain. Charlie allowed Marcel to pull ahead of him and follow the leader, to which he slowed down his usual pace to permit room for the young man to overcome the obstacles ahead.

To his surprise, Marcel was unusually agile. While his lanky frame was not as conductive to the labour needed in dragon keeping, it was perfect for leaping over fallen logs and missing raised tree roots. The rocky uneven terrain proved to be of little problem for him as he almost seemed to float above it all with his speed. After a few miles, Charlie felt the need to pick up his pace just to keep his trainee within eyesight.

Simeon stopped after a half hour beneath a large beech tree, relishing in the cool shade as he wiped his sweaty brow with the backside of his hand. "This is about halfway, so ve can have a rest for a little to rehydrate."

His two companions immediately sat on the ground beneath the large shaded area taking in large gulps of needed air and conjuring water to replenish what had been lost in sweat. It took a few moments for the two to feel normal again while Simeon pulled himself up onto the nearest low branch and took a seat there to gaze up into the green branches.

"You're a good runner," Charlie complimented once he had his breath again.

"Thank you," replied Marcel as he leaned forward on his spread out legs, attempting to stretch out the inner part of his quads. "I like it much better than your veight training."

"Well, that won't get you out of the free weights tomorrow," joked his mentor with a chuckle. "We need to get some muscle on you if you want to get into the gritty parts of the job."

A silence came between the two of them for a moment as Marcel removed his glasses and wiped them on his shirt, clearing the fog created from his warm face. Placing them gently back in front of his hazel eyes, he looked towards Charlie.

"Does everyone think I am unsuited to this job?"

"What makes you say that?" the redhead asked immediately.

The young man shook his head. "I hear the laughs. I know I am not as strong as some others are. I have heard it all before."

"Not everyone thinks it," comforted Charlie. "I mean, not all people who come to train here stay anyway. When I came, I was one of twenty-five who trained for the job. Ten of those people left after the first week and currently only seven of us are still working with dragons. Regardless of anything, we're always sceptical of anyone. Dragon keeping has an unusually high dropout rate, as I'm sure you've heard before."

Marcel nodded at the information, but remained silent.

"You've already passed the first week, which is more than many make it to," Charlie continued. "Soon, no one is going to doubt you. You just have to remember why it is you want to work here and eventually everyone is going to see it and believe in it as much as you do."

The young man looked up at the redhead with wide round eyes, his eyebrows raised high as though his mentor had suddenly sprout rabbit ears. A tremble in the ground made them both divert their gaze to Simeon, who had dropped himself down from his treetop daydream and decided to join his running friends in human interaction.

"Vhy is it that you vanted to vork vith dragons?" the Bulgarian asked. "Just out of curiosity?"

"Vell...I..." stammered Marcel as his eyes darted back and forth between Simeon and Charlie. "I...uh...this may seem odd to you."

"Probably not, Herb's rigorous application process weeds out the extremely odd cases," explained Charlie with a chuckle.

"Vell...I have this girlfriend..." the Romanian began.

"It alvays starts vith a girlfriend," sighed Simeon.

"And her father...he is very...he does not think of me as a suitable match for his daughter...he thinks the proper man is strong and manly and provides for his voman, so he tells me that before I can marry Rodika I must prove to be the man she needs."

"So, he thinks that caring for dragons will prove you're suitable for his daughter?" asked the redhead as his nose scrunched up at the thought that dragon keeping could be a prerequisite to a proposal.

Marcel shrugged. "I applied for many jobs after Durmstrang. Mr Vilde hired me and I figure, vhy not dragons? They are majestic creatures, so fascinating."

"No arguing there," groaned Simeon as he rose to his feet, rolling his shoulder and stretching out his chest as he trotted back upon the beaten pathway. "Enough rest. Ve should get back to our run now."

The Bulgarian began to run away, not bothering to wait for a response from his two partners as he vanished into the dense wooded surrounding. Marcel sprung back onto his feet in a single leap and started after him, looking back to see Charlie pushing himself back up by his knee with a wave. With the gesture he ran on ahead, trailing shortly behind Simeon as the last of the pack followed with a plan to conserve his energy for a come-behind victory over them both.

It took a very long warm shower to make Charlie feel clean after the day he'd had, and there was no doubt in his mind that all the activity he'd had that day was going to equate to a long restful sleep. The run had done well to clear his mind and there was little thought past having a nice dinner of Nisha's hearty stew and retiring early to bed as he made his way through the corridors towards the mess hall.

Vast majority of the workers were already seated and in the process of filling their waiting stomachs by the time he'd arrived. Grabbing one of the few trays left he proceeded quickly to get some of the aromatic food onto a plate along with cutlery, giving his server a smile as he went by, and immediately went to his usual dinner table where Bella, Simeon and Abby were already seated.

"So what will you do now that the scale samples came back clean?" Bella asked, gazing intently at the Healer across from her.

"There are some other non-invasive things we could look at, but I'm starting to fear that if it is a medical problem it could be internal," explained Abby just as Charlie took his seat between her and the window. "It's difficult to really know what's causing all of this extreme aggression and because of that aggression, one can't even get close enough to determine what may be wrong."

Bella shook her head with a sigh, pushing a piece of carrot across her plate aimlessly. "This whole business is quite the mystery for everyone and not to mention dangerous for anyone who has to work with the Fireballs."

"Well, let's not dwell there, I'm sure we'll figure something out," the Healer declared as her fork stabbed through a chunk of potato and she turned to the dragon keeper next to her. "What were you up to this afternoon?"

"Running," her boyfriend answered with a mouthful of stew that he promptly swallowed. "Simeon could have told you that. He was with me. Part of Marcel's training."

The dragon keeper dressed in black casually shrugged his shoulders and continued to chew on a particularly tough piece of meat, his lips puckering as he cleaned the sinews from between his teeth.

"Well, an owl came for you," Abby announced, standing from her chair in order to get the small square of folded parchment from her jeans pocket. Secured between her index and middle finger, she held it out to Charlie. "From Bill."

His fork clattered against the porcelain dish as he took the small letter from his beloved's fingers while she seated herself again. Untying the string that had been woven around the paper, he made quick work of unfolding the page until it was a short strip of brown parchment with writing in plain black ink.

Dear Charlie,

Business is bringing me to Bucharest on Friday, September 20th and I was hoping to have a visit with my elusive little brother. Let me know if I can come and see you on the reserve and what time would be good.

With care,

Bill

P.S. Also looking forward to seeing Abby after many years.

A/N: It was always my intention to bring canon characters into the story to tie this to the canon of the books, and Bill seemed like a natural fit to bring in at this point. Charlie is such a rarely seen character that there is a freedom in creating him, but there are ties he has that are important to address.

Still working on Chapter Thirteen, but progress is being made.