I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

Extended Family

Chapter 88 – Dragon About

Takes place around chapter 36.

Charlie stepped out of the Floo, smiling brightly at the happy sounds. The sound of children laughing and squealing seemed to be just right here. "Bet Mum loves it when everyone comes visiting."

George grinned. "Yeah she does. Says while she enjoys the quiet during the week, it's too quiet for too long."

"Has she complained about the lack of Weasley noise-making?" Charlie asked softly.

"Not to me," George said smugly. "Mostly because I'm the only one that's contributed to grand-sprogs so far."

Charlie groaned. "I never would've guessed you'd be the first to have a kid."

"Me neither to be honest but I'm not complaining."

Charlie laughed as he watched Hailey, Hadley, and Dahlia chasing Arthur around the garden. "At least Dad will stay in shape."

"Mum's got grandmum energy in spades," George said admiringly. "She was chasing them about earlier. They pretended to steal some biscuits and she ran them about to encourage them to work it off."

"Steal biscuits? What'd she do, shove them down their mouths?"

"Something like that," George snorted.

Charlie chuckled. "Thanks Harry," he said, taking a bottle of butterbeer and sipping it.

"I hope your dad doesn't keel over," Harry smiled as the three men watched the three small girls and the older man running around. "I'd feel terrible."

"He loves it, don't you worry," George said reassuringly.

"What's the game?" Charlie asked.

"I think they're pretending to be dragons and chasing the biscuit monster," Harry smiled.

"No wonder you showed up then," George remarked, nudging Charlie with an elbow.

"And the coincidences continue," Charlie chuckled. "I was hoping to talk to you two actually and you can pass the message on to Ollie and Alicia. The preserve is having an open field day for visitors and the like and I wanted to see if the girls wanted to come."

"Oh yeah?" George asked.

"Yeah. Originally it was just to the Ministry and related departments as well as a few parts purveyors but we decided to open it up to select others. Visitors can come in, see the dragons, see some eggs and things, look at how we do some grooming and harvesting, stuff like that."

"That does sound interesting," Harry said.

"I have plenty of tickets for family and friends so I wanted to ask you lot."

"I'll check and see who wants to go and who can go depending on the day, but that sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks Charlie," Harry said warmly.

Arthur came up to them, huffing and puffing. "Goodness me," he laughed breathlessly. "I need to stay active to keep up with them!"

"Charlie can take over," George grinned.

"Sure can!" Charlie shucked off his heavy jacket and tossed it over George. "I'm going to steal your biscuits!" The girls shrieked and ran off with Charlie running after them, roaring very realistically. He yelped and stopped running, jumping into the air with his hands over his rear.

Molly waved her wand from the kitchen window. "You behave young man! I won't have you filching their biscuits, do you hear me?!"

"Mum! I was playing!" Charlie whined piteously while the girls howled with laughter.

-0-

"I think I underestimated the scale of the preserve," Alicia said, her eyes wide.

She, Luna, and Harry had taken the Floo with the three girls to the preserve. The other adults were too busy to go with them but Luna promised to take pictures for everyone as well as bring back some form of souvenir. The central Floo point for the preserve was some distance away and as they walked closer, they appreciated more the enormity of the space and the facilities.

Very large pens dotted the landscape with dragons of different types within them. A very large fence ringed the entire place and giant gates slotted along the back of the fence showed even larger enclosures and wild spaces. Large tents and buildings were scattered about and the sound of people and dragons never faded. Lots of people meandered about the space, walking to and from the preserve, as well as moving about from pen to pen and building and tent.

A loud roar cut through the air, joined by others roaring and growling. The girls squeaked and clustered around Harry and he patted their heads gently. "It's okay girls," he said soothingly. "There'll be a lot of handlers and officials about, we'll be safe."

As they walked through the main gates, after giving their tickets over, they turned to a hail.

"Uncle Percy!" the girls cried and they waved happily as Percy approached them, hugging him tightly.

"Hello girls," Percy said warmly, hugging them back. "Harry, Alicia, Luna, so good to see you."

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, slapping him on the back.

"Charlie mentioned you would be visiting so I came early to do my work and thought to aid in chaperoning if you will have me."

"The more the merrier," Luna smiled.

"What work did you have here?" Alicia asked.

"The preserve is a joint venture with Spain and Italy so I met with some of my counterparts here in regards to trading dragons and the like. Not to mention there were some negotiations for parts," Percy explained. "It was mostly finishing the details so I have the rest of the day to spend with you."

"Glad you could join us," Harry said. "There's a lot more people than I thought there would be, plus you know, dragons."

Percy chuckled. "The Department of Magical Creatures and the Dragon Committees took great care in protections and safety protocols but one cannot be too safe." He scooped up Hailey when she held her arms out for him. "I feel better being here despite being nothing but a toothpick to a dragon."

"If you can handle the twins, you can handle a dragon," Alicia smiled.

"I very much doubt they considered themselves handled," Percy snorted. He stopped and did a double-take at Harry. "Uh…forgive me for being indelicate…"

Harry patted the lump at his stomach. "I've gone to seed a bit but I'm working it off."

Percy blinked, looking at the girls as they started giggling. "Clearly I am missing something."

Harry laughed and unzipped his jacket, revealing Hedwig. The owl shook her head slowly and hooted in a disgruntled way. "She insisted on coming and we didn't know where the preserve was technically though we could have told her to find Charlie. We went through the Floo and she hates it, only tolerates it if I bundle her up in my shirt or jacket or something."

"Ah, and she is interested in dragons as well?" Percy asked, smiling.

"That and she wanted to keep an eye on them for Dally's sake, her and the other bunnies," Harry said.

The small group began walking about the preserve. They joined other groups in listening to handlers talk about the dragons in the pen, talking about their habitats and habits. They watched a pair of Welsh Greens lie in the sun, their long tails whipping lazily. An Italian Iron-Mouth yawned, revealing rows of gleaming teeth and they oohed as a handler did a cleaning.

"Hey, there you are!" Charlie came walking up to them. "Enjoying yourselves so far?"

"Yeah! We saw the Greens and the Iron-Mouth!" Hadley said excitedly.

"They're the poster dragons for the preserve," Charlie said. "The most docile and even-tempered. Follow me, I'll show you some of the cooler ones!"

"I assume cooler means more dangerous?" Alicia sighed.

Percy had let Hailey go when the girl squirmed and they watched the trio of little girls follow Charlie closely. "It certainly is possible," Percy sighed. "Charlie did get along with Hagrid very well at school."

"Hagrid is very easy to spend time with," Luna said indignantly.

"As in they shared a similar mindset when it came to the inherent natures of magical creatures," Percy amended, "and how unconcerned they were with what the creatures could do."

"Oh well that's fair I suppose," Luna said, shrugging.

"What is that," Alicia said once they caught up with Charlie and the girls. She gave the large dragon in the pen a wary look.

"This is a German Knochenbrecher," Charlie said brightly. "Super interesting dragon she is. Legend has it that she was bred from a dragon brought over from ancient Germany by the Romans and the dragon mated with some of the United Kingdom local dragons."

The dragon growled at them, large pale eyes narrowing. It was not too large as far as dragons go, not much bigger than the Welsh Green. However, it was covered in thick plates that looked like bleached bone and every movement by the dragon sounded like bones rubbing against each other.

"Their scales and spines look like bones but aren't technically." Charlie turned his back on the dragon, utterly uncaring of the size and barely veiled threat the dragon exuded. "Isn't she beautiful?"

The girls clustered around Harry, shooting nervous looks at the belligerent looking dragon and he patted them gently though he let his wand handle slip to his hand. "What does Knochenbrecher mean?" he asked. He shifted a little when Hedwig crawled out of his jacket to sit on Dahlia's head.

"Bonecrusher," Charlie said plainly.

"And does she like to do that?!" Alicia asked, voice slightly shrill.

"They prefer to hunt with impact hits instead of clawing and biting," Luna said, calmly taking a picture. "Probably how they got their name."

"Why does she look like she wants to crush our bones?" Alicia asked, stepping back and dragging Hadley with her.

"Ah she can't help it," Charlie said with remarkable calm. He turned and grinned at the dragon. "That's just how she looks? Anna is really sweet most of the time and only grumpy the other times."

"Only grumpy," Percy grumbled under his breath.

"They only make the noise where they rub the spines together when they're angry or irritated or wanting to threaten you. See? She stopped. Wait." Charlie frowned as Anna seemed to shrink down slightly. Despite being so big, the dragon truly looked diminished a little, lying flat on the ground and trying to look unassuming and non-threatening. "She's never looked that docile before. What's wrong Anna?"

He climbed into the pen and waved his wand, casting a Diagnostic Charm. "Everything seems okay. What's wrong girl? You were perfectly fine a moment ago." He noticed that the dragon was nervously looking at a spot in particular, alternating from staring at it and looking directly away from it. Charlie turned to try and look where Anna was looking.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"Your owl is intimidating my dragon."

"Hedwig is very protective," Harry said, rubbing Hedwig's head. "Doesn't surprise me."

Hedwig's head remained in place, no matter how her body turned due to Dahlia turning or moving. Hedwig's amber eyes were focused on Anna's pale off-white ones. Hedwig never broke eye-contact, staring directly at the much larger dragon. She clacked her beak and Anna seemed to shrink just a bit more, staying still and not rattling any of her plates or spines.

"That's…what the heck?" Charlie scratched his head. "I've never seen a dragon intimidated by an owl before, not even teacup dragons."

"Most owls aren't like Hedwig," Luna said, smiling serenely. She took several pictures of Hedwig glaring at Anna.

"Right. Let's move on then." Charlie led them away and the entire time, Hedwig maintained eye-contact with Anna. Only when they finally moved far enough away did Hedwig stop glaring. She made a condescending noise and flicked her tail feathers at the pen. Anna did not relax until she lost sight of the owl and she shuddered, the sound of her spines and plates sounding like nervous applause.

"Does she normally do stuff like that?" Charlie whispered to Percy.

"She is incredibly intelligent," Percy said. "I have never seen her stare down a dragon before but from what I have seen and heard her do, it certainly does not surprise me."

"Huh, maybe I should've studied owls too," Charlie mused.

After visiting the other visitor-friendly dragons at the preserve, Charlie showed them a processing tent. They watched as a dragon carcass was being broken down by expert handlers and processors.

Harry whistled. "That's really impressive to see everything being harvested and broken down like that."

"Yep. It also depends on how the dragon died. If it was from natural causes or age, it's completely different. If it was sick, we have to treat it very differently as well. We usually break down the loser of a fight, if we can get to the loser before the winner completely eats or destroys the rival of course. We obviously can use basically every bit of the dragon for all sorts of things so we make sure we try not to waste a scrap."

"Every bit?" Dahlia asked, making a face.

"Every bit," Charlie smiled. "The guts and nerves and sinew are valuable binders and materials. Bones for potions and building and crafting. Same with scales and horns. A very specific leather comes from the wings and the hide becomes leather for everything. The teeth for decoration and spells. Even organs are used for all sorts of things."

"Gross!" the trio of girls chorused.

"It is," Charlie laughed. "But it's important to use them as precious gifts. Waste is bad."

"Can you eat dragon meat?" Hailey asked.

"Some dragons you absolutely can! It's very tasty."

"Can we eat a dragon?" the girls asked Harry.

"Maybe I can buy some and try it out," Harry smiled. "I've never had dragon before."

"I've had dragon jerky from travels," Luna said. "Very chewy."

"How does it taste?" Alicia asked.

"Depends on the dragon," Luna said. "Some have a decidedly chicken-like taste, others like boar, most like beef. There is one much like fish. I wasn't too fond of that one."

"Oh I know that one," Charlie said. "The Pacific Diver. Water dragon. Smells like fish too."

"Thanks again for the tickets and the tour," Harry said at the end of the trip.

"Thank you, Uncle Charlie!" the three girls shouted and hugged him soundly.

"You're welcome girls," he smiled, hugging them back. He laughed as they ran circles around them, wearing the small dragon wings he bought for them. They were made from dragon hide and mantle leather and they flapped as they ran excitedly about.

"I'll let you know when I get some good dragon meat for you," he said to Harry. "And just have your Mistress contact me for material negotiations," he said to Alicia.

"She will be quite grateful," Alicia said. "I'm sure you can work out a deal for potion trading."

"We'll never say no to extra supplies," Charlie said. He walked them out of the preserve, snorting softly when he noticed one of the more rambunctious dragons being more docile as they walked past, with Hedwig keeping vigil while sitting on Harry's head.

-0-

"How was the trip?" Katie asked that night.

"It was fun. Lots of different dragons and it was interesting to see them break one down."

Katie smiled at Dahlia walking around still wearing her wings. "Those are adorable."

"Oh I got you these." He smiled as Katie eagerly pulled on her new gloves. "Dragon hide obviously but treated for medical procedures."

"Thank you! They feel awesome." She flexed her fingers. "These will be super handy." She took them off and put them in her kit bag. "Learn a lot about dragons today?"

"Mmmhmm. And learned a fun fact about Hedwig today. She can stare down a dragon. We saw a German BoneCrusher and it was looking quite threatening until Hedwig kept her in line."

"I believe it," Katie said seriously. She walked to Hedwig's roost and hugged and kissed the snowy owl. "Hedwig is very intimidating when she needs to be."

Hedwig puffed her chest out and hooted agreeably, nodding with a lordly mien.

"Thanks for watching over the bunnies and everyone, mama bird," Katie praised. She smiled at Hedwig's nuzzle and her tugging lovingly on her hair.

"Charlie couldn't believe it," Harry chuckled.

"Well if she ever gets bored of post, she can be a dragon tamer," Katie laughed.

-0-0-0-

Ghostwriter - Thank you. Even though I didn't focus too much on them in the main story, I thought they would be pretty decent friends and still be friendly with one another.

odonnellzoo99 - I have to say, I kind of like Ron in this setting. I think he came out well as in a very down to earth and solid everyday man. He enjoys his place in life and is comfortable and happy. Baby glares must be so surreal and adorable depending on the babies.

poka - Thank you so much.

albinlundholm3 - I have no plans to stop this yet. I will keep writing it while I still have ideas.

alix33 - Hedwig is first owl mum.

LordLiberty - I am still storyboarding out some details of the large points I want to cover. I don't know when I will start or post.

The Lunar 9 Tailed Fox - Thank you. I really want to give the established characters some feeling and growth. Unless I am including them as a foil, such as Draco and Krum in this setting's case, I don't want to just throw them in for no reason. While I didn't do too much with them in the main story, I like them in the setting well enough. Glad you enjoyed.