Inspired by GabrielleRPollack Writing Prompt #11

"Faster! Go!"

"I'm moving, I'm moving!"

"Over there!"

"Yes!"

"Oof!"

They ducked behind an extremely handy boulder as a red jet of fire was directed towards them. The ground was hard under their knees and was starting to crack under the high temperatures. Good thing Lambert had been firm about clearing the ground from undergrowth or the whole place would have been set alight. The flames licked dangerously around the edges of their stone shield, the air around them wavering in the intense heat. They stayed kneeling down, arms over head, until the heat dissipated. That was a close one. Too close for his liking.

Picking himself up from his knees, a dark-skinned Dragon Handler glared at his red-haired colleague, who was apparently trying to peer unobtrusively around the boulder. He tugged the idiot back before he got caught up in a secondary blast. The kid had too pretty a face to get melted. Let's wait until he collected a few scars.

"Oops. Sorry, Glover," the red-headed said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

Glover just glared some more, intensifying it bit by bit until the younger man wilted under his gaze.

"I thought it would be a good idea," he said defensively.

Glover withstood the temptation to smack him across the back of the head. Instead, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Merlin help him from over-enthusiastic apprentices. At least the kid wasn't cocky, he had a good heart. Too good sometimes when it came to the dragons (the number of times Glover had yanked the kid's ass out of a pen was becoming astronomical). Glover had dealt with far too many apprentices who had their heads up their own backsides. This one was different, if a little bit odd by Dragon Handler standards. And that was saying something but Glover thought the kid had potential, if he could just properly direct all that enthusiasm.

Oh, the kid was still staring at him. Glover glared some more.

"Weasley, what, in Merlin's name, did you think would happen when you tried to animate the dead cows, we feed the dragons with?" he demanded trough gritted teeth.

That had been a horrifying sight, like something out of one of those zombie horror movies his brother liked watching. At least the carcasses were whole, though that was disgusting enough to watch move jerkily as if they were on strings. It would have been a whole lot worse if they'd been skinned. Or in pieces. Glover shuddered. Small mercies.

Charlie Weasley gave him a sheepish look. Glover could smell smoke, and it wasn't the smell of smoke that hung around a dragon after it breathed fire. Fantastic. Sometime was burning. Just what he needed. This was already going to be a he'll of a write up, he did not need burnt out stock to be included.

Charlie mumbled unintelligibly.

"What was that?" he demanded in his best Drill Sergeant voice. He threw in another glare for good measure

Glover despised mumblers. If you didn't like what you were saying just don't say it. No need to pretend to say it.

The kid took a deep breath and said in a somewhat loud tone, "I said, 'I thought it would make their hunting skills sharper'."

Glover actually felt his brain short circuit at that pronouncement as his mouth fell open. What?

Before he could rip into him, another blast of flame was produced. This time, it was much more intense and streamed above them. The dragon was getting closer because of course it was. They hadn't had enough time to duck. Glover could feel his hair singe. He hated that smell. Counting backwards from ten and praying to whatever deity was up there for patience, he took a deep breath.

"And why, pray tell, would we need to do that?" he asked through clenched teeth.

He seemed to be doing that a lot recently. His dentist wouldn't be pleased.

Charlie just shrugged. "So, they don't get lazy?"

Because that made a load of sense. Glover sighed heavily, not even knowing how to respond to that. Why did he have to be partnered with the world's weirdest dragon enthusiast?

Before Glover could explain just how stupid it was to animate the food of extremely hungry, massive, fire breathing predators, the now incredibly pissed off dragon decided that they needed a third demonstration of its fire breathing capabilities. Because, you know, the first two obviously weren't enough. It was accompanied by a bone-chilling, bellowing roar, for that perfect dramatic effect. He hoped Charlie's ears were ringing.

"This is your fault. Now we are going to dies," Glover moaned, all sense of decorum having vanished in the face of a freaking dragon.

In all his years as a Dragon Handler, he'd never managed to anger a dragon into this state. Then again, he was sensible and actually knew to never mess with a hungry dragon's food. Like everyone else except for this fool right next to him. Where even was everyone else? They might have a chance if there were people with stunners coming up from behind.

Charlie patted him on the back, "Don't worry. I'll bring flowers to your funeral."

Somehow, that didn't exactly help him. Yet another glare was directed at the redhead. It was amazing that Charlie wasn't smouldering under the intensity of it.

"That's not what I was worried about!" he snapped at Charlie's grinning face. "This isn't funny, Weasley!"

What on earth was there to laugh about in this whole situation? An angry dragon was after them, it was breathing fire and it was hungry. Oh, and they were stuck behind a boulder with the boundary of the enclosure about fifty meters away. He could run quite fast, especially when his life was in danger, but that didn't mean he could outlast a dragon.

Charlie sniggered, slightly hysterically, "Your hair is smoking."

Glover couldn't help but groan. Fantastic. Could this day get any worse?

The dragon roared and the ground underneath them shook worryingly.

"That was not a challenge," he muttered, determinedly grabbing his wand.

He wondered how good the kid's aim was. No better way to find out, was there?

"Wand out, Weasley!" He shouted