Little Dragon
Authors Note: So I've been asked again what the title means, there will be hints throughout the story if you can find them. This chapter will contain at least one. Well... Multiple if you can find them.
Please keep in mind that I was half asleep while writing parts of this chapter so... Enjoy! ^-^
Disclaimer: Santa threatened to never give me presents again if I didn't at least promise to split the rights with him if I got them. So... Neither Santa, nor I, own Harry Potter.
Chapter 22: Little One
"Alright," Molly announced once they had all gathered in front of the living room fireplace, "Harry dear, you will follow after Charlie so that you don't get lost. Bill will follow behind you with the first round of luggage. Then Ron, you go then Ginny, Percy, Fred and George. Arthur and I will bring up the end with the last of the luggage."
"Alright mum," Charlie said with a fond smile as he stepped onto the mantle and looked at Harry while taking a bit of sparkling green powder from the flower pot sitting on top of it.
"Remember what I told you?" He asked Harry with a raised eyebrow and Harry smiled despite the soft blush that had spread over his cheeks.
"Don't breathe in, elbows in, eyes closed, don't panic," Harry recited. Charlie and Bill had spent the morning drilling those four rules of floo travel into his head so that there wouldn't be any accidents.
"Exactly, remember everyone the address is 'Dragons Lair.' I'll see you all on the other side." With that Charlie turned to face the fire and, after throwing the powder into the flames and waiting for them to turn green, he stepped inside, said the address and spun out of sight right before Harry's eyes.
With a deep breath Harry stepped forward and took a small handful of the powder that felt as soft as flour on his skin, following Charlie's example Harry flung the powder into the grate and watched in fascination as the flames changed from glowing orange to bright green. Taking a breathe before stepping into the flames Harry almost released it in shock as instead of the blistering heat he had half expected there was only a slight tingle where the flames licked at his skin.
"Dragons Lair," Harry half shouted with his eyes closed and elbows held close to his body. Remembering the advice he had been given Harry tried desperately to ignore the rising panic as he felt himself spinning through nothing but air as bursts of light met his eyelids. Finally after what seemed to be a few minutes of spinning Harry's feet met with a firm surface and despite the soft landing Harry stumbled forward completely disoriented as the world began to tip forward.
Instinctively Harry twisted in midair as he continued to fall so that he wouldn't face plant onto the floor but before he could land a pair of strong familiar arms wrapped around his waist and upper back holding him close to a chest that was currently rumbling with its owners chuckles.
"If I had known that you would try crash landing," A deep rich voice chuckled in Harry's ear causing him to blush in embarrassment, "I would have just taken you with me."
"It was my first time using the floo," Harry grumbled as he looked up at Charlie with an obvious pout and crossed his arms over his chest.
"And you're not nearly as graceful with it as you are on a broom," Charlie teased as he sat Harry firmly onto his feet and quickly banished the thin layer of soot that covered them both.
A few minutes later found the entire family being led out of the small one room shack they had come in and into the wonder that was the Romanian Dragon Preserve.
"What we just left is the only floo that's connected to the reserve," Charlie explained as they walked down a dirt path that rested between the rows of small cabins. "It makes it easier to keep track of and keeps any potential incidents down to a minimum. Now, these are the houses, this whole area is heavily warded to keep the dragons out, so don't worry mum. That big tent up ahead is the mess hall, we have communal meals there though we also have kitchens in the cabins that are rarely used. Since my cabin is so small though the head keeper has given the okay for you all to bunk in the empty cabin across the way from mine. Harry and Bill should probably stay in mine though, since your cabin only has four rooms," Charlie said as he finally came to a stop between two of the cabins, one looking quite small and cozy while the other was obviously the one meant for the other Weasleys. "Why don't we go and put our stuff up and then I'll take us around the reserve before lunch?"
"That sounds like an excellent idea Charlie," Molly said with a large smile as she quickly gave them a kiss on the cheeks before ushering the others into their cabin. "Come along you lot, don't just stand there!"
With a chuckle Charlie turned to Bill and Harry before bowing them inside as he held the door open.
The inside of the cabin was done in warm brown tones with splashes of rich reds and various other colors, the first room that met Harry's eyes was the living room which consisted of a large fireplace surrounded by twin chairs and a loveseat set on either sides of a small coffee table. To the left of the room was a doorway which led to a simple kitchen that looked much like that of the Burrow with a small scrubbed wood table and a stove in his immediate line of sight. Further down the wall from the kitchen sat the entrance to a hallway that led to three separate rooms.
"At the end of the hall is my room, Harry you'll be bunking with me like at the Burrow, next to that is the bathroom and the closest room here is yours Bill," Charlie said before taking up his own and Harry's luggage and heading towards his room. "I'd say with the twins we have about ten more minutes until the others will be ready to leave."
Charlie's bedroom was much like the rest of the house, small, cozy and containing the essence of Charlie, so much so in fact that Harry found himself grinning as he looked around the room. A rather large bed sat in the middle of the space with a bedside table on each side, across the walls hung pictures of the family and various ones of Charlie and his friends, many of which contained either a dragon or a small woman with bubblegum pink hair who had a habit of changing her facial features to make the others in the pictures laugh.
"That's Tonks," Charlie said with a grin as he watched Harry stare transfixed at the woman who was sporting a bright orange duckbill. "She's a metamormagus and Sirius' cousin."
"Yeah, that's why he and Remus didn't come along, Sirius said that he wanted to visit them and set something or other up," Harry murmured distractedly before finally pulling his attention away from the picture and gave Charlie a smile, "He wouldn't tell me what he was up to but I'm not too worried. He said I'd find out soon enough."
"True, come on, we better make sure that the others don't go taunt the dragons," Charlie said with a laugh before grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him out of the room where they were met by Bill who was just leaving his own room.
The rest of the day was spent touring through the reserve and Harry had to admit, it was amazing. The small hut that contained the floo was surrounded with the various cabins belonging to the other dragon keepers as well as multiple cabins that were kept empty just in case of visitors.
Just down the way from Charlie's cabin stood the mess hall as well as the first of three medical tents that were scattered throughout the reserve as well as a medium sized field which served for recreational purposes. Placed directly outside of the wards was a large open area containing many different terrains ranging anywhere from a desert to snow capped mountains with a magical blizzard which the dragons were able to freely roam between unless they had to be quarantined for one reason or another one of which was the mother who's egg had been stolen. She was currently contained in one of the pens located closest to the wards so that the keepers were better able to monitor her without the risk of her hiding her other eggs as she had been attempting to do before they secluded her.
"So this is your little mate Charlie?" Said a rather attractive witch in her early thirties with sun tanned skin and short spiky brown hair that turned up at the ends into spikes. Harry was instantly fascinated with the scarlet dragon tattoo which wrapped around her upper left arm.
"Oh Mary," Charlie said with a smile as he turned to face this woman fully while he pulled Harry more firmly into his side, "Yes, this is Harry. Harry, this is Mary, she and her husband Darius are the two I work with most often," Charlie introduced them with a grin.
"It's nice to meet you," Harry said with a smile as he held out his hand to the woman, much to his surprise however instead of shaking his hand as Harry had intended, she instead gave his arm a tug and Harry found himself with his face firmly planted in Mary's chest and a blush on his face so intense that it would make any Weasley proud.
"Aww, isn't he just adorable?" Mary cooed as she held him tightly against her despite Harry's attempts for freedom.
"Quite," A new voice spoke from behind Mary as a strange hand came from nowhere and ruffled Harry's hair before it moved on and the voice continued. "It looks like your mate is quite the beauty Charlie, soon you'll have to duel people away by the dozen."
"Darius!" Charlie cried out happily as he deftly pulled Harry away from Mary and into the safety of his own arms. "It's good to see you again. Harry this is Darius, he's Mary's husband and the other one that I work with the most. Darius this is my mate Harry."
Darius was a tall man who somehow managed to look both imposing and friendly at the same time as he towered over you. He too sported a rich tan and his long brown hair was pulled back and fastened securely at the nape of his neck with a length of leather rope.
"It's nice to meet you," Harry said holding out his hand once again and hoped desperately that Darius wasn't as big of a hugger as his wife was. Darius took his hand but once again did not shake it as he instead bent down and placed a chaste kiss to the pale skin on the back of Harry's hand.
"The pleasure is all mine, Micul frumusețe," Darius said once he stood back up and valiantly fought the obvious urge to laugh at Harry's renewed blush.
Late that night Harry woke to the strong urge to go outside. Why his magic seemed to think that this was the perfect time to guide him into the unknown and away from the warm embrace of Charlie's arms Harry had no idea though as he continued to lay there he could hear something on the wind that wasn't there at all during the day. It sounded almost like... A voice?
Yes, that was most definitely a voice but why was it happening now? In fact, it seemed almost... Like a woman? Yes, it sounded like a woman and she sounded like she was crying...
Deciding to follow the feeling, after all it hadn't led him wrong yet, Harry slowly wriggled out of Charlie's hold and, biting his lower lip, slipped silently through the door and outside of the house.
As Harry exited the cabin and began to make his way down the path the voice grew stronger and Harry could just make out a few of the words as they floated on the wind.
'My baby... That man... Baby... Why?'
Speeding up his pace Harry quickly moved through the camp and to the edge of the wards. Why would someone be out there with the dragons at this time of night?
The woman was quiet now, only the sound of her sobs carrying on the wind letting Harry know that she was still there.
The tugging stopped just as Harry came to the edge of the wards and his eyes landed upon the massive form of a dark brown dragon with black ridges along it's spine.
The Norwegian Ridgeback mother.
Harry must have made some noise or another for not even a second later Harry's eyes were locked with large orange ones that were narrowed in suspicion.
"You won't get any more of my babies!" She hissed out in warning as her long body wrapped protectively around her clutch of eggs.
Harry was beyond shocked that he had understood her, was this normal?
"I'm not after your eggs ma'am," Harry said calmly as he showed her his empty hands and slowly sank diwn so that he was kneeling before the mighty woman. Different species or not, Harry knew a mother who would kill to protect her children when he saw one and this was definitely one of them. He would not anger her.
The dragons eyes widened further as she looked down at Harry in shock as though she could not comprehend the sight before her.
"You speak with the tongue of the serpent. Explain," She ordered leaving no room for refusal.
"I'm not really sure myself ma'am," Harry said carefully as his eyebrows creased in confusion and he thought back to the one time he had encountered a snake, the trip to the zoo in London on Dudley's birthday. He had spoken to that snake and understood it, was that what she meant? It must be, there was no other plausible explanation. "I've had very limited contact with serpents, however on the last occasion that I did have contact with a snake I did speak with him briefly."
"Very well. Then where is my egg? Why was it taken from me!? I demand it back!" The dragon said as a cold fury burnt in her eyes and steam began to issue from each of her large nostrils.
"We do not know where your egg is but we are looking. Someone took your egg and left with it before they could be caught. The people here are looking though, including my mate Charlie."
"I want to be involved in the search!" She said immediately as she stood began to look around herself as though she could follow some clue that would solve all of their problems.
"You need to stay here and care for your other young," Harry said immediately as he himself stood and motioned at the clutch of eggs that was encircled protectively by her powerful tail. "You leave and those eggs are left unprotected and defenseless. Without your warmth they'll likely die. Are you willing to risk that?"
"No, but-" She began in confusion only for Harry to cut her off again.
"But nothing! You need to stay and watch over the others and trust that they'll find your missing egg. While you're here you also need to start eating. My mate has told me that you've eaten hardly enough to sustain yourself and soon you will have them to care for as well. Your eggs are going to need you nice and strong. Do you understand?"
"I understand," The dragon said before giving an unexpected chuckle and looking at Harry with a slight tilt to her head before nodding as though she had come to a conclusion. On what Harry didn't know. "Your mate is very lucky to have such a fierce barer for your children. Your bond is oddly strong for one that is so new to this world but that should not surprise me. You have the heart of a dragon little one, and there is no higher compliment."
"Thank you," Harry said in shock before he released a yawn and stood to leave, before he could turn a sudden thought struck him and Harry looked back up at the dragon who was looking at him with a soft look in her eyes. "Can I ask you your name? I don't think that I know it."
"I am called Strom, little one. In your language it means power," Strom said and Harry could hear the smile coloring her voice.
The next day when he woke up again Harry made sure to tell Charlie everything that had happened and, after being scolded for leaving without at least waking Charlie up as well, the two spent the day with the head keeper for an interview with Strom on what the thief looked like and did as well as seeing if any of the other dragons had seen anything.
Charlie and the head keeper or Sef as the other keepers called him, found the whole thing very funny. They had also explained the prejudices that most of England had towards those with the ability to speak parseltongue while in almost every other country in the world it was considered a huge honor.
Once the interviews were finished Harry was rescued by Darius and Mary who had decided to take it upon themselves and provide Harry with tutoring in the two aspects they claimed everyone should know, only one of which Harry agreed with.
Darius had taken it upon himself to give Harry a crash course in various physical defense tactics that neither required a wand nor much physical strength to accomplish for which Harry was immensely grateful.
Mary however had taken it upon herself to teach Harry the tricks on how to charm a lady and appear to be a perfect gentleman, a lesson which she had forced him to practice on the women who had gathered around to watch and if Harry never saw Molly with a blush telling Harry he was far too young and her own son again then it would be too soon.
Later that night Harry and Charlie lay in bed and talked about their days.
While Harry had been getting 'lessons' from Darius and Mary, Charlie had been in the fields attempting to find a sick dragon that was in fact pregnant.
"So, who would have thought that your a parselmouth," Charlie mused as he looked down at Harry from where he lay on his side with his head propped up with his hand.
"Yeah, I didn't know it was rare," Harry said with a smile as Charlie reached over and played with the ends of his hair. "I've only spoken to a snake once before though so I didn't really notice anything."
"Do you think that you could say something?" Charlie asked with a curious glint in his eye, "In Parseltongue I mean."
"I'm sure that I can," Harry said thoughtfully before he grinned up at Charlie with a mischievous smile. Picturing the snake from the zoo and Strom in his head so that he could be sure he was speaking Parseltongue, Harry continued. "I love you Charlie Weasley."
Harry watched in fascination as a strange shiver ran down Charlie's spine before a grin split across his face as he bent down and pecked Harry on the lips. Faintly Harry noticed the soft glow of Charlie's necklace.
Charlie's heart was glowing purple while Harry's own fire was a calming blue as it washed over the hearts surface.
Cocking his head to the side in confusion Harry couldn't help but voice his thoughts.
"Hey Charlie?"
"Yes Harry?" Charlie asked, confused at the sudden change in Harry's voice and posture as he continued to look at the necklace that hung around Charlie's neck with a startling intensity.
"What does purple mean?" Harry asked and then watched in fascination as the purple bled out into a mix between yellow and amber while the fire just darkened slightly at Harry's curiosity.
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked still confused as he tried to make sense of just what Harry was asking him.
"Your necklace," Harry replied simply as he sat up so that he could see Charlie better. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden? "It was purple a minute ago, what does it mean?
"I, uh, I... Well," Charlie started nervously as he sat up and continued to stammer, "I don't think that you're old enough to know."
"What? Why? Do you not think I can handle the purple?" Harry asked as he crossed his arms in front of him with a huff.
"Harry, I can't even handle the purple. Especially when you do that, stop pouting!" Charlie practically begged him.
"So... I make you purple?" Harry asked slowly as his head tilted to the side once again in confusion. What did he do? It couldn't be fear, or sadness, maybe it was happy?
"Yes Harry, you make me purple. Far more than you should until you're older," Charlie said with a sigh. He was obviously happy that Harry was no longer upset with him.
"Funny," Bill said as he pushed the door open the rest of the way as he leaned against the door jamb with a smirk on his face. "I always thought that the saying was blue b-," Bill was suddenly cut off as one of the pillows landed firmly in his face compliments of one Charlie Weasley.
"So Charlie," Bill said from across the kitchen table the next morning as he sipped at the cup of coffee he had just poured himself.
"What is it Bill?" Charlie asked as he looked up from his own coffee as Harry quickly finished his food having a decent idea on what was about to happen.
"I was just thinking... Should I tell mum to start making you purple jumpers instead of brown?" Bill asked with a smirk and a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Hey Bill?" Harry asked before Charlie could respond as he took his own plate over to the sink and set about washing it quickly.
"Yes Harry?" Bill asked curiously as he looked away from Charlie to meet Harry's gaze as he turned away from the sink.
"How do you keep a Gryffindor in suspense?" Harry asked and took delight in the confusion that flashed over both of the men's faces. Harry would have to thank Jonathan for telling him this joke later, it was definitely coming in handy right now.
"How?" Bill asked as he looked at Harry expectantly.
Giving the two men a sweet smile Harry quickly exited the kitchen and was forced to instantly stifle his laughter at the confused questions which were being raised inside the kitchen.
Suspense indeed...
Authors Note: Yes, I found that joke online and couldn't help myself. It was perfect revenge for Harry. I hope you guys enjoyed this! Let me know what you thought. Next chapter Harry learns the meaning behind the color purple as well as our favorite baby dragon! :3