Chapter Text
Hermione was climbing to her feet as Charlie approached, the dragon starting to retreat. His scales bristled, a low rumbling resounding in his chest as he stepped backwards from them. With him on his feet, Hermione could see other injuries on his side she had missed. She immediately reached a hand to his face, her hand catching just beneath his chin to still him.
“Wait,” she said as the dragon’s head swung to her and she swallowed that lingering fear as the rows of teeth glinted dangerously in the light, “You have more wounds I need to tend to.”
He quieted under her touch, her fingers stroking the smooth scales along his chin as she looked up at him. His silver eyes continued to look between them, as if deliberating on his acceptance of Charlie’s presence.
She didn’t wait as she moved away from him, rifling through her discarded pile of medical supplies. Charlie joined her, glancing over her shoulder continually at the dragon as they dug through her items.
“I think he might have some fractured bones, if not broken,” Hermione said quietly as she also looked over her shoulder at the dragon, his one wing hanging limply at his side. He was watching them intently, his head tipping as if he were listening to them.
“Unfortunately I do not have anything that will heal a dragon’s bones. The only thing I have is for humans,” Charlie lifted a small vial of skele-gro, the light catching the liquid through the glass. “Seems to have no effect on them. They are nearly immune to all magic.”
She sat back on her heels as she finally found another jar of healing salve, twisting the lid off. It was still full and should be enough to finish with the rest of the wounds that marked his side that had been concealed from her. Rising to her feet, she turned to approach the dragon again.
“Alright, I’m just going to use this stuff again on the remaining wounds,” she explained as she moved towards his side.
The dragon’s head followed her around to watch her as she scooped out some of the salve onto her fingers, ignoring the way his eyes continued to watch her every movement. Hermione took her time to gently apply the salve to the wounds, some mere scratches other places his scales had been torn away from his skin. She ducked under his limp wing, taking note of the torn membrane that stretched between the bones of his wings.
“Does this have a name?” Hermione called to Charlie, running her hand along the smooth skin. No scales lined this part of his wings, and she could clearly see the veins that mottled his skin, the dried blood that stained it.
“Patagium,” he replied, still maintaining his distance as he waited next to her medical supplies, “Same as a bat's wings.”
“Makes sense,” she muttered as she heard the dragon make short rumbling sounds as his head peered at from the edge of his wing. She couldn’t help but chuckle as she looked at him, “You agree? Well, that’s good. Imagine if a dragon itself didn’t like the name given to its extremities.”
His head withdrew to swivel to focus on Charlie as he approached, his scales bristling again as he let out a guttural growl.
Charlie stilled, his hands up as Hermione pushed up the dragon’s wing to watch the man as he spoke to her, “He won’t be able to fly with injuries like that, but dragons tend to heal quickly. In a couple weeks he should be right as rain. But we should get back to camp to check on the little one you brought to me, and take care of your own injuries.”
Hermione glanced at her arm next to her face as she held the edge of his wing aloft, having completely forgotten of her own scratches. The bloodied marks criss crossed her skin in jagged patterns, some digging deep into her skin from where branches had caught her during her flight through the woods from the Horntail. She moved to the edge of the stream, crouching down to wash her hands off in the cold water and splashing it along her arms.
She gathered up the remaining medical supplies and slipped the bag onto her back as she looked at the dragon before her. He had remained silently, quietly watching them. Anytime Charlie would move towards him, he would take a step away.
“Alright Dragon,” she said as she looked up at him, “We have to get back to camp. I trust you’ll not be stupid and try to battle a Horntail again? Yeah?”
Without waiting for a response she turned to her companion, taking his hand as he helped her cross the stream of water. She heard movement behind her and when she glanced over her shoulder, he had disappeared into the trees as if he had never been there.
That evening when they had returned to camp, Hermione was immediately welcomed into the group by his team. Gantry was still unconscious in the tent, but the remaining three were eager to hear of her current progress with Charlie’s mysterious dragon.
Eager may have been a poor choice of words; politely interested to hear about her progress was more accurate.
They always humored Charlie when he fell into his speeches and discoveries, and albeit they showed more enthusiasm for Hermione, he knew they only partially cared. They were more interested in the details for the simple fact it would help them capture and relocate the male dragon when the time was right.
All of them were joined around the fireplace as they ate their dinner of pre-packed MRE meals. Charlie was quiet as he observed everyone, particularly how animated Hermione became as she spoke of the dragon. In a matter of days, she had managed to do things he had not been able to do in months. Years, even. Not just with this dragon, but any. He seemed to respond to her.
“The portkey will activate tomorrow,” Charlie said to Hermione as the conversation turned to other topics.
For a moment she stilled, her fork hovering over her plate as she looked at him, “I won’t be leaving just yet. I’ve made so much progress that I would worry about backtracking if I were to leave.” She stabbed the fork into a questionable bit of their MRE meals, “I haven’t heard from Ron all week.”
Charlie looked away from her, the laughter of the others ringing through the clearing as he shuffled through his thoughts. The time they had spent together was making it difficult to remain a neutral party.
“Charlie, he said he would owl me daily. Do you think something is wrong?” She set her fork down as she steadied her gaze on him.
This was not his place, it was not his concern.
He stabbed his fork into the supposed chunk of meat, knowing he had to keep his silence.
It’s not my place.
“Charlie?”
It’s. Not. My. Place.
“Charlie?!” Her voice was more insistent now as she frowned at him, her brows furrowing together at his continued silence.
“He’s going to divorce you!” Charlie practically yelled as he leapt to his feet, dumping his plate on the ground as he rounded on her. Everyone immediately fell silent as they looked at him, most in mid-bite with their utensils hovering near their mouths.
Hermione looked up at him, her eyes wide and uncertain. She blinked rapidly as she shook her head a little, “What? What? I-I-I…Excuse me?”
“Ron is using this week to file the paperwork,” Charlie’s voice was strained as he ground out the words, hating that he hadn't been able to keep his mouth shut. But he had always respected Hermione and to know she was doing all this work just to return home and be slapped in the face with divorce paperwork was cruel. His brother was an idiot for doing this to her.
“I…” She rubbed a hand across her brow as she stood up, the shock and realization of his words starting to set in as she set her plate down on the stump she had been sitting on, “I need to be alone.”
“Wait–” Charlie reached for her but she easily stepped around him to hurry away, “ Shit .”
“Ohh hoo,” Borge’s barely contained a hoot of entertainment at Charlie’s slip, receiving a sound smack from Horis.
Pulton waved her fork in the direction Hermione had disappeared after she took a bite of her food, “You probably want to go after her with that fuck up.”
“Shut up,” Charlie snapped as he hurried after her, watching her duck into her tent. “Hermione! Hermione, wait.”
By the time he reached her, she had already thrown her bag onto the cot and was tossing her stuff into it at a frantic pace. She spoke over her shoulder to him, “Leave me alone, Charlie.”
“What are you doing?” He asked, even though the answer was obvious. She was packing to leave as soon as the Portkey would let her, “ Why are you leaving?”
She turned around to look at him, her chest rising and falling frantically as she gestured her hands to the side helplessly, “You said Ron is planning to divorce me, Charlie. Why wouldn’t I go back? I need to talk to him. I need to sit down with him and figure out why—”
“There is no changing his mind. He told me this months ago. If he had wanted to, he would have talked to you by now,” he pointed out coolly.
He could see the pained expression on her face, her eyes filled with questions as she looked at him. Perhaps the realization that it was the truth, that she has always known. Her words were bitter, “And how would you know? You’ve never been in a relationship, Charlie. You’ve never been married, never been committed to another person. You just hide up here in the damned mountains –”
Charlie closed the distance to her, grabbing her by the upper arms as he dragged her against his chest, “Because I’ve never met anyone who even remotely understands my passion for my job. Someone who enjoys what I do.”
“How do you know he wants a divorce?” Hermione asked as she looked up at him, her heart threatened to break free of her ribs as his hands gripped her arms.
“He sent me letters, Hermione. He told me everything. His doubts, his decision. He asked and I pleaded with him to stay with you, to work things out…” Charlie shook his head, “But he didn’t want to hear it. He knows you won’t change, that you will always put your work first. That you haven’t even considered starting a family. And he is a fucking idiot, and I’ve told him no less..”
She looked up at him, her heart splintering at the same time as it raced from his proximity to her. Her mind was confused, hurting, trying to figure out what she should do. What she could do. The tension was growing by the moment as he held her captive, his hands engulfing her arms as he looked down at her. His blue eyes, so similar yet so different, searched her face.
“Charlie?” Hermione asked quietly, lifting a hand to touch his arm.
As her questing fingers touched him, the tension snapped between them and he dragged her up onto her toes and his lips crashed down on hers. He stole her breath as his hands slid up her arms to cup her face, slanting his lips against hers as he pushed her backwards until her thighs bumped into the rickety table. Her hand gripped his shirt as his fingers slid into her, tugging her head back as his mouth left hers to press hot kisses along her throat. He released her hair to grab her ass, lifting her body onto the table and stepping between her thighs.
She whimpered slightly as his lips closed on the tender skin that hugged her collarbone. She dug her fingers into his hair as he dragged her to the edge of the table.
“Hermione,” he groaned against her throat as his hands slid along the outside of her thighs.
Reality slammed down around her as he spoke, her fingers gripping his hair to still him as her eyes snapped open. She had no idea how she had become so wantonly open to him, her legs all but wrapped around him as he ground the evidence of his arousal against her through her jeans.
“ Charlie ,” Hermione sat upright, shoving him back from her as her chest constricted painfully. He let her go as she slid off the table that had miraculously held her weight, her fingers shakily touching her lips as she looked at him. The way she has messed his hair, his lips wet from her kisses. She felt hot and aroused. And ashamed. “I’m married, Charlie.”
Before he could stop her, she grabbed her walking stick and flew past him to leave the tent. Hot angry tears fell down her cheeks as she broke away from the camp, ignoring the fact the sun was hugging the horizon and night would fall shortly.
She didn’t care.
Hermione followed the path north to the hot springs, grateful Charlie hadn’t followed her this time as she tore through the trees. The scratches on her arms were almost entirely healed already from the salve they had applied and it only infuriated her more. He had been so gentle, his fingers barely grazing her skin while he had applied it.
She was a fool.
It all has to be lies.
Would Ron really divorce her? Did that explain his lack of communication? Early in their marriage he had been relentless with his messages to her through the day.
She broke into the clearing for the hot spring, throwing her walking stick to the side and dove into the water. She needed to burn away her near infidelity. Until she knew for sure, she could never cheat on Ron. She was ashamed she had even let it happen at all.
The signs had been there
Her fingers grazed the bottom as she slipped through the water to return to the surface. Her head broke free and she took a deep breath, the heat of the water causing steam to curl around her.
Hermione exhaled as she let herself shift onto her back, her body floating weightless atop the water as she looked at the sky above her.
The clouds were streaked like a watercolor rainbow, the most brilliant being crimson. She could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears as she felt the heated water caressing her skin, enveloping her—clothing and all. She tried to slow the chaos in her mind but it was rampant, turning over every moment from the last few years. Every comment. Every remark. Absolutely everything she could think of that would elude the fact that Ron was that unhappy he would divorce her.
She exhaled and her body sank beneath the water, drifting beneath the surface.
Was she happy?
Tiny bubbles slipped out from her lips as the sky above her distorted through the water, the clouds darkening above her. She reached the bottom, exhaling a group of bubbles as she continued to look above.
She could go tomorrow and talk to Ron, she rationalized.
That would make sense.
The Portkey should be active for the whole day. She would have a few hours to get home, talk to him, and could still return with minimal time loss.
She became aware of a white shadow that slipped along the edge of the hot spring and she pushed up from the bottom, breaking the surface just before her oxygen ran out. She wiped the water from her face as she pushed her hair away from her forehead, looking at the form of the white dragon as he crept along the tree line. His scales shifted colors, creating an almost seamless camouflage as she coughed, his scales bristling for a moment as she startled him.
“Dragon!” Hermione scolded as she paddled towards him to grab the edge, “You scared me.”
The dragon’s scales smoothed down along his neck as he recognized her, chuffing in greeting. He approached her, his head low to be at her level as he neared. She reached a hand up, still feeling that anxious fluttering as his enormous face loomed closer. He pressed his nose to her palm, exhaling as he sank to his stomach in front of her.
“You’re here again?” She asked as she smoothed her fingers along the bridge of his nose, her head tipping slightly. “Charlie said you normally don’t come this way. Territory issues?”
He dropped his head to the ground in front of her, his silver eyes looking over her as he gingerly folded his wings— the one still hanging at a painful angle as he curled his tail around his legs.
“Is it the Horntail?” She rested an elbow on the edge of the hot spring as she continued to stroke his face. He shook his head side to side in a subtle movement. “No? Umm…Well, unless you learn to talk, I guess I’ll never know.”
Hermione sank back into the water as her clothing chilled against her skin in the rapidly cooling air. The sun was just slipping past the horizons, casting the trees around them into darkness.
Shit .
In her anger and pain, she had not thought out a plan on how to return back to camp. She was drenched and the walk would be frigid.
“I’m an idiot,” She said out loud, dreading the reality of her bitterly cold walk back to her tent. “I need to go back to camp and I’m such a fool.”
His silver eyes watched her in silence as she braced her hands on the cold stone, lifting herself up and out of the water. The temperature difference was immediately obvious. She plucked at her wet clothes as she turned to sit on the edge, sighing as she looked towards the path that would lead her back.
“Charlie said Ron is going to divorce me,” She said, scoffing as she drew her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs, “Can you believe that?”
She felt a rush of hot air against side as the dragon exhaled heavily next to her, bumping his head against her shoulder.
“Not like you would understand that though, would you? Dragons don’t know what marriage is,” she said bitterly as she looked at him. He let out a rumbling chuff as he continued to push his nose against her. “You’re lucky for that. Save yourself the agony.”
Hermione rolled her eyes at his persistence as he nearly knocked her over, scolding him as she tried to push his face from her.
“Settle down, will you? I need to get back—“ He shoved her onto her back, dropping his head into her chest. Her breath left in a rush under the weight. She grabbed at the thick spikes that like his cheeks, trying to lift his head from her. “Get your fat ass head off me. ”
If she didn’t know any better, she would have mistaken his chuffing for laughter as he watched her struggle. He exhaled heavily, his hot breath warming her and chasing away the chill. Hermione dropped her arms to her side as she let her head fall to the ground, the stars starting to glint in the sky.
“I need to go back,” She repeated quietly, feeling his head slipping off her stomach to rest next to her on the ground with a soft thud. She reached up to scratch his nose, “But I’ll wait a little longer, since you seem to want attention.”
Hermione didn’t know how long they lay there in near silence, the only sounds were of the birds growing sleepy around them as the insects sang mating songs and filled the trees with their melodies. He radiated heat and kept her warm as her clothes slowly dried. The darkness settled around them and she felt herself drifting to sleep, her hand caressing his scales until the night swallowed her. She was coaxed into a deep slumber from the forest around her, curled around the scaled head of her beautiful white dragon.