The Red Dragon | Charlie Weasley

Chapter 20

Haela wakes up disoriented. It only lasts a few moments before the events of the night before come flooding back – the poachers, the fight, the kiss.

She remembers the pain in her shoulder and the punch she had taken to the chest. She remembers being stabbed. As soon as the memory resurfaces, Haela rips the blanket off her and stares at her stomach. The stab wound is gone, leaving the skin unmarred. Haela releases the breath she didn't realise she was holding and rests her head on the pillow.

As she stares at the pointed ceiling of the medical tent – she realises she's in the medical tent now – her traitorous mind goes back to the she and Charlie shared. Her stomach swoops as she replays the memory in her head.

It's terrifying. The way her stomach swoops every time Charlie smiles at her; that charming boyish smile he only seems to direct at her.

Haela lets out a shaky breath. That, right there, is the problem. She wants to spend time around Charlie. Merlin's beard, if she's being honest with herself, she wants to spend all her time around Charlie.

It isn't even as simple as wanting to tear Charlie's clothes off and press him down onto the nearest bed. It's the need to just be close to him. Of wanting to see him smile, to hear his observations about the dragons in the sanctuary. Of wanting to be able to tangle their fingers together and rest her forehead against his shoulder and close her eyes when the world becomes too much.

She doesn't want to just sleep with Charlie like she usually does with people. She wants to sleep with Charlie. She wants the Dragonologist's face to be the last thing she sees before she falls asleep and the first thing she sees when she wakes up.

It's terrifying. It's what she always tries to avoid, every time she gets involved with someone. It's what she's managed to avoid until now. Until Charlie came along and shifted her world upside down.

The blood pounds in her ears as her heart picks up its pace. Haela runs a hand over her face and notices how badly it shakes when she lifts it. A strangled laugh escapes her. She got stabbed mere hours ago and she's panicking because of one red-haired Dragonologist who has managed to scrawl under her skin and get her to fall in love with him.

Because that's what happened, Haela realises finally and fully, as she lays in a bed in the medical tent of the Andorran Dragon Sanctuary. She, Haela Peucag, has fallen in love with Charlie Weasley, and it's the most terrified she has felt in ages.

Through the fog in her head, Haela hears a voice. The mattress gives in under the weight of another person taking a seat on the bed.

"...la?"

"Haela?"

"Haela?"

When Haela shifts her eyes, they meet Kadrick's. The dark-skinned Hit-Wizard is staring down at her with wide eyes. Haela blinks and a few tears she didn't realise were there roll down her cheeks. Kadrick's face softens immediately.

Harshly, Haela whips the tears away and reprimands herself. She shouldn't be crying about something stupid like falling in love. Even though you know how this will pan out, a little voice in the back of her head whispers, better to break it off before it gets too serious or you'll end up with another heartbreak.

"It's okay, Haela. You're safe and nobody can hurt you here," Kadrick says, placing a hand on Haela's arm.

If only Kadrick knew how false his statement is...

Haela and Kadrick have been friends since the moment Haela joined the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol. They were on the same team trying to catch a group of wizards who were Muggle-baiting by selling cursed kettles, which would severely burn its user, to Muggles for a quick laugh. Haela had a part in identifying the kettles after Kadrick found a storage room filled with them. They had worked overtime, having to identify and dismantle hundreds of kettles which took literal hours, and their friendship was born.