Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

Dragon Tamers (Charlie Weasley)

I hated travelling by portkey. People always said that after you've travelled by portkey a few times then you'd get the hang of landing on your feet instead of plummeting to the ground. But that was a lie. At least for me anyway. Even now, after numerous portkey trips, I landed on my back each time with the wind knocked out of me.

Today was no exception.

Letting out an annoyed sigh I rose to my feet and dusted off my legs. Fixing my backpack I turned to look at the sign. It pointed to a dragon reserve that was a few metres up the road. Walking the rest of the way to the reserve I headed in to look for the reception, feeling the wards around the reserve shift to let me in. Ignoring the looks that I was getting from some of the people that lived on the reserve, I scanned the area for the reception.

Seeing the sign for the reception I was hesitant about actually heading in. Here I was, in the middle of a country that I had no previous knowledge of. On the advice of one of my closest friends, Bill, I had accepted the position of a researcher for the ministry to learn about dragons. Chewing on my bottom lip, I headed towards the largest cabin.

Opening the door I walked into the reception and introduced myself to the woman behind the desk. Rifling through a stack of paper, she looked up briefly at me.

"You're going to be trained under Charlie Weasley, is that correct?"

I smothered an eye roll; now I knew why Bill was so adamant that I went on this trip. What was it about this particular brother of Bill's that had him trying to continuously pair me up with him? But much to Bill's annoyance, we hadn't set eyes on each other since we'd left Hogwarts.

"That's right." I said after a short pause.

The woman nodded and held out a key for me to take. "As per requested by the ministry the two of you will be sharing a cabin." She pursed her lips slightly, "Is that alright?"

"It's fine." I pocketed the outstretched key. It really was fine. Right now my main priority was reaching wherever I would be staying to get rid of the backpack I was carrying.

"Good," she said with a smile as she came round the desk to stand beside me. "I'll show you the way to the cabin."

"Thanks."

After a short walk to the cabin I would occupy for the next year, she headed back to her desk. Exploring the cabin I eventually made my way up to the second floor. At the top of the staircase were three doors; one bathroom and two bedrooms that were side by side. Seeing my name on one of the doors I opened the door and paused at the sight of a man sitting on my bed.

I furrowed my eyes and glanced back at her door, "I thought this was my room?"

"Oh it is," Charlie said from where he was sitting, the mischief obvious in his eyes. I glanced over his carefully; he looked the way he had when he left Hogwarts the year before I did. Only that he'd clearly put on more muscle.

"Then can I help you with something?" I asked as I walked into the room and dumped the backpack at the foot of the bed.

He sat on the bed, watching me as I removed my shrunken suitcases from the backpack and transformed them back to their original size. Unzipping one of the suitcases I glanced up at Charlie to find him still watching me. I moved around the room, putting my clothes away into the cupboard and placing some of my things out to make it seem more like home. The entire time I was aware of his gaze burning into my back.

With a sigh I turned to face him, my hands on my hips. "What do you want Charlie?"

"Nothing, I was just enjoying the view."