Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

A Chance Encounter (Charlie Weasley)

This was requested by Instanatick and I can only say I'm sorry but I don't personally like this one. Your request was really interesting but I don't think I pulled it off that well. Sorry. 

Moving to a completely different country was never something I'd pictured myself actually doing. Of course, it was something I thought but never voiced, wanting to explore the world around me. It was always a silent wish never something I saw myself following through. And yet here I was, having moved to bleeding Romania completely on a whim. The opportunity to work at a different dragon reserve had sprung up seemingly from the middle of nowhere and I took it with both hands, without even considering that I would be chosen. It was an open application, with no doubt thousands applying from all around the world. When I checked once again, my application for transfer has already been approved and I was leaving India far behind to settle in Romania.

Bloody Romania.

Not even a reserve in France or another country that I knew a decent amount about, but bloody Romania. I wouldn't let myself regret it, though. This was something I refused to regret.

Instead, I rifled through all of the paperwork that I needed to sign off on before I could officially begin working tomorrow. Checking that everything was in order, I read carefully through the papers once more, making sure that I wasn't signing off on something that I shouldn't. Merlin knew that I'd heard about some dodgy dragon reserves adding clauses to contracts where employees if they passed away whilst working, could be fed to the dragons they worked so hard to raise and because people hadn't read their contracts properly ... well.

Once I was content that everything was in order, that I wasn't signing up to become dragon food, I signed the last remaining document before handing it back to the waiting member of staff. The older wizard set about creating a file for my details and assured me that my escort would be arriving soon. Soon, it turned out, would mean mere minutes as one of the dragonologists approached me with a friendly smile.

"Pillai?" she asked as she drew closer to me. Hearing my surname, I straightened up and took her outstretched hand in a firm handshake. "I'm Innis, we've been looking forward to your arrival."

"Oh?" I glanced curiously towards her as she set about leading me away from the welcome desk and towards the outer perimeter of the reserve that was lined by the staff's cabins.

"We're severely understaffed at the moment," Innis confessed as we walked. She cast a warm smile towards me when she noticed how I was taking in the organisation of the reserve; it really was very different from the one I used to work at. I was confident that I'd get a handle on it all soon enough. "You came very highly recommended and the choice was easier than we'd originally thought it would be."

"That doesn't sound right, I thought thousands applied, " I murmured absentmindedly, feet coming to a halt on their own as we reached a dragon pen that was surrounded by a large number of staff.

All the dragonologists – trainees and fully licensed alike – stood bordering the edge of a pen and shouted so loudly over each other that I couldn't hope to hear what they were saying. It seemed that in the face of such situations some people forgot their most basic of training; shouting would make the dragons more anxious, making them more worked up. And Merlin, one of them was certainly very worked up.

In the centre, the Peruvian Vipertooth – a male, judging by its size – was circling around the outer rim of the pen. The Peruvian Vipertooths, a breed known to be particularly venomous posed a significant threat to those who worked with them. This male in particular was rearing harshly against what seemed like 3 females who were holding their own and sticking together in the middle of the pen. My eyes finally shifted away from the dragons, lingering on the redheaded keeper who had dove into the fray, trying to intercede in the fight.