Adventures in Curse Breaking: Dragon Treasure

No Apologies Needed

"Brilliant!" said Barnaby, throwing his arms in the air in celebration.

"We have to get out of here now," said Sarah. She was breathing heavy, but she couldn't take her eyes off the dragon. "It won't stay asleep for long."

She turned to see Bill helping Charlie to his feet. Other than a slight limp, he was completely healed.

"Nice work," he said to Penny.

"Thank me later," she said, her voice shaky. "After we get as far away from here as possible."

"Hang on a minute." Charlie hobbled a few feet away and picked up a golden object that the others hadn't noticed. "I found it. The Horntail had it."

"Urgruff's egg!" said Bill. He took it from Charlie and held it up, eyeing it as if it were his first-born. "We did it!"

"Can we 'ooh' and 'ahh' over it outside of the dragon's lair?" said Merula. 

"Right." Bill tucked the egg under his arm and led the others out of the cave. They made sure to creep as far away from the sleeping dragon as possible. 

Barnaby noticed Sarah's limp and helped support her as she walked. Now that the excitement was wearing off, pain was shooting up her legs and the small of her back. Her head pounded.

Bill practically had to hold Charlie down to keep him from touching the Norwegian Ridgeback, which was thankfully still unconscious. Surviving two battles with dragons had already pushed their luck to the breaking point. They crawled past her as they had before, and carefully inched their way back across the chasm. 

"What were you doing in the Horntail's lair anyway?" Bill asked Charlie sternly once they were on steady ground. 

"I went after that," he said, pointing to the golden egg tucked under Bill's arm. 

"How'd you know where to find it?" asked Penny. 

Charlie shrugged. "Guessed. I remembered what Merula said yesterday about being jinxed. Figured she was right. With our luck, the egg was probably with the most dangerous dragon. Turns out I was right."

Sarah grinned at Charlie, but he was looking anxiously at Bill. Sarah guessed he was awaiting a lecture about wandering off by himself, but Bill just looked straight forward as they walked. 

The farther they got from the dragons, the more relaxed the others became, but Charlie grew more morose with each step. Sarah saw him staring down at his feet and refusing to meet her eyes. 

Once they arrived at the tent, Bill instructed everyone to begin packing. Sarah made to join the others, but Bill stopped her. "Why don't you go speak to Charlie while everyone's busy?" he said quietly. "He could use some cheering up."

Charlie was seated at one of the logs around the campfire. His chin rested in hid hands and he stared down at the ground. 

Sarah limped over and sat down beside him. "You okay?"

"Not really." He didn't look up. "I just keep making stupid decisions lately."

"No, you don't."

Charlie lifted his hand and regarded her seriously. "Going off by myself to investigate a Hungarian Horntail's lair wasn't stupid?"

She smirked. "Okay that was pretty stupid. But its not like any of us can judge you. All of us have made some pretty stupid decisions before, too. And anyway, it all worked out. You did find the egg."

"I guess so. It's just that ever since Rakepick tried to kill us, its like my head hasn't been screwed on right. I'm falling behind in my studies, my quidditch practices have been rough--that rumor I started about Barnaby and Badeea? I never would've done that normally! I don't know why I did it."

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to say the next words. "I snuck off to find that egg because I hoped if I was the one to find it, everyone would be so impressed they'd forget about what happened last night. But all I did was make an even bigger fool out of myself...

"I'm really sorry, Sarah. For everything. I...I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore."

Sarah was silent for a moment. She stared at the ground, wondering what to say. Then, a grin spread across her face. "Why on earth would I not want to be friends with a guy who broke into a Horntail's lair alone and lived to tell the tale?"

Charlie chuckled. "Because that guy is insane?"

"Charlie, you're talking to the girl who led a fully grown mountain troll onto school grounds to please a poltergeist." 

Charlie laughed. "Guess we're cut from the same cloth."

"Exactly," said Sarah. "Especially because I understand what you're going through. You know, about Rakepick. What happened messed us all up, one way or another. But the best way to move on is to stick together and support each other, yeah?"

Charlie nodded. 

"Great." Sarah stood and offered a hand to Charlie. Pulling him to his feet made her grunt with pain, but she ignored it and said, "Then let's go help the others, shall we?"

She started in that direction, but Charlie pulled her back. "Sarah? About me fancying you? I just wanted to let you know that I'm over it. I'm fine being best friends with you and Barnaby." 

Sarah smiled before leading Charlie back over to the others. The tent must have been packed away already, as it was nowhere in sight. 

"All finished?" asked Sarah.

"No thanks to you," said Merula. 

"Sorry about that," said Charlie. He rubbed his neck, embarrassed. "And sorry about sneaking off like that. I put everyone in danger, and there's no excuse for that."

Penny stepped over and gave him a hug. "We're just so glad you're okay."

"I suppose I can forgive you this time," said Bill. "As long as you promise not to tell Mum about this."

"Deal," said Charlie. He pulled himself away from Penny's hug. 

Merula cleared her throat. "I guess I should apologize too, Charlie. For last night."

"Don't mention it," he said. 

Sarah was so shocked at Merula's apology she almost didn't hear Bill speaking. 

"Well, I suppose we should head back." He pulled the portkey out of his bag. "Everyone, gather round."

"Wait!" said Barnaby. "I still haven't got to ride a dragon!"

Charlie grinned. "Never gonna happen, mate."

"Grab on!" said Bill. 

The portkey had started to glow. Everyone hurried to put a hand on the plate. Merula just managed to grab ahold of it before they were whisked off once more, away from the land of dragons and back to Gringotts Bank.