Emotional Connection

Dragons!

Everyone could feel the tension radiating from Ashley and Charlie as they stood in front of everyone from the sanctuary. Literally everyone; they'd called a meeting down in the pit, even leaving the hospital unattended.

Ashley was evidently nervous, having to speak to everyone. As she technically outranked Charlie in Dumbledore's fake hierarchy he'd made before his death, it was decided that she would have to address everyone about the issue of who would be in for going to war, though revealing her position within the Order to everyone wasn't something she'd ever prepared herself to do. She wasn't sure what she was more anxious about if she was brutally honest.

"Ashley," Charlie murmured to her, "are you ready?"

Nodding, she cleared her throat, quickly gaining everyone's attention. "Hi. Um... ok. So last night, I received word from the Order that we are fully preparing for war with Voldemort. And yeah, that's fairly terrifying," she addressed as panicked whispers flew through the crowd in front of her, "but no one is obligated to join us in heading back to help with their efforts."

"We gathered you here to basically see who will be joining us, get an idea of numbers to try and sort out some sort of transportation that won't take half a month to prepare." Charlie stepped up beside her, watching everyone closely.

Ashley stood back, waiting for something to happen.

"Yeah, where do I put my name down?" Jace raised his hand.

"Same, is there like a sign-up sheet or are we just winging it?" James stepped forward, grinning.

Ashley sighed, "we're honestly just winging it. Plus, we didn't want a permanent thing, If you decide now to come with us and later that you don't want to, that's ok too."

"How come you get to fix this? Like, Charlie works for the Order, he worked with Dumbledore on his recruitment plans, what have you done?"

This was what Ashley-Rae was dreading. "I actually... I'm the head healer for the Order. A dormant position until needed, and now it's needed so... I'm stepping up. That's why I'm talking to you about it and leading this thing rather than Charlie; I technically outrank him in the Order's hierarchy."

There were a few murmurs, but after they knew what they were dealing with, more people stepped forward to volunteer for going to war.

One of the trainers Charlie knew pulled them to the side after a while of people talking away about it all. "I think I figured out a way for us to be able to get there pretty quickly without magic. But um... it's dangerous and we probably need to train a bunch more people."

Ashley glanced at Charlie, not sure whether to trust him or not. "What is it?"

"Dragons."

Ashley's blood ran cold. "You want us to ride the dragons to England?"

He nodded, looking to Charlie. "Several of us know how to anyway and are fully trained in it, I'd say we have enough for one rider to a dragon along with two others with basic training in it? But there's no way any of us would be prepared to ride a dragon with someone who has no training in riding at all."

Charlie nodded, looking over at Ashley. "This could work. For your healers, we can just schedule training around the shifts you have, make sure no one's doing too much?"

Ashley thought for a moment, trying to figure it out in her head. "How long would it take for you to train them? Days or hours or what? Like I'll need a time frame to figure out if it's plausible or not."

The trainer thought for a moment. "I'd say an average of eighteen hours for complete absolute basics, another eighteen for what we'd generally call level one training. I'd say you want at least half at level one, if not more."

Nodding, she glanced at Charlie, who was giving her a hopeful look. "Ok, I'll figure it out. But I want minimum three-quarters of my Healers level one, including me, by the beginning of May. My day off is today so you can have me as long as you like, and I'll let everyone know they have mandatory training... when's the best times for you guys, let us work around you for this."

He shrugged, "we're always training so you can drop by any time and at least three of us will be working. Depending on how often you drop-in we can get you all done in two weeks, level one training. other trainers Charlie and I can sort, switch out their regular handling of dragons to riding training."

Ashley nodded, pleased. "Ok, everyone, listen up!" She called out to everyone, drawing their attention very quickly. "Transport has been sorted but does require a level of training that is mandatory for you. Especially my Healers. So," she grinned, "who wants to ride a dragon?"

~

Staring at the thousands of pieces of paper laid out across the living room floor, Ashley, Charlie, James and Jace felt like their brains had been completely fried. As she outranked literally everyone at the sanctuary in terms of the Order of the Phoenix, figuring out logistics with the dragons had fallen on her, so she'd enlisted the help of her two best friends and boyfriend once she'd worked herself into a corner.

"I really, really don't know what on earth we're even supposed to be doing here Ash," James sighed, placing his empty mug on the side table. "The only thing that makes sense is the names, and even those are turning to mush."

Jace smiled, handing James his half-finished coffee, "so... there's twenty-seven of us going, three to a dragon and seven dragons that can be reliably ridden that far, leaving... How many without transport?"

"Six," Charlie muttered, moving a few things around. "Well... Ok, so Orion can actually take four, he's a bigger dragon, So can... wait no, I'd rather not put too much strain on Old Mick. If we get Sander and Killiara, they're not as reliable, but with Old Mick then they should behave." Charlie took the pencil from Ashley, scribbling a few things in barely legible handwriting on the clipboard they were going to show Ben. As the lead Dragon Rider, they wouldn't be going anywhere without his approval on partners for the dragons. Most had been done already, with James and Jace being trained specifically with Mila, and Katy and Taylor with Norberta, but others hadn't been given any one dragon to work with and so had to be paired.

"Ok, well I'm going to lie down and stop my head from pounding," Ashley whispered, using her hoodie as a pillow and lying on the floor, closing her eyes, thankful that they'd finally got it over and done with. The past three weeks had been nearly non-stop for her, as every spare minute she had, she'd been out training with Mango. Charlie said she put too much pressure on herself, but being the Head Healer in the Order, she had to be prepared for any outcome, even those that didn't fall under Healer jurisdiction. Besides, it helped her learn a lot more about the dragons that Charlie loved so dearly, so that was a bonus.

"You two feel free to stay here, it's late, and that was the most exhausting thing I think I've ever had to do." Charlie stared at the clipboard for a few seconds before throwing it onto the table. "I'll take Ash to bed." He gently lifted her, carrying her through to their bedroom and kicking the door closed, leaving Jace and James cuddling on the sofa.

James shifted to better see Jace's face. "Do you think we'll get through this?"

Jace looked down. "I don't know. But Merlin, I hope so."

Taking a shaky breath, James turned and shoved his face into Jace's chest. "It's cheesy and gross to say, but I can't see myself with anyone else. Ever. And I just want us both to survive this, is that too much to ask?"