The Red Dragon | Charlie Weasley

Chapter 4

When Haela steps out of the tent she shares with Kadrick a while later, the sun is already setting. The sound of chatter comes from a few tents away from theirs and the smell of freshly made food hangs in the air. After stretching her arms and grabbing a sweater from her bag, Haela heads towards the sound, following her senses.

Someone had started a bonfire in front of the larger tent Aurora showed them earlier. The seats around it are empty but through the open flaps of the tent, Haela can see people inside.

She is about to head towards the tent when a hand lands on her shoulder. It grabs her sweater and pulls her back slightly.

On instinct, Haela reaches over her shoulder for the wrist of the person behind her. Someone says something, but Haela isn't focussed on that. With a tight grip on her attacker's writs, Haela twists her body so she can pull the other person over her back and onto the ground. With a loud thud, they land on the ground. Haela crouches down and reaches out to grab the person by the collar.

Two piercing blue eyes stare up at her in shock. Haela notices her attacker is a male with red hair and somewhere in the back of her mind, there is a hint of familiarity. The man's face seems tanned at first glance, but Haela can see it's due to the freckles.

A scream sounds coming from the direction of the tent and Haela abruptly lets go of the man, backing off. In her haste to let go, she falls backward onto the ground.

Aurora comes running out of one of the tents with Isaac and Kadrick on her heels.

"What is going on here?" the woman asks as she looks at the man on the ground before turning to Haela. When her eyes land on Haela, they narrow.

"I'm sorry," Haela says to the woman before turning to the man still laying on the ground, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

She doesn't get to finish as the red-haired man dissolves into loud laughter. Wheezing, he grabs for his stomach before rolling onto his side, facing away from Haela.

"Way to go, Peucag," Kadrick snickers as he holds out his hand. With ease, he helps Haela back onto her feet and she quickly dusts off her clothes. The man on the ground has calmed down a little but when he looks up to Aurora who is still glaring daggers at Haela, he starts laughing louder again.

"You can't sneak up on me like that!" Haela protests, "You are dealing with poachers who have already cursed one person. For all I know, he could have been one of them!"

She gestures to the red-haired man on the ground who abruptly stops laughing. His expression turns wounded and he scoffs: "I'm not a poacher!"

"You could have been!"

The man opens his mouth to argue but doesn't get the chance as Isaac intervenes: "It is good you are trained well. Charles, get up from the ground."

The man mutters something about it not being his fault he's on the ground in the first place, but the older wizard ignores him. He turns to Haela and gestures to the man scrambling back up, "This is Charles Weasley, our fourth Dragonologist."

"Normally, I would say nice to meet you," the Dragonologist chuckles as he holds out his hand, "But I'm not sure if it is now. You can call me Charlie if you'd like."

Haela rolls her eyes at the man but shakes his hand, "Haela Peucag, curse specialist of the British Magical Law Enforcement Squad."

"Pleasure," the man smirks, his blue eyes twinkling. Standing up, Haela notices the man is slightly taller than her and well-built. He has long-ish red hair that is windswept, probably due to Haela's attack, and his freckled nose is slightly crooked. Together with his sharp jawline, complete with a thin layer of stubble, it gives the man an almost rugged look.

She is ripped out of her thoughts by Kadrick who wraps an arm around her shoulder and starts heading towards the tent where the smell of food is coming from. Haela lets herself be led by the Hit Wizard. They sit down at the large table where Phillip and Estel are already seated at. They are deep in conversation with a black-haired wizard Haela hasn't seen before.

Aurora and Isaac proceed to place dishes on the table and as Haela regards the food, she almost forgets about the events that happened mere minutes ago.

Almost being the key word as Charlie decides to take the seat opposite of Haela with a broad grin, "Is it safe for me to grab a bite to eat, or are you going to stab me while I reach for the potatoes?"

Haela grits her teeth and glares at the man, "Why don't you try it out? See for yourself."

She grabs the silver fork from beside her plate and glimpses up at Charlie as she spins it between her fingers. His grin widens as their eyes meet.

"Haela, Kadrick, this is Josué Barrés."

Again, it's Isaac who interrupts them. Haela turns her head to look at the black-haired wizard sitting beside Estel. There is a hint of similarity between the two, Haela notices. The wizard is well-built like Charlie and Kadrick and smiles at her.

"He's the Hit Wizard sent by the Andorran Ministry of Magic," Isaac continues. Kadrick and Josué shake hands and Haela nods at the wizard.

Turning more to the others, Haela says: "I want to retrace the steps of the Dragonologist that got cursed the other day. Our boss said you hadn't found what cursed him yet and I don't want anyone of the personnel or your dragons getting hurt."

Her words make the Dragonologists around the table laugh.

"Dragons are extremely difficult to hurt," Charlie explains when he sees Haela's confused expression, "They have ancient magic running through their veins. Only the most powerful spells can hurt a dragon."

"I still want to check out what cursed your colleague," Haela says and turns to the Healer, "Do you know what curse he is under?"

Phillip shakes his head and Haela frowns.

"You can join me," Charlie pipes up. He has managed to get a hold of the plate of potatoes and winks at Haela, "I'm securing the perimeter tonight. Hope you're not afraid in the dark?"

~~~

Gosh, I'm already in love with this couple, you don't even know!