The Marauders: Year Six #Wattys2017

The Dragon Standoff

The Dragon Standoff

The radio in the Ford Anglia crackled. Molly was holding Percy in her arms, feeding him a bottle as she watched Arthur and several other Ministry workers standing about talking across the street in front of a house where they were investigating claims of magical artefacts. She rocked Percy, humming along with the song on the radio until it finished, then smiling down at Percy and laughing as he waved his hand and caught her thick curly red hair in his fist. "Oh Perce, you're mumma's little dumpling. Mumma loves you so very much Percy darling..." she smothered his forehead with kisses.

"Aurors are responding to an urgent call to Gringott's Bank at Diagon Alley after evidence of a break in has been found." The radio news announcer's voice filled the car, and Molly looked up in surprise. A break in at Gringott's?! Unheard of! She reached for the dial as the news announce guffawed quietly, "Don't go getting too excited, folks, it isn't what it sounds like - seems it's a couple of kids that wanted to see the dragon - somehow managed to sneak past the half-blind goblins and have made it past the vaults. Goblins and aurors alike are working through trying to decide how best to find the children among the bank vaults. Experts from Romania are being port-keyed to the scene as well to assist in the Dragon Standoff!."

Molly stared at the radio.

"I'm here with the father of the missing children... you, you there... excuse me!! Sir? Father of the missing children? Have you have any comments for the thousands of listeners to WIZX Radio?"

"Bugger off alright, I'm sort of busy here and I'm not their father, I'm their uncle alright? Bloody news reporters can't ever do their duty in fact checking!"

Bilius Weasley's voice echoed about the interior of the car.

Molly's Weasley blinked, staring at the radio. She very calmly turned and tucked Percy into his little car seat in the back, buckled him in gently and said, "Mumma's going to go and speak to your dada for just a mo'!" and then she turned, and her eyes went very dark and she pushed the door of the car opened, and stared across the street.

"ARTHUR IGNATIUS WEASLEY!" she yelled.

Arthur looked up from the hiccupping teapot he held.

So did the other officials around him.

"What'd you do, mate?" asked one of the other officials.

"I haven't any idea," Arthur answered, "But I'd better go and find out." He handed the teapot off to the other gentleman and held his hat onto his head as he ran across the street to the pale blue car.

The other officials watched as Molly started shouting - they overheard a few words - your idiot brother, dragon and the children were among them - and then Arthur Weasley ran for the driver's door and without so much as a glance back at his team or the hiccupping tea pot, the Ford Anglia sped away.

The official holding the teapot snickered, "That'll be an interesting tale to hear at work tomorrow."

Far, far below Diagon Alley, deep in the earth, Charlie Weasley's tiny fingers were running over the scales on the face of the dragon. He stared up into the dragon's eye, which was as high above him as his mum would stand tall, and he cooed, "Hullo Dragon!" The dragon's eyeball moved, watching him as he petted her hard scales and sang about sealing wax and strings.

Bill sat very still, afraid that if he moved he might spook the dragon - for every time he'd so much as started to move, the dragon's eye had moved to him and narrowed and smoke had leaked from her nostrils. So he'd sat down on the cave floor and hugged his knees and desperately wished he hadn't brought his brother here, wondering how they'd ever leave if he couldn't so much as move. He watched Charlie walk along, running his palm over the lower jaw of the dragon, which formed a sort of crest that went along the back of the dragon's skull, up to her head, a series of sharp horns. Then he turned back and walked the otherway, pausing here and there to put big wet kisses against the dragon's scales. "Love you dragon! Love you dragon!!!" And he reached the front, where the dragon's top jaw formed a triangle, and her front teeth hung over the lip and curved, threateningly long and sharp. Charlie tripped on his trainer laces, which were untied, and caught himself against the tooth.