"You were in Slytherin? You're kidding!"
"What a Gryffindor-like thing to say, Charles"
Far from every Slytherin is a dark wizard or witch.
Some of them use their cunning to get cookies.
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ENTERING THE MAIN BUILDING AT THE DRAGON SANCTUARY, Charlie Weasley pulled off his fireproof balaclava and wiped the sweat on his forehead away. Wasting no time, he immediately went over to the little kitchen nook and poured himself some cold water and downed it before refilling it again. He had only been back a day in Romania and he had already been close to death. He could hear his mother scolding him at the back of his mind for being reckless.
"Where's the fire?" A slightly amused voice asked from the other part of the room. Charlie just rolled his eyes at Amelia Rees for using a joke he had heard a thousand times during all the years working with dragons.
He walked over to the couches and armchairs where Amelia sat with a piece of parchment in hand that she was reading off of before he had entered. He sat down in the armchair across from her, with a sigh, sipping on the water.
"Mira", Charlie just muttered which made the witch in front of him shaking her head in further amusement and understanding. The young Hungarian Horntail had such a cute name, but she was anything but. Charlie got to close for her liking and had ended up almost burning him to a crisp. He was blessed with quick reflexes and they saved him from injury this time. He got really hot though and just needed to cool off.
"I haven't seen you since you got back, you cut your hair", Amelia said and tilted her head a little. "Looks good", she said with a nod.
Charlie dragged a hand through his hair like a comb, missing the length of it a little bit. "Yeah, my mother convinced me", Charlie muttered and emptied his glass of water in his mouth before putting it down on the coffee table. The woman started to snicker.
"How old are you again? thirty-four?"
"Thirty-five actually I - "
" - And your mother forced you? No wonder you're single!" Amelia almost fell out her seat as she doubled over with laughter.
"I'm glad I can be of amusement to you Mrs. Rees", Charlie tried to glare at her but failed miserably as he gave off a laugh of his own. His mother scared him more than any dragon he had come face to face with. He did actually kind of like the new haircut but he would never in a million years let Molly Weasley know because he would hear the words 'I told you so' for eternity.
"So how was your holiday?" Charlie asked to try and get the woman to stop her laughing fit. She did calm down. "Well... you know, pretty great actually", she said with a big smile. "You know me and Dan have been trying to start a family for a while, and well, we figured out during Christmas that we're pregnant!", she blurted out and her already wide smile grew even bigger.
"Really? Congratulations!" Charlie said and got up on his feet to give her a celebratory hug. Charlie felt a bit of pride over the fact that he had seen Daniel and Amelia go from strangers to friends, to a couple, to a married couple and now a couple starting a family. He was so happy for them both.
"I've talked to Siggy about everything and it's actually great timing. There are a few dragon handlers and future magizoologists who want some experience that will arrive at the end of February. They all come from the reserve in Australia that focuses on Antipodean Opaleyes", Amelia started to explain as they sat down again. "They will stay for two months but Siggy says she will try and recruit one or two of them to stay more permanently. I think she wants to retire soon", Amelia snickered at her last sentence.
Charlie could not imagine the Swedish woman ever retire. She would die at the sanctuary, probably killed by a dragon. She loved the place too much, and she loved her job too much to retire from it. She was, however, dishing out more responsibilities for Charlie, Dan, Amelia as they were the oldest and more experienced after herself of course.
"Anyways, did you have a good holiday, other than being bossed around by your mother?" Amelia smirked. Charlie ignored her comment about being bossed around.
"They seem good. Bill and his family weren't there, they were in France with Fleur's parents. Everyone else was there. I got to hold Ron's son for the first time, he is only two month's old and he was so cute for the first few minutes before he started to scream at me", Charlie smiled fondly. He loved his family dearly. Especially all his nieces and nephews. "George and Angelina are expecting again, Percy and Audrey announced their engagement. They're getting married in June."
After the summer, Charlie would be the only one of Molly and Arthur Weasley's children to be unmarried. Except for Fred, but he was sadly dead so it wasn't as he could get married. Molly had gone on and on about how Charlie should settle down and find a more stable job where he didn't run the risk of getting killed by dragons every day.
"Wow, you know, the Weasley's will soon take over the whole world it sounds like... How many are there now? Thousands?" Amelia asked with a smirk. "When will you contribute to the Weasley cause?" She asked casually, but it still made Charlie groan out loud. "Not you too Ams, please. My mother has been pestering me about it ever since Bill's wedding", Amelia started to laugh again. She loved to rile Charlie up, it usually made his face match the colour of his hair.
"Relax Charlie, I know you are happy and that's what matters", Amelia said with a smile.
"Please, can you owl my mother and tell her that?"
"Who knows? Maybe there's a good looking Aussie willing to give you a chance", Amelia teased and winked at him.
