✔️ 𝐔𝐍𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐃 → 𝑐.𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

10 | F E A R

   "UKRAINIAN IRONBELLY", CHARLIE said, standing in front of the most fascinating creature, Ana's eyes ever came to meet. About sixty feet tall, its red glooming eyes so equal to hers, it looked just so majestic, Ana's heart felt about to burst.

   "Why's he in captivity?", she asked, her voice an angry growl, and hatred started boiling underneath her skin by seeing this perfect creature chained up far away from its home.

   Her mind wandered, and like they were still wrapped around her, she could feel cold metallic hand cuffs around her wrists.

   "Those have several reasons, but none of them is to harm you, Ana", she could still hear the old healer's voice ring in her ears, seeing herself staring up at him from a uncomfortable plain white bed. "There's a spell on those cuffs, binding those forces inside you. We don't want you to harm yourself or anyone of us, don't we? Not again."

   "She."

   Ana's head snapped around, her eyes fixating Charlie as his voice dragged her back to the presence. She blinked at him, and a smile curled his lips.

   "She", he repeated. "It's a girl, this one. Her name's Rosie. See her wing?" He pointed his finger at those gigantic leathery wings, and Ana immediately noticed what in the darkness she didn't see before. "She got attacked. Rosie is here for recovery. Those chains indeed prevent her for harming herself or leave the sanctuary before she's fully healed. That would be the death of her."

   "You think chains could hold her back?", Ana scoffed, stepping closer to the preserve.

   "Obviously they do", said Charlie, keeping his eyes on Ana, who now was dangerously close to the dragon. He kept his hand around the wand in the pocket of his jeans, ready to act.

   "I don't think so. I think", Ana said, placing her hands onto the fence; the only barrier that kept her and the dragon apart. "I think Rosie here is pretty aware of you guys helping her. This thing", she pointed at the chain around the dragon's ankle, "she's just tolerating. She could break it like a tin wood. She could burn all of you fools alive, burn your homes to the ground."

   Charlie watched Rosie's head turning, until her eyes locked with Ana's. The fist around his wand clenched as the dragon lowered his head in slow motion. The long neck curved until it was the same hight with Ana's face, and the young woman lifted her hand —

   "Ana, don't —"

   "What?", Ana hissed. "Touch her? Because she could harm me? Kill me?" She threw him a glare over her shoulder. "You know, Charlie Weasley, this is exactly what people were told about me as well. Fear", she said, turning back towards the dragon, "is a tricky whore. I told you, Charlie, I told you there's no such thing as good and evil."

   "You yourself assumed, there's nothing but evil", Charlie replied, his muscles still tensed.

   "Fear is the key to all evil", Ana whispered and again stretched out her hand. "Humans tend to destroy what they fear. First they try to control it, and if this doesn't work, they'll kill it. See, Charlie, every evil thing in this world once got started out of fear. Every war once was nothing more but a frightening man desperate to escape his imaginary fate with power and destruction."

   The Ukrainian Ironbelly sniffed Ana's hand. Her petite fingers would have easily fitted in one of the dragon's nostrils. If it would just snap forward, it could gulp Ana whole. But the young woman just stood there and let Rosie breathe in her scent.

   "What do you think why do wizards want to control those dragons, Charles? Think back. I know that magical history probably never is one of students' favourite classes, but think back to when they decided that dragons have to be kept under control?"

   Charlie had indeed been one of those students that had never been a fan of history class. But even Professor Binns' monotonous boring voice couldn't keep the young Charlie Weasley from learning everything about dragons he could.

   "After they brought them to the edge of extinction", Charlie replied in a plain voice.

   "And the dragons started to react with attacks", Ana closed. The dragon now closed his red eyes, and sunk his snout against the palm of Ana's hand. Awestruck, Charlie watched what he had never witnessed before.

   A full grown dragon, the largest known breed, let a tiny woman rub the back of its snout, as if it would trust Ana completely, yes, even blindly, as it's eyes were still closed. Immediately the hand around Charlie's wand loosened and he stepped closer to the incredible scene happening in front of him.

   "You don't fear dragons, Charlie Weasley, do you?", Ana purred. "Else you wouldn't be here."

   He now stood right next to Ana, not for once taking his eyes off of her. "Those dragons know me, but none of them are tamed. They usually don't let us touch them."

   "You usually don't try", Ana replied. "I saw three of you using Stunning Spells on a tiny Chinese Fireball back then in Durmstrang just to transport them back to the sanctuary."

   "Dragons can't be tamed, Ana, they —"

   "Not everything needs to be controlled", she cut him off. "Sometimes a little trust is all you need. And I can tell you that an animal won't ever disappoint you. Humans on the other hand ... They are the only thing in this world you need to fear." She threw him a smirk. "C'mon, Charlie."

   Before he knew, her hand was around his wrist and lifted up into the air. Charlie felt a shiver run down his spine. He had indeed touched dragons before, but this one was a different story. Rosie's kind was known as extraordinarily dangerous and extremely irascible. But then here she was, calmly breathing against the woman's palm as she scratched the dragon's nose.

   Ana guided his hand further on, until only inches parted his finger tips from the dragon's skin. And as he finally touched the incredibly soft surface of the sensitive skin around the snout, his eyes were still on Ana.

   Slowly she turned towards him, and her lips now moved into a smile - one he'd never seen on her before. Her eyes were sparkling, tiny wrinkles framed them as they did, and her whole face lightened up.

   And for the first time, Charlie Weasley felt what fear was made of.

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