Fire Breather

part two

Charlie drummed his fingers impatiently on the kitchen table as he awaited the day's mail. Across from him, Percy was glaring at him from atop the book he had already began reading for next term.

"Knock it off, would you?" George groaned, taking his place next to Fred, who had already dug into his food. "What are you even doing?"

"I'm waiting for the mail," Charlie replied, checking his watch. Almost on cue, the small door that had been magically installed for the mail carrying owls to enter through, opened. In flew several owls, including a familiar russet colored barn owl, which made Charlie's heart beat faster in excitement.

Gracefully, the owl dropped a formal envelope onto the table before Charlie, and he quickly grasped it and tore it open.

"Merlin, Charlie, what's up with you today?" Fred asked, mouth partially full of food.

But Charlie was too busy reading the response from Collin Ridgebit, which detailed when he could move in, the wage he would receive as an intern, the hut he would be living in, and who his supervising instructor would be. It also mentioned the possibility of a job position opening up mid- September, that, depending on the outcomes of the internship, could very possibly be his if he wanted it.

"Charlie!" An elbow to his arm brought him back to reality.

"Oi! What was that for?" Charlie asked, rubbing his arm where Fred had elbowed him.

"What is the matter with you this morning? And what is that?" Percy questioned, lowering his book so that he could look at his older brother.

"None of your business is what it is," Charlie scowled.

"What is all of the commotion in here about?" Molly bustled into the kitchen, a mug of tea in one hand and the day's paper in the other.

"Charlie got a letter, but he won't tell anyone what it is," Percy, always the first to snitch, spoke.

Ginny, who had entered right behind her mum, gasped giddily.

"Char, is it a love letter?" She skipped over to him excitedly. Charlie couldn't help but chuckle at his ten year old sister. There was such a large age gap between the two of them that, under normal circumstances, Charlie could see where they wouldn't be very close. But both he and Ginny were so stubborn and hotheaded that they were a lot alike. They very rarely fought, and often bonded over broom rides that he would sneak her out on at sunset.

"Sorry runt, no love letters here today," he ruffled up her hair and slid the letter back into the envelope before she could get a chance to sneak a peak at it and see the reservation's seal on the corner of the parchment.

Molly frowned as her second oldest quickly hid the letter. She wasn't often intrusive when it came to her children's personal belongings, but she was concerned about what this could be. She had heard the stories Arthur was telling her- groups of Death Eaters were once again beginning to congregate in more public places. They were more open about their identities once more, and this worried her. What if her son was being lured in, or tricked into something. As a mother, her mind automatically jumped to the worst case scenario.

"Charlie, let me see the letter," Molly extended her arm towards him, palm up expectantly.

Charlie couldn't believe it- never in his entire life had his mother demanded such a blatant breach of privacy, without any reasoning behind it.

"This is a private letter, addressed to me. If you were supposed to know about it, you would have received a copy of it as well," Charlie replied shortly, trying to keep a level head.

"I'm not asking again, young man. You are my son, and I'm worried about you. Now hand me the letter," Molly's tone was harder, sterner, now.

Gaze hard and icy, Charlie knew that he didn't have a choice. Furiously, he shoved the letter into his mother's hand and watched as she opened it and began reading.

Her face drained of color, before flushing a bright shade of red. Charlie knew that, if he had been at Hogwarts, he would have for sure received a Howler.

"CHARLES WEASLEY YOU HAD BETTER EXPLAIN YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!" She shrieked. Her short stature seemed to grow, and Charlie willed himself not to lose the fire in his belly and explain to her exactly what he was doing.

"I'm living my dream. I'm an adult, and this is the perfect job for me. You saw how much it pays, just as an intern. You let Bill go off and become a curse breaker, and that's way more dangerous than this. I've made up my mind. I'm going, whether you support me or not, and there's nothing that can change my mind on this."

The room was silent, everyone watching the standoff between the two with bated breath. Finally, it was George that broke the silence.

"I think it would be wicked cool if you worked with dragons," he shrugged, taking a bite of his cereal.

Molly sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Charlie, I thought we talked about this," she spoke, voice soft and disappointed.

"No mum, you talked about it and didn't give me a chance to get excited and explain the job to you. Which is why I wrote back my reply. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, Professor Kettleburn told me himself-"

"Professor Kettleburn recommended this to you?" Molly questioned, eyes meeting Charlie's for the first time since he had placed the letter in her hand.

"Yes. He knew that it was my dream job, working with dragons, and when the internship became available, he practically forced me to sign up. Said that it was his job to make sure talent and interest like mine didn't go to waste."

A beat of silence passed, and Charlie dropped his head, looking at his feet glumly.

"I need to talk to your father about this," she said in a quiet voice. "We need to make arrangements in order to make this move in date, and you are going to have to promise to write us every day so that we know you're safe."

Charlie's head shot up, eyes wide.

"You mean- I can go?" He cried, choking back all of the excitement, as if she might retract her statement and change her mind.

"I suppose, if your father says it's alright, then there's nothing we can do to stop yo-" she was cut off by arms being thrown around her, lifting her off her feet. With a small squeal of surprise, she laughed as Charlie hugged her tightly.

"Thank you, mum," he whispered in her ear as he set her down. "I love you."

With tears in her eyes about letting another one of her babies leave, she buried her face into Charlie's shoulder.

"I love you too, son."

*

(A/N: okay I don't want you to think that Molly is going to be a bitch in this story, I just know first hand how scary overprotective parents get right before a big milestone where you're going to leave them. So don't worry, she won't be like this for the entire story! I felt like I needed another chapter or two for this sneak peak, just to introduce people to the story a bit more, and get them hooked :) I hope you guys are enjoying, and let me know what you think! As always, thanks for reading, and stay safe and healthy everyone!)