Damsel in Distress

"Well, grab some powder and jump in."

It wasn't as if Harry didn't know how to use Floo Powder, it was that he had no idea where he was going.

Charlie Weasley had taken a vacation for the summer and offered to bring Ron and his friends back to Romania for a week. Harry had suffered a month in the Dursley household before he received the glorifying letter from Ron. It hadn't taken him forty-five seconds to pack and be waiting at the door.

"What am I supposed to be saying, exactly?"

"Oh, right," Charlie said, his thin cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. "Crivina, Romania. Ilie's Trader Shop."

One after the other, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Charlie stepped into the green flames that lit the fireplace and were lifted off their feet, swirled around and thrown into a dark, vertical passageway. Ron was the first to free himself, crawling out with difficulty to an exotic, one-roomed shop.

"Blimey," he said, his mouth agape as he stared at all the fantastical trinkets the shelves held.

The others climbed out and stood up, covered in soot. They began brushing themselves while Charlie muttered, "I forgot how often he cleans that thing."

The shop was filled from one end to the other with oddities and also objects that looked slightly familiar. It reminded Harry of Borgin and Burkes to certain extents. The air was dusty and the items that Ron and Hermione were studying, at a fair distance, looked like things that would be sold in Knockturn Alley. Though the room was well lit, it held a grim presence that Harry was not fond of.

"Ilie!" Charlie shouted, causing Hermione to jump. "Get out here, you old fool. You have visitors!"

The shop was drowned in complete and utter silence. Harry looked up at the ceiling where a bat hung. It fluttered its wings and resting them over his head to resume its peaceful slumber.

"You've brought customers, Mr. Weasley. I knew you woult."

The voice took them off guard. All four whirled around to find a plump little man standing in front of them, smiling politely at his potential consumers. He was three times smaller than Uncle Vernon, but his neck was hidden behind an extra layer of skin and his belly rolled over the belt strapped around his waist.

"I doubt they would want anything in this old shed," said Charlie with a quick glance around the room. "Have you ever thought about modernizing your stock?"

"I fint that as an over-uset tactic. Like to keep to the classics myself," said the shopkeeper in his heavily accented voice. It was obvious he had been taught English no long ago and hadn't been properly introduced to the consonant d. "Now, who are these young magickers? They look like...stutents, are they?"

"Yeah, we go to--"

"Hogwarts!" Ilie said, finishing Ron's sentence. "That school brings more boties out here then we know what to to with. I bet there are half as many of you here as there are in Britain. My assistant is from Hogwarts. Talks about it all the time, he does. More of a heatache than I can stant."

"Where is old Dally?" Charlie asked.

"Working on bills or something in the back. TALLY! TALLY! He'll come." Ilie was looking at Harry, Ron and Hermione with interest. "Now, tell me these stutents names, Weasley. We haven't had a proper greeting."

"This is Hermione Granger," Charlie began, pointing to Hermione, "my little brother, Ron,"--Ilie shook Ron's hand in a business-like fashion and said, "There are more Weasleys than I can count, are there not?"

"...and Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter!" Ilie's eyes grew wide and round, and taking Harry's hand in a firm grip, he said, "It is a pleasure."

"Thank you, sir," said Harry, and to his relief, there was an interruption from the silent staring.

"What do you--Charlie! You're back already?"

"Happy to see you, too, Dal, " Charlie replied, offering a smirk.

Dally was a few inches taller than Ron and towered over everyone. His hair was dark brown, his face was rather hollowed and his accent was most definitely British. He was quite skinny and rather pale compared to Ilie, who resembled a ripe tomato.

"Charlie," Dally said, gazing at Harry, Ron and Hermione with a sad look on his face. "Are you taking these kids to the caves?"

"Yeah, I am," said Charlie cheerfully. "Dal, this is my little brother, Ron, and his friends Hermione and Harry."

He inclined his head and repeated their names. Then Ilie's slapped a hand on Dally's back and muttered, "Harry Potter. "

"Yes, thank you Ilie, I know. Charlie...there's been a bit of a mistake. Apparently they didn't send you an owl because you wouldn't have brought them back with you." Charlie's face contorted and Hermione gave a soft little sigh of disappointment as if she knew what was coming. Harry didn't understand, but said nothing. "They up and left, mate. The entire division moved north to Brasov. They were running short of newborns in the caves so they're looking for dragon nests in the Carpathian Mountains until the ones down here do their business. I thought they told you before you left."

"They didn't leave you any notice?" Hermione asked.

"Rarely to, ton't they?" answered Ilie.

"How do they expect me to get to Brasov?" asked Charlie, perplexed but not surprised.

"Don't worry, they left instructions with me...but these three won't be able to go up there with you. Not even Mr. Connelly has a clue what's up there and they said they might be migrating to Sibui before long. They wouldn't be expecting you until they'd already settled in."

Charlie turned to Ron, Harry and Hermione who were standing silently off to the side. Ron was playing with a metal, tooth-shaped item and Harry and Hermione, who had been listen intently to the conversation, suddenly looked elsewhere and pretended as if they hadn't heard a word.

"I don't really care if the division moved, I'll still let you check out the caves."

"Seriously?" Ron exclaimed, dropping the metal object he was holding.

"You can really do that?" asked Harry before Hermione interjected, "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Hermione, I know the caves like the back of my hand and I know every dragon by name. If there are any problems, it'll be Ron stepping in dung."

- - - - -

Thirty minutes later, they arrived at the caves by broomstick and even Charlie looked shocked to see so many dragons infesting the area, which made everyone uneasy and Harry more so, for he had experience when dealing with this particular dragon species.

"You knew they were Horntails and you didn't tell us?" Ron asked, going white in the face.

"They weren't all Horntails when I left," Charlie said, more to himself than to answer Ron's question. "They must've pushed out the Ironbellies and the Longhorns."

There were three caves. Harry counted ten dragons in the cave to his left, twelve to his right and seventeen in the middle.

"And you know all their names?" Harry asked, glad they were as far away from the creatures as they were.

"I swear, the population's doubled since I've been gone," said Charlie.

"Well, that's reassuring now, isn't it?" Hermione said ruthlessly. "What did I tell you? We shouldn't have come here in the first place. It wasn't safe to begin with and now that no one's here to regulate anything, it's all gone to--"

She suddenly broke off and Harry looked at her to see what was the matter. She had turned around and her mouth was hanging open slightly as she stared unblinkingly behind them. Harry looked over his shoulder and he, too, stood gaping. Ron and Charlie followed suit, and soon they were all gazing into the blood-red eyes of a full-sized male Horntail. Its giant, spiked head was almost ten feet away and they could feel its hot breath steaming their faces.

The boys stayed completely silent and didn't even chance to inhale, but Hermione's breath caught and the dragon's eyes shifted toward her figure, seeming to examine the piece of meat before him. In the midst of the stillness, Charlie whispered, "Apparate!"

Hermione, standing as if she had been hit with a Leg-Locker Charm, whispered back, "We can't!"

The dragon's face shifted from Charlie back to Hermione with an odd gleam in his eye and finally decided on his prey. The Horntail lifted its head and let out a piercing screech. The three boys watched helplessly as the dragon curled its giant claw around Hermione's waist and unfolded its wings to lift off the ground. Harry's fingers where trembling as he went for his wand but Charlie grabbed his arm.

"Don't hurt them!" he yelled, trying to be heard over the tremendous noise the flapping wings were making above them and Hermione's desperate screams.

Ron ran forward while Harry stepped out of Charlie's grasp, saying, "Have you gone mad? It's got Hermione!"

"She doesn't have her wand, Harry!"

Harry turned around and saw Ron holding up Hermione's wand, a sickened expression on his face. Hermione's screams could still be heard but the dragon was flying off towards the caves and the Horntails below were beginning to perk up their heads to see what their fellow had brought them.

Ron and Harry grabbed their brooms, kicked off the ground but suddenly their brooms snapped beneath them and they fell in a heap to the ground. Charlie was standing where they had left him but now he was holding out his wand.

"They don't know what they're doing! We just have to figure out a way to get Hermione back without hurting any of the dragons."

"Come off it, Charlie!" Harry yelled. "They're going to eat her if we don't do something NOW!"

"We just have to work out a plan and then we can--"

Charlie stopped short in his sentence and fell to the ground, stiff as a board. Harry looked over at Ron, who had his wand still pointed at Charlie's body.

"All right, let's go," said Ron, a look of satisfaction crossing his face.

"That was brilliant," said Harry.

They took the two remaining brooms and sped off down the hill to the caves where they landed a little less than safe distance away. The Horntail and Hermione had just approached the entrance of the second cave when Harry held out his wand and yelled, "Relashio!" Red sparks shot out of Harry's wand and bounced off the dragon's scales, not even enough to make the creature spare them a glance. Ron tried his own spell, pointing his wand at a few stones on the ground and yelling, "Locomotor rocks!" The stones floated up above the ground and followed Ron's wand tip as he waved his hand and aimed it to smash his fist into the dragon's back, but instead of his hand doing this, the stones did so repeatedly. The spell had be effective, for the Horntail turned its spiked head and gave a loud, rumbling yowl.

"Now you've done it," Harry said, looking across at Ron. As the dragon started to turn to face them, they both saw Hermione dangling from the dragon's claw, trying hopelessly to free herself. Her arms were held tightly in the Horntail's grasp and her legs flailed about frantically from behind.

"HARRY! RON!" she yelled, as the Horntail started to flap its wings and lift off the ground once more.

"Brooms!" Harry cried to Ron and they both jumped backwards as a spit of searing hot flame burst out of the Horntail's mouth and scorched the ground where they had been standing only seconds before. They straddled their brooms and kicked off before the next roar and the Horntail flew after them, Hermione screaming in his claw.

Their brooms were not nearly as fast as Harry's Firebolt and the dragon caught up to them quickly. Harry pointed his wand over his shoulder and shouted, "Incarcerous!" Coiled ropes appeared out of thin air and wrapped themselves around the Horntail's snout. It tried to open its mouth to retaliate, but the ropes wouldn't budge and smoke started to stream out of both nostrils. Harry aimed the same spell at the dragon's legs and they were bound tightly together. The dragon flapped its wings furiously as if in danger of losing its balance while Ron flew underneath to get to Hermione. Harry picked up the tip of his broomstick and flew higher until the Horntail's head was a few feet beneath him.

Harry could hear Ron struggling to free Hermione of the claw and using different spells on the dragon's foot but none seemed to be working. Harry was luring it farther away from the caves, which he wasn't sure was safe either way, and the dragon kept trying open its mouth to snap at him or jab him with one of the many horns on its head but Harry would simply move higher up. He needed to keep the dragon's mind off of Ron and Hermione, but at the shock of a particularly sharp object on its leg, the Horntail flung his head around and shot a puff of smoke out of his nose. Harry heard Hermione yelp and he quickly conjured a bluebell flame from his wand and sent it flying at the dragon's neck. It attempted to roar and swung its head back around to bite at Harry as he flew straight for a pass in the two upcoming mountains. He veered left and the dragon followed right on his tail.

"Honestly, Ron--"

"Reducto!" called Ron's voice from below and Hermione began shouting at him. Harry was certain Ron had just freed the Horntail's legs. He decided to fly up and over the Horntail's back and was forced to dodge the spiked tail that was swishing fervently back and forth like a rudder. When he got underneath the dragon's hindquarters, he saw Ron and Hermione fighting off the free leg that was scraping at them. Harry attempted to send an Impediment Jinx at the leg, but it bounced off the scales of the underbelly as the Horntail took a short dive and came back at Harry, who was blasted right off his broom.

"HARRY!" shrieked Hermione.

Harry fell into the grass with a thud! and heard a loud cracking sound. He moaned in pain as he lay still, watching a huge, blurry shape pass over him. Rolling onto his side, he began to search for his glasses, which, he guessed, had slipped off during the fall. Once he caught them up in his hand and put them on, he looked up in the bright, white sky to see the Horntail fighting off the magical ropes that bound its snout and its leg clawing at the struggling Hermione and Ron below it.

Looking down, he searched the grass again for his wand and found it next to his broomstick. Without someone controlling it, the broom had fallen and crashed just feet in front of him. Holding his broken right arm to his stomach, he took off into the sky, following the dragon's unmistakable form.

To his relief, the dragon was not flying as quickly or as effectively as it had been previously. As Harry finally rejoined the group, it seemed as though Hermione had finally found a way to hold the free leg back while she tried using a Severing Charm to make the claw release her. But seeing Harry again made her look as if she were about to jump out of the claw on her own and Ron actually made to grab her in case she fell.

"Focus, Hermione, or you'll never get out of there!"

"I can't do it, Harry!" she cried. "I've tried everything! Confundus Charms, talon-clipping charms, wand arrows...they're all just bouncing off the scales!"

Harry shot Ron a nervous look and they all gasped as the Horntail turned his head to look at them, but the ropes were still tied around his snout and he wasn't able to do much but glare.

"He doesn't look happy," said Ron, who was slowing down ever so slightly.

"That's it!" Harry exclaimed. "Tickle him, Hermione! Use a Tickling Charm!"

She looked at him, surprised, hesitating before saying, "Oh, all right. Rictusempraaaaaaaa!"

Her wand hand jerked violently sideways as the Horntail pivoted, changing direction with three flaps of its wing. Ron started laughing uncontrollably beside Harry; he let go of his broom handle to clutch his stomach and began to slowly slide down the broom. Harry made to catch him, but Ron landed, shaking with laughter, in Harry's right arm and a excruciating shot of pain seared through his entire body like an explosion. Tears brimmed his eyes as he helped Ron onto his broom and held him upright with his left hand.

"Sorry," Hermione said helplessly as she tried the charm again. Nothing happened. "Harry, do it with me. Maybe it'll be stronger." Once they had both pointed their wands at the leg, the effects were clearly visible. The Horntail opened its claws wide and gave a loud howl, resulting in the snapping of the ropes, and a screaming Hermione was falling through the air. Harry, trying to wrestle a hysterical Ron out of the way, flew down to Hermione and grabbed her by the hand. She was dangling in thin air while Harry flew the broom lower until he landed, setting her safely on the ground. Hermione did the counter-curse for Ron's laughing jinx and his cheery features instantly turned sober.

"Well, that was a bit annoying, wasn't it?"

"Annoying?" asked Hermione incredulously. "You try being dragged off by a dragon and stuck in his claw for an hour and we'll see how annoyed you are."

"At least we didn't hurt Charlie's bloody bird," he said, still cross about his brother's actions. "Harry, what's wrong with your arm?"

"Think I broke it on that fall earli--"

"Are you all right?" interjected Hermione, who had stopped Harry and was examining his injured arm.

"He'll be fine, Hermione," Ron said. "We have to get back to the dragon caves. Charlie will know how to mend it--most likely."

Harry wasn't really concerned with his broken bones, but he hadn't seen the Horntail fly away and it was starting to unnerve him. "Where'd that Horntail go?" he asked, looking from horizon to horizon.

"It went through that pass over there," said Hermione, pointing at a gap in two mountains ahead of them. "But don't worry about it. We'll tell Charlie it got loose, but you really need to--"

"Yes, we know, Hermione!" Ron said agitatedly. "We have to get Harry to an adult so they can heal his arm. I think you're going spare. Then again, you always are."

"Well, excuse me for wanting to make sure Harry's as whole as possible. I'm sure it's hurting a lot more than he says, because he's always making it seem like its not all that bad, when really it's ten times worse than it looks."

"It wasn't that far of a fall, was it, Harry?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but Hermione burst out, "It was twenty feet!"

"Fred and George threw me out their bedroom window a few years ago and that's just about as high. Didn't break any bones, but it can't hurt that much."

"How would you know? I swear, Ron, you have no sympathy for anyone but yourself..."

By this point, Harry had tuned them out completely. He and Ron mounted their brooms and Harry dragged Hermione on in front of him. They were still bickering as they flew with the wind whipped across their faces. Every now and then someone would ask Harry a question, but one of them would cut across before he had a chance to speak.

Harry wondered what Charlie was doing at the dragon caves all alone. He could have tried to follow them after Ron's Leg-Locker Curse had worn off by repairing one of the broken broomsticks, but Harry thought he would have caught up to them already. He felt bad that they had left him behind. He now realized how stupid they been for not taking Charlie's suggestion seriously. Hermione might have gotten a scratch or two, but at least they wouldn't have been alone in the middle of Romania.

"Uh, guys..." Harry said. Ron and Hermione looked at him. "Do you remember how to get back?"

All three stared at each other for a minute while they continued to fly straight ahead, coming upon nothing but the same scene over and over again. Hermione sighed and took out her wand, laying it flat on her palm.

"Point me."