Of Dogs and Dragons

Charlie stared at his newly purchased Muggle watch, making sure that he was not going to be late for his unexpected date. Talia's question about dinner caught him off-guard, but as soon as he regained his composure, he happily agreed to the awkward outing. He was stuck in the town after all, so he had might as well make the most of it. At least Emilia wouldn't be around and he could concentrate on Talia's quirky demeanor. It was then that Charlie realized that she was actually quite interesting.

Charlie had spent most of the day trying to figure more out about the dragon that was doing so much harm to the town. It was not natural for dragons to attack dogs, and a Hungarian Horntail typically feasted on goats and sheep. Even if those animals were not around, humans were the natural second choice of the Horntail. Even though Charlie knew it was a terrible thought, he would have preferred it if this attack was on humans. At least that would make sense and he could solve the mystery a lot easier. Now, with the unknown, he was not sure what to do.

As confident a man as he was, Charlie did not just want to approach the dragon without any knowledge of what he was doing. He was starting to collect information and research, but there was nothing that he could find. He had several books scattered around the dump of a room that he was in, yet nothing led him to the answer that he was searching for. Even though he liked adventures at times, he knew that he had to be prepared to confront a fully grown dragon, who guarded the bank for most of his life. It was not an easy task and he had to figure out just the right steps to relocate the creature.

The confused red-head finally pushed the books to the side, realizing that it was time to meet up with Talia. He started to tear apart his trunk, trying to find something suitable to wear. So much for not unpacking he mused to himself, still searching frantically for something, and at that point anything.

Charlie was not exactly sure if Talia expected the dinner to be a date, so he did not know what to wear. He tried on several different outfits, and he was not satisfied with just one look. He was not used to dressing up and most of his clothes were torn and tattered. He had not been on a date in at least a year and he had no nice clothes to show off. Even if he did, he left them at home because he was not planning on staying long enough to get to know anyone. Who knew that he would have a date within a day of visiting the town? Were Muggles really that desperate?

He soon found a plain white shirt that he decided to try on. He tore his previous shirt off, and replaced it, standing in front of the mirror, observing the fit. After about three seconds, he tore the white shirt off, realizing that it made him look too scruffy. Even though it did not have holes, it was not particularly pleasing to look at, and it made him look like he had not showered for several days.

Charlie soon found another shirt that was not completely torn and he threw it on. It was probably not ripped or ruined because it was one of his Muggle shirts that he rarely wore. The shirt was bright red, which made his vibrant mane of red hair stick out, even more than it already did. That was not exactly how he wanted to appear whilst walking into a nice restaurant, attracting every Muggle eye to him. He needed to blend in, but having red hair and a red shirt, that was not just red, but fire-engine red, did not help. Just the red hair alone did it, but he was used to that. The equally flamboyant shirt just added to the overall effect, which made him sure that every person was sure to stare at him.

Finding pants was a little easier than finding a shirt. He had some pants that his father had given him during Christmas. They were relatively new, and again, he did not wear them to work. They would have to do.

His eyes then glanced at the mirror, and he felt disgusted with himself. It was his first possible date in nearly a year and he was not wearing the nicest of clothes. His hair was also out of control, and he used his hand to try to tame the mess better. He contemplated changing his clothes once more, as he brushed his hand through his hair, but then he caught a glimpse of the time and he figured that he had to leave.

Charlie ran out of the door, trying to make it to town in time, and in the midst of doing so noticed that it was quite a chilly evening. He hadn't had time to try to find a jacket amongst his things, especially because he did not think he actually had one. Staring down at himself, Charlie realized why he never used Muggle clothing too much. It was just simply hideous!

Besides the chill, the evening was rather lovely. There was a calm to the night, making Charlie forget that there was such a danger, probably just miles away from the calming center of town that he soon came upon.

As soon as Charlie reached the center of town, he glanced around, looking for Luciello's. It only took seconds before the neon sign with the words - A Taste of Italy - written beneath the Luciello name, came into view. He walked towards the lit up restaurant and he waited to see a sign of the eloquent blonde.

Within minutes, Talia arrived, dressed in a jean skirt and a black tank top. She was decorated with an assortment of Muggle jewelry, which seemed a bit odd to Charlie. He was not a big fan of jewelry to begin with, but the way that Muggles wore it, seemed a bit over done. He tried not to stare too much at the designs that Talia wore, but he realized his eyes became entranced in the unique arrangement that she wore them in.

Talia looked absolutely stunning and Charlie felt miserable that he was dressed so poorly. His appearance did not seem to affect Talia though. "You're so handsome," she stated.

"So are you," Charlie answered, immediately realizing that the statement hadn't come out right. Talia just smiled at his mistake and he decided not to correct himself.

Charlie then saw Talia's arm extending out and he figured that she wanted him to take her arm to escort her in. He reached in closer to take her arm, but as soon as he did, she moved her arm closer to her body, like she never really wanted his escort in the first place. He swooped his arm towards her and then he ended up moving it back towards his body again. He checked to see if she noticed his awkward motion, and she did seem to, though she did not say anything.

"P-perhaps we co-should go inside." Charlie stumbled on his words as his nervousness led to his even more awkward wording.

Inside, Charlie did not feel as out of place as he would have thought. Even though the restaurant was somewhat elegant, most people were not dressed up too much. It also seemed like Talia knew everyone inside, as she greeted just about everyone that they walked past.

They finally sat down at a table that was towards the back of the restaurant. The table was covered with a pearly white table cloth, and there was a white candle in the center of the table, with a collection of flowers nearby. All Charlie knew about the flowers was that they were a pinkish-red color. He was not very observant as far as names went, even if they happened to be wizard flowers.

At first he started to stare into the flowers, avoiding Talia's gaze. His heart raced as he tried to think of something to say and something to do that would make everything less stressful and less awkward.

Eventually, his eyes focused more on the restaurant, still avoidant of Talia. The lights were dimmed and Charlie realized that this was probably supposed to be a date. Way to go, he thought to himself as his realization came fully in tune. The bloody place was so fancy and it was obvious that Talia spent a good amount of time getting ready. "This place is beautiful," Charlie finally said.

"Yeah." Talia smiled feebly, finally feeling nervous herself. "I'm sorry if this seems a bit rushed, me taking you to such a nice place and all, it's just that not many new people come here, and I wanted to catch you before you were gone." It was then that she realized she was rambling on, and for the first time she attempted to stop herself.

"That's fine," Charlie answered, sort of smirking at the fact that she had gotten slightly nervous. He found it quite odd to live in a place with relatively few strangers. He wasn't sure if he would like or hate living in a place like Newberry. "How did you come to live in a place like this?" Charlie was suddenly curious, as Talia did not seem like the small town type of person. And besides, it was the perfect opportunity for Charlie to make small talk and at the same time be interested in what she was all about.

"Oh, I grew up here," Talia answered as a waitress came by to take their drink orders. Talia's eyes lingered on Charlie for a moment before she actually realized the woman's presence. Coughing to redeem herself, she then continued speaking, as she opened her menu to start searching for what she wanted to order, taking her eyes away from the man across from the table for what felt like the first time that night. "I went to college, and I just found myself back here after I graduated. I like the small town charm most times, but occasionally it gets boring."

"That makes sense," Charlie said, staring intently at his menu, trying to figure out what Linguini was, and at the same time clearly avoiding the gaze as his brother Bill had taught him so many times before. If you think you're gonna embarrass yourself, find the nearest scapegoat, he mused to himself as he figured that the menu at the moment was the scapegoat. "And you and Emilia grew up here together?" It sounded sort of awkward to Charlie that those words had actually come from his mouth. And about her of all people. Charlie was suddenly curious about their friendship. Them as friends just did not seem to add up.

"No," Talia answered, still sort of fixated on her menu, throwing Charlie random glances in and out of conversation. "Emilia grew up in a big city. She went to college and Vet school and she just wanted to get away from the big city life. She didn't want to get lost in the crowd and Newberry attracted her. We met two years ago when she started working at the Animal Hospital." After speaking about Emilia, Talia's attention was averted to Charlie's question as it was the first time that she had felt awkward about talking about Emilia. Perhaps if he wasn't so good looking, she wouldn't have minded, but his sudden interest in her friend had taken her by surprise.

"You two just seem really close." Charlie was amazed at what she had said about the time that they met. "I didn't realize you've only known each other for two years." Charlie considered his friends at Hogwarts, whom he had known since diaper age, plus the fact that they lived together for seven years, which added to their bond and tested their friendship. Talia and Emilia seemed just as close and he did with those friends, which was rather strange.

"Emilia's really an amazing person." Talia started to brag about her again, as the green monster of jealousy settled within her stomach after a short time of consideration. After all Emilia was her friend, and something silly like a good looking red-headed stranger wasn't going to rupture their friendship that easily.

Charlie did not understand it when she praised Emilia so much from what he had seen. But Talia continued, "I wasn't sure about her at first because she wasn't too open about herself, but after watching her work, I realized what a wonderful person she is. She really cares and she's truly passionate about her work. I don't think Kristen could get along without her now." There it was again. That element of surprise about the girl, but at the same time that strange feeling of satisfaction with her.

That was much more of a response than Charlie was expecting. Talia was committed to her friendship with Emilia. He could deal with that and he somewhat admired it. He would have to figure out a way to get along with her if anything happened between him and Talia. It was painfully obvious that he was starting to like her more and more as the night progressed, and his sharp pangs of consideration about Emilia melted away every time he looked into Talia's crystal blue eyes.

The waitress came around to take their orders, breaking the soothing, yet awkward silence that had fallen between them for the moment. It was one that Charlie wasn't really used to, but alluring enough that he didn't want it to stop. The waitress's voice broke the spell that he had been in, as Talia ordered and Charlie decided to play it safe, by ordering the same thing as Talia - lasagna. At least that was something that he had heard of before and he wouldn't have to risk embarrassing himself in front of her.

It still shocked Charlie how much he was taking this Muggle girl's opinion about him into so much consideration that it was altering his actions. She definitely had him wrapped around her finger, but at the moment, Charlie wasn't about to let her know that. He was not sure what could happen with the romance and he wanted to take time to figure it out, before committing into what his feelings were telling him to do.

The waitress left, leaving Charlie unable to think of a topic to stir up a conversation. He suddenly realized how little he knew about Talia and how little he knew of Muggles. However, he couldn't just ask her what he thought about this season's Quidditch lineup, which happened to put his favorite Chudley Cannons in a disadvantage again, and he could not ask about her time at Hogwarts. Everything that he seemed to want to talk about involved magic, which was something that she'd know nothing about, as much as he might want her to. Maybe he should have listened to his father more when he showed interest in Muggle activities. It would have helped him in this instance.

"Emilia's just pretty shy." Talia noticed the silence and decided to continue the topic, the monster completely gone from her system as she kept reciting in her head just a man, just a man.

That was the last thing Charlie wanted to hear. He still was not impressed with Talia's so-called best friend.

"She loves animals, but she doesn't do people very well. It took about a month before she opened up to me, but once she does open up for you, she's an interesting person."

Charlie could not imagine her as being interesting, but he took Talia's word for it. He was not going to fight her. She had a weird best friend, but that didn't mean that anything was wrong with her. For some reason, Charlie was quite interested in Talia, even though he did not know her very well. Maybe he was interested in her because she was so different.

"You don't seem to like her, do you?" Talia questioned, sensing his tension whenever Emilia's name was mentioned in conversation.

Charlie was not sure how she figured that one out. He had made no mention or no gesture that could lead her to that conclusion. She had just figured it out. "No, I like her." Charlie lied. He did not elaborate much.

"Liar," Talia said, playfully. "You haven't said much about her and you act strange when I talk about her."

Talia wasn't stupid. She must have had some type of psychological knowledge that made her good at analyzing people because she sure saw right through him. He could not admit to it though, which was fair enough. "I just thought I was here to talk about you... not her." That was a good answer. Charlie figured that he saved himself.

Talia did not seem to accept his answer, but she moved on, as secretly her curiosity grew about what exactly had happened between Emilia and him when they were left alone at the hospital that day. "So what do you want to know about me?" she asked.

"Why don't you already have a boyfriend?" Charlie asked simply. He wasn't completely interested, but it was a question. He just wanted to deviate from the Emilia subject line, which grew more and more uncomfortable over time.

"I haven't found the right guy," Talia answered, sort of side glancing at him as she said it. "Like I said, there's not much to this town and I've dated most of them. No one interests me. It's like that for most of the girls here. That's why Irma clung to you the first day. That's why I couldn't let you go without even getting dinner with you."

"Oh." Charlie began to realize how depressing the town was. In Romania he mostly hung around the people he worked with, but they were fun people. Maybe Emilia was as fun as Talia got. In that case, Charlie couldn't help but wonder why Talia still lived in Newberry.

The meal soon came and Charlie and Talia ate away at their food. It was quite good and Charlie could not remember having a better meal in the last several weeks.

The conversation soon became less intense, as Charlie and Talia focused more on their likes, rather than Emilia or Talia's depressing life. Charlie tried to explain about his work, without giving away what he actually did, and Talia listened with admiration. Somehow he had explained his job in an intriguing way to her. That was not his intention. "It's really not that exciting," he said, curious as to why she thought it was so interesting. "I bet you have loads more excitement at your work."

"But it just seems so awesome," Talia said. "You don't know what to expect, but you jump right in. You could be up against a dangerous dog, yet you walk right into it, without even thinking that he could attack you. Everything's just spur of the moment."

Charlie thought about that and realized that Talia made a good argument. He should be just spur of the moment, like she thought he was. He had already studied so much about the dragon, why couldn't he just go meet him? He knew a little bit about what to expect, and he could figure it out from there.

The meal soon finished, and Charlie became more preoccupied with his decision to meet the dragon. He did not pay much attention to what Talia had to say after that. As the two left the restaurant, Talia seemed to expect a little something more. Charlie was a reasonable guy and even though there was some awkwardness, everything seemed to go relatively well between the two of them. Most guys she knew would take the next step at that point, yet Charlie was not like that.

Charlie decided to kiss her quickly on the cheek, before running off back to his place. He liked Talia and he did want to learn more about her, but he was too preoccupied with work. He would be able to ask her out at another time, but the reason he came to Newberry was for the dragon. He had to do some work, and there would be time for Talia later.

---

The night was still quite chilly, so Charlie put on an extra cloak, as he prepared to find out more about the Gringott's dragon. He studied all he could, but he just needed to confront the beast. Nothing else could prepare him for what he was going to see.

Going at night was the best idea. That's when the dragon came to life and when he took most of his victims. Charlie would be able to see up close what he did.

He walked through the forest of the town, as he listened to the dragon's fiery roar. He realized that the Muggles probably would not be able to hear that roar, which at least put him at some kind of advantage. The dragon was used to not being seen or heard by anyone. Now, Charlie would be right there.

Charlie wore dark robes, and the cloak he brought along with him was dark as well. At some point he would be going to capture the dragon, but not tonight. All he could do tonight was try to blend in. Under the darkened sky, black robes were the best thing he could think of to blend in.

He kept walking through the forest. Charlie was usually brave, but this forest creeped him out. All he could hear, besides the roar of the dragon, was the sound of leaves, wavering by in the darkness. The wind was rather calm, yet every time it seared through, Charlie noticed. The leaves and branches of the trees gave him that cue.

About ten minutes into his walk, Charlie felt something press against his skin. He jumped up in terror, thinking that there was only one thing that was alive and able to press against him in the night. Luckily for him, he was wrong, for the dragon did not touch him, but a swaying branch had.

After that, he grew more careful. He walked slower, making sure that there was nothing unusual in his path. Even though the branch was not a dragon, it easily could have been. He needed to be more careful.

Several minutes later, Charlie realized that he would not accidentally stumble across the dragon, for he was not trying to hide. The dragon was surrounded by a light of fire that he had obviously made for himself, just resting in the brush of the forest.

Charlie was appreciative that the dragon decided to make himself obvious. That would make it easier for him.

Charlie found a bush that he decided to hide behind. The location was perfect to spy on the dragon throughout the night. He made himself comfortable, observing everything he could about the dragon.

The first thing he noticed was that the dragon's eyes were a milkily pink color. He had read that the dragon had been locked up in the bank for most of his life, so it did not surprise Charlie. That meant that the dragon was most likely blind or at least, half-blind.

The scales of his coat were pale and flaky, unlike some of the Hungarian Horntails that he had worked with in the past. He still had the usual horned tail, but it looked as if some of the horns weren't as sharp as they should have been. They were a little bent and not perfectly shaped.

The first time the dragon moved his head, Charlie noticed a greenish coloring near his mouth. It was just like the greenish substance he saw on the dog that was injured. It was not usual for a greenish glob to be on a dragon. Dragon spit was clear-colored and so was dragon snot. Their blood was red or blue in some areas, and their vomit looked similar to human vomit, just in bigger amounts. There was nothing green that should be coming from him, which was what puzzled Charlie the most. He had to figure out what it was.

When the green glob around the face, started to turn into drool, leaking down his face, Charlie noticed the dragon started to stand up. He was getting ready to do something and Charlie feared what it might be.

An enormous roar came from the dragon, and Charlie crouched down in the bushes at the sound. He tried to remain still behind the bushes, hoping that the dragon would not notice.

Minutes later, a black and tan dog came running. He had floppy ears and he seemed to have quite a large blocky head. The dog ran past Charlie, but Charlie would not let him go. He stopped the dog from rushing to the dragon, holding him back. He couldn't willingly let the dog confront the dragon. The dog was extremely strong, but Charlie was used to working with dragons, so even a large dog was not too difficult for him to contain in his arms.

The dragon noticed that no creature was coming. He let out another piercing roar, and the dog Charlie was holding, fought ferociously to be freed. The roar must have been enough for just the dogs to hear. It was some type of magical roar that the dragon used and Charlie was not surprised to see him using it. Many dragons did that in order to search for food.

Again, Charlie was able to hold the large dog back. But soon, another dog approached. He was a large dog as well, and Charlie did not know anything about Muggle dogs, so he did not know that it was a Labrador Retriever mix. All he knew was that it was a black dog, and that he did not have enough hands to hold that one back as well.

The only thing he could do was hold back the one dog, trying to save his life. He could not look, when the black dog approached. He was not a huge dog lover, but to see any creature killed was not something that he enjoyed watching. Anything with a brain had emotions and feelings. The poor dog was about to be eaten alive.

Charlie winced as he heard a whimper coming from the dog as it was being attacked. He could not stand watching anymore, as more barks and moans continued to fill the forest, creating that noise that makes little kids afraid of going into the forest at night. Charlie dragged the black and tan dog back through the forest, pushing him and guiding him through the curved path. It was not a particularly difficult task since the dog no longer wanted to confront the dragon, after seeing him tear apart the other unbeknownst victim. Maybe Charlie saved one life, but he could not safe another. He felt ashamed of himself.

Once out of the forest, he let the black and tan dog go, hoping he would find his owner. Charlie then walked alone on the darkened road, searching for his shack to return to. He could feel tears bottled up inside of him, and he felt them start to flow down his cheeks. Though he had seen some animals die because of his lovely dragons, seeing an innocent dog killed, or rather, just hearing the whimpers of the defenseless creature got to him. He needed to figure out what was going on. This job was not as easy as he thought it was going to be, but he would figure it out. Anything to save the dogs, he remembered her saying as the words resounded in his head.

Maybe Emilia was right.