Of Dogs and Dragons

The day was dying down. It was dark outside and the sky was starless. The breeze passed by slowly, yet outside in the Newberry Forest, it was virtually non-existent. There was fiery light that the great predator surrounded herself in, keeping her and her egg warm. Anything that came in her path was doomed to destruction by either the light or her. However, she was growing weak and blind, yet she was using all of her strength to protect the one part of her life that she was so incredibly proud of.

She remembered back to the day that she had last seen freedom.

She was young then. She was living in the mountains, enjoying the freedom and the fresh air every day. She knew she was in a reserve, but she did not mind. Dragons were smarter than they let on and she was taught by her mother that reserves were wonderful places for dragons to grow up in. Both witches and wizards waiting on you, claw and paw. They provided food, shelter and care. Sure, there were times when her inner predator and instincts came out and she craved human flesh, but it was easy to overcome. To get used to being fed goats and sheep and whatever other fleshy creatures came into her path was not so bad.

She was not the best looking of dragons. Her black scales seemed a little flaky, even before she was locked away in that awful place she refused to ever call home. Her spiked tail was particularly sharp and she was proud of the flame that came out of her mouth. It reached just about fifty feet, where her mother's was at least twenty feet shorter and all of the others of her kind were about the same. It was her prime attribute. That's why the males flocked after her. Not because of a particularly perfect face, which she obviously lacked, but because of her extremely large flame. She never minded showing it off.

One winter she thought she found the perfect mate. He was the most attractive, with vibrant black scales and the perfect symmetrical face. Dragons typically did not care about looks, but she did. She prided herself in her flame, but she would have rather had a pretty face than a large flame. But he liked the flame. And his name was Tezcacoatl. Even just thinking of that name made her happy. Linnie and Tezcacoatl. It always sounded perfect together.

They spent that winter together. They were inseparable and he had claimed her. She was happy. He was the perfect one for her. There was competition and he won - and she was glad.

In the springtime that's when they came. They picked her for the same reasons that Tezcacoatl and the others wanted her - her flame. Plus, they did not seem to like her because of her unusually ugly markings.

It all worked out for her to live a life guarding the bank of Gringotts. If only she would have known what was happening to her that day. She would have fought against it because before that day she was the happiest Hungarian Horntail at the reserve.

But they moved her. She remembered being attacked and somehow ending up underground and attached to a chain. She tried to move, but she could not go very far. They trained her to be fearful of Clankers. And that and the loneliness she felt was the only thing that she was afraid of. And each day she hoped for someone to save her from her two worst fears - maybe Tezxacoatl would come like in the human stories.

But dragons were not like that. They moved on if they were separated from their mate. They did not care. She did, but he did not. She thought about him every day, but she soon figured that he had moved on. So she suppressed her memories of him. And she did not think about him ever.

Linnie continued to live her days, being fed just barely enough to survive and living without any company or any room to move. She eventually spent her time sleeping most of the day, trying to drag on time. She no longer knew why she cared to be alive. She spent most of her days, pondering that question. For life was no fun. And no one ever came.

That was until a couple of weeks ago. A couple of weeks ago Linnie could faintly hear from her near deaf ears, the sound of wizards and a goblin. They came and somehow she was free. She flew off into freedom and she flew as far as she could away from the place. She settled into a forest because she was weak.

When she found a hidden place she craved real food. She wondered what she was going to eat and found a goat as her first meal. And that flesh never tasted so good. The flesh was her first real catch. Even in the reserve, she did not truly hunt on her own.

But soon Linnie thought of him again. As she was free, she had the time to think of him, to hope for a future. And that's when her cravings changed. She did not realize at the time that she was ready to lay an egg. She only figured that she had new tastes because she was finally free and she wanted something new.

Linnie flew south a ways until she settled on a town that was full of Muggles. They would not suspect a thing and they had a plentiful stock of dogs that she could call out to. She found another hiding spot and she easily found food. After so many years, she thought getting food on her own would be difficult, but it was not. It was one of the easiest things to remember how to do.

Then Linnie laid her egg.

And she became even fiercer in her attacks, realizing that she was going to have to provide for two. She was having trouble killing them all, but she was able to get enough food. She continued to support her baby. She was excited that she was going to be a mother.

No matter what she would provide for her baby. She was too weak to fly to a better town, but she would help her baby out. She would provide for her until her baby would be able to fly away, freely. Because she was not an ordinary dragon. She knew what true love meant.

---

Inside Newberry Animal Hospital, a newly recovered Charlie Weasley stood proud, giving an update to the doctors that worked so tirelessly to save the lives of the undeserving little pets. He found Dr. Baker, but she did not seem to want to talk. All of her issues seemed to get passed down to her number two, Dr. Emilia Reynolds. Charlie wished that his boss treated him like Dr. Baker treated Emilia. "Why don't you talk to him?" Charlie heard Dr. Baker say, as she talked on a funky little device, which Charlie couldn't quite figure out.

"Here, talk to her." Baker then turned to Charlie and handed him the Muggle thing-a-ma-jig.

Charlie took a hold of it, trying to remember the certain way that Baker held it. He stared blankly at it, finally arranging it in a comfortable position. "Emilia?" he shouted, not understanding at all.

Dr. Baker gave him a quizzical look, as he waited patiently for a reply. In not getting one, he shook the contraption, thinking that could help.

"You're holding it upside down," Dr. Baker finally said, her eyes looming in curiosity.

Charlie thought he understood. He flipped the watch-a-ma-call-it over and he held it to his face, like he thought he saw Dr. Baker do. "Emilia?" he repeated.

Dr. Baker breathed a sigh of annoyance. She grabbed a hold of the machine, flipped it the other way and turned it around. Charlie gave an appreciative smile, as he repeated Emilia's name into the thing-a-ma-bobber.

Seconds later, Charlie heard Emilia's quiet, yet assertive voice chime back, "Charlie?" she asked.

Charlie jumped up, startled and confused. She... had just spoken to him. But where was she?

He tapped on the bottom of the device, where several holes clustered around. Could she? No... Muggles couldn't do that? ... Could they? How could they fit themselves in such a small place?

"Charlie, did you hear a word I just said?" Charlie jumped up again. His thoughts drifted back to Emilia. He had to concentrate. He had to act like he knew what the weird gadget was.

"No, sorry," Charlie stated. "Could you repeat that?" At least he was honest.

Like magic, he heard a reply, almost instantaneously. "Did you find the killer?" Emilia asked once again with a slightly more annoyed tone than before.

Oh yeah, that's what he was doing. "Erm... yeah," he said, still intrigued by the device in his hand.

"So what is it?" she asked.

By then Charlie was starting to get used to the device. He may not understand it, but he knew how to work it. And that meant that he no longer jumped up at each word she said.

"Um..." Charlie still did not know what to say back. He couldn't say it was a dragon. He should have thought that one through more thoroughly before finding his way back to the Animal Hospital. "Well, I didn't get a full glance of it," Charlie explained. "But I did observe it some. I'm going to go try to catch it later. As soon as I gather some more research and get a team together." Well, it was the truth - mostly.

Charlie heard Emilia sigh. She had obviously hoped that everything was taken care of. The truth was it just wasn't that easy. He would have loved for it to be taken care of already as well. "Okay," Emilia said. "Well, keep us updated. And make sure to give Talia or Baker your number."

"Okay." Charlie agreed, though he did not know what she meant by his number. He would figure it out when the time came. "Have a good night."

"You too," Emilia said. Then, Charlie heard a beeping noise, which he inferred as the end of the conversation. He put the beeping device down and he looked to see Talia intently staring at him.

Her long blonde hair was neatly arranged in a ponytail and her blue eyes stared at him vigorously. Everything about her was mystical and she even gave him a smile, which he could not decipher the meaning of. He had no idea what she was thinking and he loved that. She was real. A real mystery. Just like the dragon. That's what got his blood pumping. That's what the Gryffindor in him searched for in life.

"Can I get your number?" she finally said, which knocked Charlie out of his daze. "Strictly professional. Just so we can call you in case you ever disappear again."

So he would have to think quickly. Emilia had already said it, yet he thought he would have more time between talking to her and having to figure out what his number was.

He would be able to reason it out. The Sorting Hat almost sorted him in Ravenclaw. He did have some intellectual ability.

Yet he could not figure out what his number was. He knew it had something to do with the contraption he was using previously, yet it didn't make any sense. Number? What was that? "I'm sorry, I don't know," he finally blurted out. He did not know if it was an obvious thing for a Muggle to know or not. He hoped that it wasn't.

"Well, don't you have a cell?" Talia asked. She seemed quite puzzled.

Again, Charlie didn't know what a cell was. He figured it was the device that he was speaking from, yet he knew he did not have one. "Er... no," he answered.

"Quite odd," Talia seemed to mutter under her breath, yet Charlie heard. "Well where are you staying? Don't you have a phone there?"

The first part of the question Charlie understood and he screamed out the answer in excitement. "Cavalier Cottage."

"That place is bloody awful," Talia managed to say. "Oh, I'm sorry," she quickly countered.

"Nah... it's alright." Charlie forced a smile. "My boss is quite cheap. I agree."

"What's your room number there?" Talia then asked.

"102," he replied.

"Okay," she said. "I'll find their number and get them to transfer them to you if I need. I guess I'll see you later then." Talia started to walk away.

"Wait!" Charlie shouted, trying to stop her. He realized that he did like Talia quite a bit. And he couldn't let her get away. If he didn't say anything at that point, he probably would never say something. "Do you want to go out again? I had a lot of fun with you the other night."

Talia's blue eyes looked sadly into his, and he immediately realized what her response was going to be. He thought the feelings were mutual, but maybe they weren't. "I'm not sure, Charlie." She turned to face him. "I just don't see this working out. Even if we have another nice dinner you're going to be leaving soon, and I don't think we'd ever be strong enough to have a successful long distance relationship."

Suddenly blurting out before she could even stop herself, Talia sputtered her immediate thoughts, as they seemed to be more of a truthful excuse than anything else. "You and Emilia would make a better couple. She'd be better at keeping up with a long distance relationship than you and I would."

That was much more of an intricate answer than Charlie ever thought he would get. She was really thinking of the future and she had it all mapped out. He was just thinking of the next date, and he thought everything would be okay. He still did not understand it. The only thing that he understood was that he had been turned down.

"Oh, okay," Charlie simply replied.

"Why don't you two go out?" Talia then suggested. Her eyes sparkled at the idea.

It took Charlie awhile to figure out what she was suggesting. He didn't think about Talia's words about Emilia, until she asked the most recent question. Then, he realized what she was saying.

"Oh, I don't think so," Charlie answered in a hurried muffle. He proceeded to verbalize his next statement clearly so that he would not be suckered into the Emilia thing. "You're right. A long distance relationship won't work too well."

"No, she'd be fine with it." Talia was excited, as she realized that her jealousy of Emilia had been left behind at the restaurant. After some consideration, Charlie did seem to suit Emilia better than he suited her. Charlie, however, did not seem to express the same kind of enthusiasm. "She's only had one boyfriend before, so she's not used to it. She'd be committed. Cause she's that type of person. I'd break your heart. She's a trustworthy person. You deserve that. You deserve more than me."

Charlie had never heard anyone say those types of words to him before. She was protecting him from herself. And that made him like her even more. Yet she was suggesting dating her best friend. And he didn't want to. "I don't think I could do that. Our personalities just don't match," Charlie said quite assertively.

Talia's eyes dimmed towards the floor and the exuberance she had expressed before died down. She was upset. And Charlie was upset because she was upset. She was just so darn cute when she was upset. He felt terrible that he was the cause of her harm, and he wanted to support her. Yet, he knew she wouldn't let him. Because she wanted him to date her best friend.

"Emilia's a great person," Talia explained further. "And she really deserves a good guy. I know you're hesitant about her because she's quiet and she seems shy around you. That's just because she doesn't have much guy experience. She knows more about the furry kind than the human kind. But she can learn. And you're really a great guy. You two would just be so perfect together."

Charlie knew that Talia was just pouring out her feelings, something that she probably had stored inside of her for awhile. He knew that she must extremely admire Emilia for having those feelings, yet he did not understand her reasoning of why he and Emilia would be perfect for one another.

She had never explained that.

Yet in some way he started to realize that he may have judged Emilia wrongly. She did seem to be an amazing doctor that cared extremely about her patients. She knew the ways of animals, but she may not know the ways of guys too much. Maybe she did need a little guidance.

But he couldn't be the person to guide her. He wasn't exactly the most knowledgeable subject on girls either. He only had a few girlfriends because he was always busy with work and no one ever wanted to date a guy that always worked and a guy that came home with cuts, burns and wounds all the time.

No, he wasn't the right person to guide her.

Though, he did feel sympathy for her. He was cruel on that first day in the pub. To judge her solely on the way that she walked and carried herself was wrong. He was sure there was more to her than that, but he did not try to find out. He just thought of her as weak and undeserving and he ignored her. She had not done anything wrong. She was at least better than that Irma girl.

"I don't think it would work out," Charlie finally concluded. "You're right, long distance relationships just don't work out." He then left the animal hospital.