The Dragon Keeper and the Secret Keeper

THE DRAGON KEEPER

and

THE SECRET KEEPER

~CHAPTER FOUR~

~Quidditch and Aurors~

Charlie spent the first month of the holidays practicing as he had said he would. Lizzie went off to Scotland to visit her cousins, and by the time she got back he was feeling extremely confident on his Shooting Star.

Lizzie showed up at the Burrow on a particularly scorching July day, with broom in hand - and three other people with her. Jane and Michael Lovegood lived near Lizzie's family on the other side of Ottery St. Catchpole. And the third person was also familiar to Charlie, though he had never met him himself.

"James Potter! This is such an honour!" Charlie shook the man's hand eagerly. "You are probably the best Chaser Gryffindor's ever had!"

James smiled. "I don' know 'bout that..."

"Wait, what are you doing here?" Charlie looked to Lizzie.

"He's me cousin, Charlie," Lizzie made a face that said obviously!

"Wow, really?" Charlie looked from one to the other. "You don't look anything alike."

"James is more a Potter'n an Adelwood I s'pose," Lizzie shrugged. "His mother's me dad's sister."

"Ah." Charlie nodded. "Well, what have you been up to since you left Hogwarts? I thought you'd be playing Quidditch still, but I haven't heard anything."

"Nah, gave up Quidditch. I'm workin fer the Ministry."

"He's an auror, like me dad." Lizzie smiled proudly.

"An' I got married. Settlin' down. Quidditch is a great sport, but there's more impor'ant things."

"Lily's having a baby. I'm going teh have a second-cousin." Lizzie grinned.

"Oh my! How wonderful," Mrs. Weasley entered the conversation. She had been trying to force George and Fred into their high chairs. "When is she due James?"

"Next month."

"Bet she's just loving this heat wave," Mrs. Weasley shook her head with a good-natured laugh. "Poor dear."

"She wanted teh come out an' watch us play, but I told her it was too hot. So she's back at Lizzie's."

"Well that's good. Keeping her feet up I hope."

Charlie was sick of hearing about pregnant women. He had seen enough pregnancies around here thank you very much.

"Let's go play," he suggested.

"Do we have teams?" Michael looked around. "Where's Megan?"

"MEG!" Charlie hollared.

Soon enough Megan was coming down the stairs, and they made their way out to the field.

"Girls against boys?" Lizzie asked, grinning crookedly.

"Sure that's fair?" Charlie asked, polishing his broomstick with his shirt.

Lizzie raised an eyebrow dangerously.

"Alright." Charlie mounted his broom. "Well, we can only have Chasers and Keepers since all we've got is a Quaffle." He spun the muggle ball they had found on his finger. "I'll be a Chaser."

"I call Keeper!" Michael declared, stepping onto his Cleansweep Four.

"I'll be Girls' Keeper," Megan called, and flew off toward the trees that marked the East goals.

"I guess the rest of us are Chasers then," Jane shrugged to Lizzie.

"Alright, tha's fine." Lizzie hovered her broom to get on, and Charlie finally noticed how strange it looked.

"What on earth are you flying on Lizzie?" He flew down to get a closer look.

She grinned widely. "This," she said dramatically, "is a customized Nimbus 1000."

Charlie's eyes went wide. "Customized?"

She nodded, still grinning.

"What kind of customisations does it have?" Michael asked, as the others gathered round to look.

"Lily is great with Charms. She put a brakin charm on fer me."

"We sanded 'er down and refinished 'er," James ran a hand across it. "See? So the 'andle's thinner. Cause Lizzie's got small 'ands. An' it makes it lighter." He gripped and lifted it to show them.

"And Lily took some of me hair an' put it in the tail. Did a charm with that. Makes the broom more in tune with me." Lizzie pulled the broom toward her.

"In tune with you?" Charlie made a skeptical face.

"Yeah. Almos' like it knows what I'm thinkin. Its eerie."

Charlie frowned. "Well, if you say so. Shall we play now?" He remounted his broom impatiently.

Michael and Megan took their places at opposite ends of the field, and the four Chasers gathered round the 'quaffle'.

"Who's goin' teh throw it?" Lizzie looked round.

"I'll charm it to throw itself." Jane looked at each of them for their approval. They all shrugged. She held out her wand and muttered something, then put the wand away. "Ready?" When they all nodded she called. "UP!"

The ball shot up in the air. Probably faster and higher than Jane had intended, but nevertheless it worked. Charlie leaned close to his broom and pointed it up, and flew at top speed toward the now falling ball. He was about to reach out his hand for it, when WHOOSH! Lizzie shot in front of him and grabbed it first. He had to turn around to follow her, and the Shooting Star didn't turn as quickly as he would have liked. And going after her, he soon found she was going far too fast for him to catch up in time. Michael moved to block her but she managed to dodge him, and flung the ball between the designated trees.

"TEN POINTS TO THE GIRLS!" shouted Megan from across the field. Jane yelped and threw a hand up triumphantly.

Lizzie did a summoning charm and flew back to the center of the field with the ball under her arm. "Yeh'll have teh be quicker'n that, Weasley," she grinned, barely out of breath.

"Good go, Liz," James said, returning after her. He had come closer to catching her than Charlie had.

Lizzie dropped the ball and they took their places again. When they were ready, Jane yelled "Up!" again, this time with a little less urgency. The ball flew up to just the right height, and Charlie saw his advantage as it started falling slightly closer to him than the others. He reacted instantly and grabbed it, and made a split second decision to NOT turn around, but rather flew around the girls. He looked back and threw the ball over his shoulder toward James. James must have anticipated this (well obviously he didn't think Charlie would be going for their goal would he?). He caught it in mid-turn, and shot straight toward Megan. Megan succeeded in getting in his way long enough for Lizzie and Jane to catch up, but Charlie was right behind them and James passed it to him. It was like playing monkey-in-the-middle, Charlie thought, fighting of a chuckle. He threw it back to James as the girls turned toward him. James got it in. "TEN POINTS FOR US!" Charlie boomed. "You'll have to be quicker than that, Adelwood!" he smirked. James gave him a pat on the back on their way back to the center with the ball. Jane whispered something to Lizzie, which brought out Lizzie's crooked smile.

The ball went up again. Lizzie dove for it just as it came up off the ground, and tossed it to Jane, who had quickly circled behind the boys. Jane flew up over the boys and started toward the goal. Lizzie followed. Jane was flying toward the far left end of the goal, and Michael had moved there to block her. Charlie knew what they were doing now and sped up, but before he got there Jane had tossed the ball to the other end of the goal, where Lizzie caught it and threw it in. "TEN MORE FER US!" Lizzie yelled as she passed Charlie on her way back.

The game went on, and seemed to go faster and faster. Charlie played harder than he ever had. James was quite good, but so were Lizzie and Jane. Charlie grumbled a few times that he was a Seeker, not a Chaser, but Lizzie always had some comment for that.

Soon they were tied at 120 points each. Megan suggested that the next point should decide the game, as it was getting late. They all agreed. Both teams decided to have a time out to plan their final plays. James said Charlie should get the Quaffle, and he would start flying toward the goal and catch it when Charlie passed it to him. It wasn't much of a plan but it was all they could come up with.

The Quaffle went up. Charlie went for it, but Lizzie flew in his way to block him. He nearly crashed into her but managed to pulled up. He swore and turned to go after Jane, who had taken the ball. Then he noticed something out of place - Megan. She was flying down the field parallel to Jane. James was about to catch Jane, but Jane passed to Megan, and Michael was caught offguard and the girls won. Lizzie cheered from back where she had blocked Charlie.

"Bold move!" James congratulated them.

"That's not fair!" Charlie was outraged. "You can't move the Keeper from the goals!"

"Yes you can," Megan smiled smugly.

"Not really the sort o' thing you'd do a lot though," James added. "Leaves the goals open. But it worked." He smiled at Lizzie and Jane, who beamed beneath their sweat-drenched bangs.

Charlie landed heavily and wiped his forehead with his shirt sleeve. The others came down and started walking back to the Burrow. He slumped after them.

"Good game Charlie," Jane said with a smile. "We're really going to whip it to those Slytherins this year!"

He looked grumpily at her, intending to give her a look that would shut her up. But she looked so happy and he remembered the shy, uncertain girl he had known at Hogwarts, and he just smiled and nodded. Lizzie was walking on the other side of Jane, and Charlie caught her eye. She smiled slightly at him, with a strange glint in her eye, and then looked away and started talking to James.

What was that? Charlie wondered as they reached the back yard of the Burrow. He found himself watching Lizzie now. He wanted another chance to try to figure out what she had been thinking for those two seconds. But when they reached the house, they were all distracted by another guest.

Lily Potter was sitting in the kitchen with Molly Weasley now, looking extremely uncomfortable and about to burst at the seams. Charlie found it hard to believe that she had another whole month to go. Usually when his mother got to looking like that, it was time to call the midwife.

"Hello Lily!" Megan called cheerily. She had been a fourth year when Lily and James were Head Girl and Boy at Hogwarts.

"Megan! How are you? I hear you're Quidditch captain!" Lily was amazingly chipper considering her state.

"Yeah," Megan smiled, sitting down. "And Bill's a prefect."

"Bill?" Lily shook her head and sighed dramatically. "My, do I feel old now! He was just a second year when last I saw him."

"I thought you were going to stay with Uncle Ron and Aunt Sara?" James asked Lily now.

"Well, they sent me over to ask you all to dinner."

"I'm afraid I have to stay and wait for Arthur," Mrs. Weasley apologised. "But you can go if you like, Megan, Charlie."

"What about Bill?" Charlie asked.

"He's staying with Eddie for the weekend." Mrs. Weasley began burping Ron, whose little red haired head turned slightly to look at Lizzie. Lizzie smiled, and he giggled.

"Ron sure is taken with Lizzie," Jane chuckled.

Lizzie's smile went crooked and the flush in her cheeks spread. Ron thought this was quite entertaining. He giggled some more and reached a little hand toward her. Lizzie gave him her index finger, and he grabbed it and cooed.

"You're a natural Lizzie. We'll have to call you when we need a sitter for our tyke." Lily smiled to James.

Charlie had a sudden idea. "Hey mum, why don't we take Ron? I'm sure you could use a break."

Mrs. Weasley looked skeptical. "Oh, I don't know Charlie..."

"We'll take good care of him, Mrs. Weasley," Lily said encouragingly. "I need the experience anyway. And it doesn't look like he wants to let Lizzie leave either."

Ron was now trying to put Lizzie's finger in his mouth.

"Well... alright. He's been fed and changed, so I don't suppose he could be much trouble. Would you like to hold him while I get his bag, Lizzie?"

Lizzie nodded, and took the boy in both arms, making sure to support his head. Ron was delighted.

Mrs. Weasley packed up the baby bag and helped Lizzie put on the baby carrier so she could have her arms free. Then they all walked across town to the Adelwood place.

Ron greatly enjoyed the ride. Lizzie had a fairly light step which meant he didn't bounce around too much. Unfortunately, Mrs. Weasley's mention that he had been changed seemed to hold no sway on whether he needed to be changed again.

The Adelwoods greeted the group cheerily and hustled them in from the heat. Ron was smellng absolutlely rank, and Lily helped Lizzie change him in a well-ventilated room. Then while they waited for dinner to be ready Lizzie gave them a tour of the house.

The Adelwoods were, as Charlie's parents said, 'quite comfortable'. They had a large house, especially for only four people. There were five floors. On the first were the kitchen, dining hall (hall, not room), parlor, and the Great Room. The Great Room had a high ceiling which went up through part of the second floor. The rest of the second floor was the master suite. On the third floor was Clara's room. Clara was in muggle grammar school. She didn't take to having them all come in her room. Also on the third floor was the servants' quarters - there was a married couple, the Henrys, who took care of the house and grounds. The Adelwoods didn't believe in keeping House Elves. The Henrys had the day off today.

The fourth floor was where Lizzie's rooms were (she said her rooms, plural. Charlie wondered why she needed more than one room.). She didn't take them in there, but Charlie heard Audrey inside as he walked past. He remembered that he hadn't fed Chudley that day. Hopefully Mum would take care of it and not be too vexed. Right across from Lizzie's rooms was the library. The library spread up through the fifth floor as well. There were books upon books here, and ladders that rolled along the shelves. A spiral staircase led to the second level, which was a balcony lined with... more bookcases. Lizzie told them that the magical books were on the second level. The first level were her mother's. Charlie spotted a shelf full of books by someone named Shakespeare. He wondered if this was some famous muggle writer.

Finally, the half of the fifth floor that wasn't part of the library was a vast, nearly empty room. Lizzie told them that this room was where her father tried out and practiced various spells. The only thing in the room was a tattered old rug. Lizzie beckoned them conspiratorially, and kicked the rug aside to reveal a small trapdoor in the wood floor.

"Where does it lead?" Megan asked the obvious first question.

"My rooms. Well, one in partic'lar. But I'll have teh show yeh another time. It's bein renovated." She placed the rug back the way it was.

"Not exactly the most original disguise for a trap door Lizzie," Jane smirked.

"Yeah, I know. We're tryin teh think of somethin better. Well, it's about time fer dinner. Come on then."

She led them back down all the flights of stairs, and they sat down around the enormous table. Charlie sat between Megan and James. Ron had fallen asleep in an old bassinet that Mrs. Adelwood had brought up from the basement. Charlie watched Lizzie with her family. For being in such a large, fancy dining room - hall - they seemed very casual. Lizzie sat with her legs up under her on the chair. Charlie wondered with a smile if she would be able to see over the high table otherwise. Mr. Adelwood was reading his paper as Mrs. Adelwood placed large plates of mouth-watering foods on the table. Finally she finished and sat down, and chatted pleasantly with Clara about some stray cats they were planning to bring home from downtown.

Charlie served himself as much of the food as his plate could hold. He talked to James some about Quidditch, but mostly he was too busy eating and observing everyone else. Lily was on the other side of Megan, going on about baby names. Michael looked like he too was enjoying his meal too much for conversation. Jane was telling Lizzie what she know about Arithmancy, because they both would be taking it next year.

Charlie found himself quite full by the time dessert was served up, but as his appetite was bigger than his stomach he went ahead and accepted a large piece of chocolate pie and dug in. James had moved over to sit next to Lily, and now Michael was on Charlie's other side. He asked him absentmindedly about the team, and halfway listened as Michael laid out a fundraising plan for new brooms and uniforms. Lizzie had finished eating and was reading Jane's palm. Apparently Jane had quite a future ahead of her. Lizzie was 'seeing' fire, blood, and something about a cat.

Charlie turned his ear to Mr. Adelwood, who was talking to James.

"... Severus Snape's sister. She's still up at 'ogwarts yeh know."

"Is it true they're hiring 'im as Potions Master next year?" James' expression was quite unpleasant.

"Yep. Dumbledore'll give anyone a second chance yeh know."

"Do yeh really think its wise?"

"As long as he's not the Dark Arts teacher, I see no real harm. I s'pose he learned his lesson. No good comes of runnin 'round with You-Know-Who."

"Well I don't see what choice he had - they threatened his sister." Lily was more sympathetic to this Snape person it seemed.

"Yeh've always got a choice, Lily," James insisted.

"Well, is everyone done?" Mrs. Adelwood looked around and began clearing the table.

"Let me help, Mrs. A," Jane picked up her own plate and followed the muggle woman into the kitchen.

"Who wants teh watch some television?" Lizzie grinned.

"Television?" Charlie was intrigued.

"Come on, yeh'll see." She led them into the parlor, where she pushed a button on a box, and a moving picture appeared on it.

Charlie enjoyed television. They were joined by everyone in the house except Lizzie's parents, who from the sound of it were washing dishes still. Ron was still asleep, and someone had brought the bassinet into the parlor.

Suddenly from the direction of the kitchen there was the sound of an explosion, and the house shook. Everyone in the parlor jumped up, and James was the first to reach the kitchen. He didn't step in, but instead turned around at the door and pushed all of them backward. "Death Eaters!" He whispered urgently. "Get back! Go!"

In the kitchen Charlie heard Sara Adelwood screaming frantically. He couldn't hear what Ronald was saying.

Then, loud and clear, a voice boomed "AVADA KEDAVRA!"