When Dragons Are Born Without Wings

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Eight Months Later...

Dreah and Charlie sat on top of Dreah's roof, looking out at the stars.

"Make a wish," Dreah whispered. Charlie looked at her in perplexity.

"Why?" he asked softly, looking up at Dreah's face from his head's perch on the dark-haired female's lap.

"Shooting star. It's a muggle tradition, I don't expect you know about it. Sorry."

"Oh. Well. I wish--"

"You can't say it out loud! It makes it not come true!"

"Oh. Well, how am I supposed to wish it then, if I don't say it? And besides, it's not like the star can hear me or anything." Dreah arched an eyebrow.

"Charlie, humor me. Wish on the star."

"Right. I wish I had some hot apple cider, a fireplace, and a whole bunch of flavored--"

"Charlie! If you finish that sentence, I will geld you."

"Aww, but you know you'd need those bits at some point!"

"I would not."

"Sure you would. See, when two people love each other very much, they get together and insert tab A into slot B, and then poof! These little demons pop out, one by one and destroy the whole house and lawn and refuse to degnome the garden unless you threaten to beat them with a wooden spoon. If you threatened to beat me with a wooden spoon, though, I would be given incentive to not degnome the garden, and instead engage in the practice of creating more little demons."

"Charlie--first off, it's a little more than tabs and slots, as crude as that is. Secondly, the little demons don't pop out one by one. Just because you're a Weasley and your family is horribly oversexed, does not mean everyone else is, and going through labor does not usually anything popping out of anything, unless it's your eyes popping out of your head from the pain. And third off, I am not whacking you with a wooden spoon."

"Aww, please? You could tie me up, too."

"I am on the verge of hitting you with a metal pipe now."

"Oooh, kinky!"

"..........."

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Dreah sighed and tipped the pan of sautéed bell peppers and onions into a cobalt blue serving bowl, covering it with its lid before the heat escaped. She pointed her wand at it, muttering "attineo calesco" and turning to the second burner of the stove, upon which sat the pot of soup. She dipped a long wooden spoon into the hot brew of pearl onions, barley, beef, potatoes, and carrots, stirring carefully clockwise.

"I knew you had a wooden spoon," said a voice from behind her. Dreah was startled, but did not jump or give any voice to her surprise. Nor did she flinch when a pair of strong arms encircled her waist, and a pair of warm lips pressed themselves against her neck.

"Hullo Charlie." The redhead grinned and rested his chin on the top of her head--which was easy, as he was considerably taller.

"Smells nice, Dreah. Whatcha cooking?"

"Food," she replied with a grin. "Unlike the swill you attempted to feed me last week."

"What's wrong with soda and popcorn?" Dreah made an exasperated noise.

"It's not food, silly. This is food." Charlie snorted, but did not say anything, lest he be deprived of the scrumptious smelling meal.

"Well, it looks good at any rate. Are you sure you're prepared to take on all of them?" Charlie's face suddenly looked concerned.

"Charlie, it's what, six kids? I mean, come on! I lived with Draco. Harry will keep him distracted, and Tonks'll help me with the rest. I'll be fine."

"Dreah, my littlest brother and sister are in amongst those six. No one could be fine after a summer with the two of them, plus you've got extra. Lucky for you they'll come in increments. Who's getting here first, anyways?" Dreah bit her lower lip as she usually did when she thought.

"Well, Harry and Draco and Tonks are getting here tonight, as you know. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione get here throughout this week, and then Jade gets here about a week and a half after that." Charlie nodded thoughtfully.

"Hmm," he murmured in her ear. She sighed happily and lowered the heat on the soup. Suddenly, she pulled away from Charlie and brandished the wooden spoon at him.

"Charlie Weasley, if I catch you even once in this house while Jade is here, this wooden spoon will knock out every one of your teeth, which I will then proceed to stab into your eyeballs." Charlie looked amused.

"Just because Jade and I don't get along--"

"Charlie, she set your pants on fire." Charlie made a face.

"So? One incident is not a good enough reason to keep me out of my girlfriend's house for a whole summer!"

"Charlie, you'll be in Romania for most of it, and only popping in for that one dinner thing with me." Dreah prodded him in the stomach with the spoon, then set the utensil beside the stove, covering the soup pot with an iron lid. Charlie immediately made to lift the lid off of it, but she smacked his hand with the dishrag that she'd slung over her shoulder, not even having to look to know what he was doing.

"Charlie, you screw up that soup and I'll put it where the sun don't shine." Charlie assumed a mock-affronted expression.

"What makes you think I'd do anything to your precious soup?" he asked, sounding hurt. Dreah looked at him blankly for a moment, blinked rapidly, then arched an eyebrow at him.

"What makes me think you wouldn't? You are related to Fred and George, you know." Charlie grinned again.

"Proud to be a Wheezing Weasley Wizard."

"Weasley Wizard Wheezes, idiot."

"I know what it's called, I merely put it in context," he explained, sounding wounded at the implication that he didn't know the name of his own brothers' joke shop. Dreah smirked--in a way that reminded Charlie uncomfortably of the way Draco smirked at Harry--and smacked him upside the head with the dishrag.

"Hey! No fair! I'm unarmed! And I didn't do anything!" Dreah grinned.

"You didn't have to do anything. I saw the look in your eyes." Charlie looked perplexed.

"What look?"

"The one that says you're thinking of me naked." Charlie grinned.

"Oh, that look. Yep."

Thwack!

"Oww!"

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Knock, knock!

"Coming!" called Dreah, wrapping her dressing gown around herself and tying the belt haphazardly. She reached the door, peered out the window, and flung the portal wide.

"Harry! Draco! Tonks!" she cried, and grinned sleepily at all of them. In the doorway stood two seventeen year old boys, one with silvery hair, the other with jet black hair and round glasses, and a young woman about in her twenties, with spiky purple hair and bright blue eyes. The young woman grinned back at her cousin and then leapt at her in an ungainly hug.

"Ooof! Tonks! That hurt!" complained Dreah from on the floor. Her dressing gown had been flung wide, revealing a set of black pajama pants covered in fluttering golden snitches and a black tank top with the words 'Naked Quidditch'. She sighed and retied the belt after she stood up, then rubbed her behind.

"Tonks, my arse did not need that." Tonks grinned sheepishly.

"At least I got the lads here in one piece," she said, as a substitute for her clumsiness. Draco looked up at her incredulously.

"In one piece--barely! Dreah, what did I do to deserve this kind of treatment?" moaned Draco in a way that said she should not have an answer. Dreah ignore the implied rhetorical question, and replied with,

"You were born." Harry went into a fit of silent laughter, while Draco looked at his boyfriend in disappointment.

"You wound me, cousin," he said without looking at her, instead attempting to get his boyfriend to stop giggling. Dreah smiled in a way that suggested she was exceedingly used to this, and gestured for the party to go inside.

In the hallway they took off their coats and hung them on the wall, leaving their shoes there as well. Then they walked into the kitchen, Dreah leading the way. As they all settled around the small wooden table, Dreah slipped Draco a parchment envelope. He looked at her in puzzlement as he read the contents, but she just gave him a look that said she would explain later. He nodded.

"Who wants a cuppa?" asked Dreah. Tonks nodded her head swiftly, and Harry and Draco both gave mumbles of assent.

"Tea or coffee?"

"Tea."

"Tea."

"...Tea, I suppose. Is it the scary kind?" asked Draco. Dreah grinned.

"I know what you need, the three of you. Hold on." A few minutes later, she set three mugs of steaming dark liquid on the table, holding one between her own hands as well. Draco eyed his for a moment, then took a small sip. Harry followed suit, and Tonks sniffed at hers a few times before taking a large gulp. Draco made a soft, satisfied mewling sound, rather like a cat.

"What is this stuff?" cried Tonks, coughing. Dreah smiled and took a long sip from her own mug.

"Hot chocolate with red pepper and a few drops of firewhiskey. With how hard it's raining, you need it. It'll warm your bones, and help you sleep." Harry blinked rapidly, but then seemed to give a mental shrug, and downed another sip. Tonks shuddered slightly, and nursed hers more slowly than before.

"So who else is here?" asked Harry quietly. He seemed very tired.

"No one, yet, besides Charlie, and he's asleep." Tonks and Draco snickered, and an amused smile appeared on Harry's face.

"Wore him out, did you?" asked Tonks evilly. Dreah smirked. Tonks pulled a face and said,

"Eww. I was joking."

"I wasn't," said Dreah, arching a smug eyebrow. Draco and Harry exchanged looks.

"We were wondering," began Draco.

"If other people will have to share our room," finished Harry. Tonks and Dreah exchanged glances that clearly conveyed one thought--they sound like the Weasley Twins, finishing each other's sentences like that. They grinned.

"Lads, how insane do you think I am? No, don't answer that, Draco, or I'll pull out the baby pictures. I've got other rooms made up--Charlie and I put some additions on the house this year. Sort of."

"What do you mean, sort of?" asked Draco suspiciously.

"It's more of two extra rooms, than two extra spaces. As in, the attic and basement aren't an attic and basement any more. The basement has two rooms--you know how big it is down there--, one for Ginny, Tonks, and Hermione, and one for Ron. Jade is going to be arriving at some point, and she'll get the attic room." Draco's face paled.

"Jade? As in, scary Jade?" Dreah looked annoyed.

"She's not scary. You're just biased because she's prettier than you are." Draco harrumphed.

"No one is prettier than I am." He turned to his boyfriend for conformation of this fact. Harry patted his shoulder in a silly looking way, and leaned over to whisper something in his ear. Draco's cheeks turned pink, and Harry straightened up. There was a loud bang sound as Draco kicked Harry's shin, then a loud curse from Harry.

"Harry James Potter! Some boyfriend you are!" he cried mock-indignantly. Harry cackled, and stood up.

"Well, Dreah, thanks for the... chocolate stuff... but I think I'm off to bed. Draco?" The blonde nodded.

"I want to speak with Dreah for a moment, then I'll be right up." Harry smiled slightly and walked up the stairs, dragging his trunk as he went. Tonks also stood up.

"Well, I'm going to catch some winks as well, I'll talk to you in the morning." She stood and stretched, carrying the rest of her hot chocolate and her trunk, which had been shrunk to the size of a Galleon.

Draco smacked the opened envelope down onto the table, looking at his cousin expectantly.

"What the fuck is this garbage?" he spat. Dreah sighed, looking weary.

"It's your father's will. He's died in Azkaban. The Manor, the Estate, and all of his affects are yours now, except for the ones exclusively detailed to someone else--such as Narcissa's wardrobe being given to Jade. Or Lucius' Dark Objects, which the Ministry is pilfering through now, however much I tried to stop them. It's exhausting, Draco, going over that thing. There's so much bloody stuff, I just want to tear my eyes out." Draco stared at her for a moment.

"Mine? Jade? Dead? ...dear gods, Harry and I can live there..." Dreah smiled tiredly.

"I thought you'd like it. Have a while to think on it, but go sleep--or not--now, I'm sure Harry's wondering where you are." Draco nodded, and gave his cousin a swift embrace.

"Thank you," he whispered, then took himself and his trunk up the stairs to his and Harry's room.

"Goddess, I'm tired," said Dreah to no one in particular. The clock chimed three just as she stood, and she smiled as she stretched. She set Harry, Draco, and her own cups into the sink, deciding to leave the dishes for the morning. She trudged up the stairs to Charlie, sighing at her lack of sleep.

Attineo- to keep

Calesco- warm, hot