Tough As Dragon Skin

"Are you mad?"

Charlie could only shrug.

"How are we going to explain this to the Department of Magical Creatures if you get caught? And the Department of Magical Cooperation...for Merlin's sake, Charlie, your dad works for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office!"

Charlie sighed and could only offer a wry grin at Marty's incredulous floating head in the fireplace at The Leaky Cauldron. Natalie had gone beyond the nauseating green color at the sight of a floating disembodied head to its current mottled red tinge.

"You do realize that if she gets hurt, there's going to be hell to pay?"

"I realize I don't have magical powers, er, Marty," Nat defended hotly, "but I assure you I have quite a background in reptiles and mammals and furthermore -"

"Lady, you study dead reptiles and mammals, hardly the same thing," snapped back Marty, turning his disembodied head in Nat's direction.

"Alligators and crocodiles are dinosaur descendents. So are cockroaches and mosquitos. I assure you, I won't be a problem. I'll follow every rule you lay down and if you say jump, I'll ask how high as I do so." Nat glared at the ludicrous apparition in front of her.

Marty's head sighed and turned pleadingly to Charlie once more. "Don't ask this of me. Please?"

"We have to have those photographs and this is the only way we're going to get them. Just keep your mouth shut and tell the guys it's cool. No one will ever know," wheedled Charlie.

"I take it she hid them in some secret location that she'll reveal after this month is over?" the head inquired sarcastically.

"I watch Bond flicks. I know better than to reveal secret locations or make them obvious!" Nat began her rebuttal, but Charlie raised a hand to silence them both. He didn't think he could stand another Sean Connery reference, having gotten them most of the afternoon. Did this Connery man have an acting role he couldn't play?

"Enough! Marty, we'll be there tomorrow evening. Nat, shut up. We're all going to go to bed and just live with the arrangement. We picked up all the supplies and gear that Natalie is going to need, Marty, and I plan on keeping a close watch on her the whole time. Trust me, eh? It'll be fine."

Marty didn't look convinced but conceded nonetheless. "All right, I'll see you then." The flames lost its ghostly mirage.

"The nerve!" huffed Nat, all of her academic sensitivities insulted. "I have a bloody PhD and tons of field work behind me, one of the youngest paleontologists in the field and he has the nerve to question my credibility!"

Charlie couldn't help but grin. She was cute when she was indignant. "It's nothing against you personally, Nat," he told her, pouring her a cup of tea with a flick of his wand. "It's just that these things could get us all in a lot of trouble, if not outright fired."

"I understand but he could have a little faith in your judgement!"

Charlie raised his eyebrows. "We Weasleys aren't exactly well-known for having solid heads on our shoulders. To call us dreamers and optimists would be kind."

Nat turned on him, still breathing fire. "There is not a thing wrong with being an optimist or having dreams, Charlie," she informed him imperiously. "Some of the world's greatest thinkers and minds were accused of being dreamers or optimists."

Charlie laughed. "You're really upset by this?" She was getting more irresistable the more outraged she became. He fought the urge to hold her tightly in his arms and kiss her senseless.

"Yes!" Nat waved her hands violently as she paced and spoke. "What would have happened if Copernicus did not have the idea of looking through a telescope, dreaming of what the stars were? What if Da Vinci didn't dream and create his models and works of art? What if the explorers like Magellan or Marco Polo didn't dream of what was just beyond their civilization's ideas of culture and borders? We'd be short on silk and Chinese spices and have a difficult time making overland trips to Hong Kong for them, that's where we'd be?"

Charlie blinked. "What?" Nat's mouth opened but Charlie waved her quiet, not sure he could take another disjointed Muggle history lesson. "Never mind." Besides he had other things in mind. Like kissing her. "You know what?"

"What?" Nat was still too busy being outraged to notice Charlie was standing in front of her.

"You are absolutely adorable when you're angry."

Nat froze as Charlie's mouth brushed hers. Her blue eyes locked onto his and as his lips rubbed hers tantalizingly, he winked. She gasped and he took advantage of her open mouth, exploring the silky inside with his tongue. Nat felt herself melting, eyes closing and leaning into his embrace. Kissing Sam had never felt like this.

Charlie's head was swimming with elation. His thoughts had been centered on kissing her off and on all day (and a bit before that too, truthfully) as he'd watched her wide-eyed wonder as they shopped up and down Diagon Alley and he couldn't believe his good fortune. Not only was she allowing him to kiss her but she was kissing him back! Charlie's own eyes drifted close and they went from gentle kisses to ones of a more passionate nature.

They got a bit wild, Nat pulling his head down and he slanted it to make their mouths fit tighter, sealing them. In the back of both their minds was the thought that this seemed so right, that they seemed to fit so perfect.

Nat unconsciously began tugging on his shirt, desperate to feel the muscles underneath the material. Honed by the nature of his physical occupation, Charlie's body was nicely sculpted. He wasn't hugely muscular, like some guy at a gym or in the wrestling shows, but it was nice to Nat's soft hands. She felt safe in his arms, not rushed or pushed.

Charlie, for his part, didn't think women came this soft, this so perfectly rounded. Natalie curved in all the right places. There was a bit of pinchable skin here and there, but it only added to her overall perfectness. She had well-developed muscles from her field work and he delighted in tracing his rough hands over the slight curves of her musculature.

"AHEM!"

Nat and Charlie were brought rudely back to their surroundings by a throat clearing, startled to find that Nat was almost on top of the table and Charlie was bent over her, his mouth on her neck, making enchanting little moans issue from her throat. The two of them looked over at the open door to find a tall man with a lanky frame and a shock of straw-colored hair glaring at them.

"Tom wants me to tell ye that yer rooms are ready, or should we make that a single?"

Both Nat and Charlie flushed a bright red and, after righting their clothing in a hurry, rushed from the room with muttered thanks. Charlie escorted Nat to her room, where they exchanged another languid kiss. Nat smiled up at him.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked shyly, pushing open the door invitingly, hoping she didn't sound desperate.

Charlie smiled back. "No." He chuckled at her crestfallen expression. "My mother taught me how to treat a lady. Another kiss good-night, fair maiden, and then off to hunt the dragons."

The kiss made both their toes curl and had Natalie dreaming of Charlie in gleaming silver armor defending her from a fierce black dragon with smoke billowing from its flaring nostrils when she finally drifted into sleep.