Tough As Dragon Skin

Nat wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. Maybe camping out in rugged Eastern European terrain, complete with tents, campfires, backpacks, flying brooms (which made her nervous because even she knew that wasn't normal broom behavior), water canteens, and canned rations. What she got was a tent with spacious and luxurious innards that resembled a hotel than a tent, food cooked in the tent's kitchen brought from the freezer or refrigerator, and no drizzle leaking in from a shabby tent roof during the major downpour currently raging outside.

"This isn't right," she informed Charlie, who was pouring everyone a cup of tea. The five men of Charlie's team merely continued to stare at her as if she were some strange beast that had sprouted from the earth.

"Why's that, Nat?" asked Charlie, setting the tea pot down.

She looked around at the tent and grinned sheepishly. "Something about the Hilton in a tent just bothers me."

"What a Hilton?" asked Tybalt. Reggie, looking better from his dragon-eaten incident, was staring at Natalie as if she were the most fascinating object on the planet. Frankly it was making her a bit nervous.

"A hotel, kind of upscale if you're middle class," she explained before shoving an entire scone into her mouth to keep from laughing at their perplexed expressions.

"There are different types of hotels for different types of people?" Marty sounded outraged. At least Nat thought the one speaking was Marty. He looked vaguely like the guy who'd been rather wary of her accompanying the team in the first place.

Mouth full, she only nodded.

"Muggles," Tybalt shook his head in wonder. "They do the wierdest things."

"Says the guy that waves a small stick to make things happen," she giggled after swallowing her scone. The five men ignored the comment. "Speaking of wierd things, what's the game plan tomorrow?"

There was a sudden silence. The men looked at each other uncomfortably until Charlie finally spoke up. "You're, um, actually staying in the tent, Nat."

Nat's tone was frosty. "Excuse me? We had a deal!"

"And we have representatives from the Romanian Ministry of Magic crawling all over this place tomorrow," Charlie explained, "and if they see a Muggle, an unauthorized one at that, we are screwed six ways from Sunday."

Nat thought about it. "So teach me to wave a wand, ride a broom and you won't have to worry about it."

"You can't do magic!" sputtered Tybalt. "You're a Muggle!"

"Did I say "do magic"? I said wave a wand. I'll wave it expertly in the air on the broom and they'll never know." Nat gave Tybalt an indignant sniff.

Charlie gave her a beseeching look. "It's just for tomorrow, Nat, and then we're on the reserve where they won't go for fear of being eaten." Charlie winced when both Reggie and Tybalt winced. "Sorry, Reg."

"S'okay. I'm kinda getting used to the trauma of being eaten actually." Reggie downed his tea in a gulp and turned red from the heat.

Nat was distracted. "You were eaten?" she asked him in excited horror.

"Yes, and if you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about the experience to anyone except my doctor." Reggie gave her a wan smile. "Let's just say it wasn't pleasant."

Nat just stared at him, fascinated. Charlie and Marty both choked down chuckles at the sight. Reggie was getting more and more uncomfortable with Nat's gaze. Finally he got up, excused himself and fled.

"All right, fine then, I'll be a good girl and stay in the tent but I want the grand tour first thing the next morning!" Nat informed the remaining dragon caretakers imperiously.

Charlie snapped to attention and saluted her. "Yes, Ma'am!"

"Shut up and pour me another cup, Weasley," Marty said.

"Yessir!"

It was two in the afternoon and Nat was bored, bored, bored. She'd done the editing read through of her paper for the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Twice. Eager to see if her latest theory regarding the size of nasal cavaties and how smell was utilized by the large carnivores would have bearing in studying dragons, Nat kept peeking out to see if Charlie and his co-workers were around. One or more was usually wandering the small campsite with at least one Romanian wizard talking ninety miles an hour at them.

She got lucky at four-twenty. There wasn't a wizard in sight. Desperate to get out of the tent even for a brief moment, Nat darted out and went behind the tent, lunging into the woods beyond for a walk. The walk was invigorating and, marking her trail and noting landmarks as she'd been taught in the Girl Scouts, Nat plunged deeper into the woods.

Charlie realized later that perhaps he should have told her they were relatively close to the dragon reservation but then speculated that it wouldn't have made any difference and she'd have been an even bigger paid. Needless to say, it undoubtedly would have ended up the same.

Dark was coming on and Nat realized she really should have paid more attention in Girl Scouts. Worried that now she was in more trouble than just Charlie being irate at her wandering off, she turned around, hoping she could get close enough to camp that her marks wouldn't be needed. It took her a bit to realize that she was going around in circles and had been for sometime, hitting the same markings over and over. Frustrated and starting to get a little scared, Nat sat down on a funky looking tree trunk that had fallen to ruminate over her situation and come up with a plan. Admittedly, plans weren't her strong suit but it wasn't like she had much choice in the matter. It was either come up with a plan or wait to be eaten by wild animals in the middle of the Romanian wilderness.

The tree trunk moved. Terrified, Nat leaped to her feet and headed for the nearest patch of treeless area she could find, which was nothing to brag about. Certain she was in the middle of a quake in Romania, Nat took deep breaths and tried not to panic.

The panic part turned into sheer terror when she realized it wasn't an earthquake. The quake turned into shudders like footsteps. With dawning horror, Nat realized she'd sat on the tail of a dragon. Said dragon, huge, horny and brown, was now peering down at her from a great height, what was certainly a toothy grin leering at her.

The urge to pass out on the spot was strong but somehow she managed to keep her wits. Deciding now was as good a time as any to test her theory, Nat slowly bent down and picked up a huge stick. Heaving it as hard as she good to her right, Nat held her breath to see if the dragon's eyes followed the object as it crashed through the trees. It didn't; it merely blinked at her and shifted its weight.

The sound or movement didn't distract the dragon in the least. 'So much for the theory presented to the audiences of 'Jurassic Park',' Nat thought to herself. She'd almost have rather the dragon went snarling for the branch. Then she'd have known to not move until the dragon went away or help arrived.

Chewing on the inside of her lip, Nat considered her options. She had nothing that smelled to distract the dragon with, unless she counted her sweaty self, which was not an option. She had no way to defend herself if the dragon suddenly attacked. In short, she was dinner.

Nat had no idea how long she and the dragon stood there, staring at each other, but finally, bored with her, the dragon turned and lumbered away, leaving behind crashed trees and a hyperventilating Natalie.

Charlie was in a panic. She wasn't in any of the tents. No one had seen her all day. There were wierd markings on some of the trees behind her tent that led deep into the woods at the edge of the reservation. The nearest group of dragons were a nesting pair, which meant they would not be friendly, even if Horntails were so inclined to be so to begin with. He had a sinking feeling she was an evening snack.

Taking his broom, Charlie soared low over the area of her markings. The woods were heavy and the height was good to find dragons, but not so great for humans. He took a chance and sank lower, darting the upper canopy carefully but quickly. A short distance away, Charlie could see a male Horntail lumbering off and prayed to whoever listened to wizard prayers that the Horntail hadn't just had a snack.

A scream rent the air and Charlie turned his broom quickly east. He dove down, registering slightly that the Horntail had been moving away from that direction. The scream, he absently noted, was also female.

"CHARLES WEASLEY!" Charlie grinned to himself and sank even lower as he approached the irate screams. "CHARLIE! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"

He was about to shout back but her next words stole his breath. "HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE MY KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR IF YOU AREN'T AROUND TO BE KNIGHT-LIKE?"

He crashed into a tree.