Chapter Four
The damn dragon was finally coming around.
Charlie--for some reason, he rarely thought of him as Weasley now--had his wand ready as Terrence slowly and carefully approached Rosu. The dragon seemed tired, almost down; perhaps that was really the reason he had lowered his head to the ground and now let Terrence come close enough to touch the scales on his billowing sides. He could have sworn the beast sighed.
"It's all right," Terrence murmured, knowing the dragon couldn't possibly understand his words, but that body language and tone conveyed much more. "I'm not going to hurt you." He started to examine the dragon for any sickness or injury, Charlie close behind him, covering him in case the animal startled.
"I don’t think I saw him with Branwen once since yesterday," he murmured. It was almost as if Rosu heard the Green's name, for his turned and gave them a baleful look, his large glassy eyes mirroring the very human emotion of sadness.
Terrence continued his slow walk around the dragon. "Did you have a row with your mate? Was that all the noise I heard yesterday?" he asked. He knew he would get no answer, but the dragon made a pathetic mewling sound, and he glanced in surprise at Charlie, who just shook his head, stunned.
"That's impossible," he said softly. "I mean, I've seen dragons fight, but I've never seen one actually upset about it."
"Me neither," said Terrence. "It's amazing."
Terrence tried to stay focused, but once again a dozen things were going through his mind. Charlie was so close now he could feel his breath on the back of his neck. Ever since the conversation on the rock, things had been different between him and Charlie--more subdued, with less bickering, but also more distant. It was almost uncomfortable at times. It was if they were both unwilling to admit something, something Terrence knew he'd felt since the day he had been injured.
He had also had another owl from his family, once again imploring him to return. His sister was miserable with the husband she had been pressured to marry, but at least she was pregnant and providing the family with the heir Terrence never would. His mother had thrown herself into preparing for her first grandchild, but his father was still furious with Terrence for leaving the country again and refused to have anything to do with him. Terrence had another long talk with Maggie about both problems, but neither seemed to have a resolution that he could see.
Shaking his head, Terrence forced himself to concentrate: whatever else was going on, right now he and Charlie were finally succeeding with the Fireball, and he needed to stay focused so he didn't blow it. There would be time to figure out all the other complications in his life later. And perhaps he wouldn't have to: if Rosu was ready to accept a keeper, maybe Terrence could go back to Wales. He didn't want to, though, not anymore--he rather liked the reserve in Romania now that he'd been there two months, and it certainly kept him far away from his interfering family. There were other reasons, of course, but only Maggie knew those, and only because she had somehow guessed.
Rosu lay quietly as Terrence continued his examination, Charlie right behind him, a steady, protective presence. In spite of a rough start to their relationship, they had grown into strong partners, able to quickly wrangle most of the dragons on the reserve together, and now finally the Fireball. He was proud of their accomplishment and wished he could celebrate it, but he somehow doubted Charlie would feel the same.
"I don't see anything wrong physically," he finally said, gazing deep into Rosu's eyes. "I think it might have to do with Branwen. Poor beast." He rubbed at the bridge of dragon's nose; it was awfully close to a large mouthful of teeth, but it was also a sensitive, calming area for the animal, rather like scratching a Kneazle behind the ears.
"Careful," murmured Charlie, and Terrence turned to give him a roll of his eyes.
"He's fine. Want to try? I think he trusts us now." Terrence motioned at Charlie's arm. "Just lower your wand. I'll step back and cover you."
Charlie moved forward, implicitly trusting him, and touched the dragon. He glanced back at Terrence in surprise. "He's so hot!" he exclaimed quietly. "Much warmer than any of the others."
"Now you understand why I was so surprised to see him swimming when I first got here," Terrence replied. "They prefer warmth. I wasn't just being an arsehole."
"You were being a cocky git," Charlie murmured, but there was no real rancor to it as he was completely mesmerized by the dragon. Terrence watched him, knowing he would miss them both if he went back to Wales. Shaking his head of such thoughts, Terrence finally tapped Charlie on the shoulder and motioned him back. Rosu actually looked disappointed as they stepped away.
"Unless he's had something bad to eat, I can't see anything wrong with him," Terrence said. "I really do think he's heartbroken."
"I still wish there was something we could do," Charlie replied. "Where's Branwen?"
Terrence frowned. "You know, I haven't actually seen her at all since I heard them fighting yesterday. She's probably sulking in the mountains."
Charlie narrowed his eyes at the Fireball, then gazed back at the mountains. "Or maybe she's building a nest."
"Of course!" Terrence exclaimed. "They weren't fighting, they were mating! Wow, that was…" He wrinkled his nose as he remembered the sound: it had sounded nothing like the few other dragon couplings he'd heard. "…different."
"They're a rather unusual couple, though, aren't they?" asked Charlie.
"Well, it would certainly explain why we haven't seen her, why she's avoiding Rosu, and even why he's so tired." He grinned at Charlie. "We could have a mixed dragon egg on our hands soon."
Charlie grinned back. "I'd say that calls for a celebration if there ever was one!" He put his hand on Terrence's shoulder, and Terrence inhaled sharply when he felt a small shock at the other's man touch. Charlie must have felt it too, because he dropped his hand immediately, looking surprised, but then motioned him forward, back toward camp as if nothing had passed between them. "Come on, let's tell everyone."
Terrence frowned as he followed, trying to understand what had just happened, but he didn't know what it was or what to say. Really, there wasn't anything to say: they were working partners, nothing more, and they had just made a both a significant breakthrough and major discovery about their dragons. That was what he needed to focus on, nothing else, especially momentary fleeting feelings that the man in front of him clearly preferred to ignore--if he felt them at all.
They had not gone far, however, when Maggie appeared, slightly out of breath. "You've had an owl, Charlie," she said, handing him a large envelope. "He was dead tired when he got here, so I think it must be important, especially judging from the envelope."
Terrence glanced at the envelope and saw that it was sealed with an Urgency Charm to hasten its delivery, as well as a Sealing Spell, which meant whomever had sent it did not want anyone but Charlie to see it. Which was not unusual--most people sealed their letters with some version of the spell--but it was apparent this one was particularly powerful as the edges were burnt and it took Charlie some effort to release it. He thanked Maggie, who left them after a very suggestive glance at Terrence. Charlie did not see her; he was reading his letter, and face paled beneath his freckles. Terrence wondered if he had received bad news.
"I have to go home," Charlie finally said, looking up. Terrence was surprised to see both fear and anger in his eyes. "Something's happened in England." He turned and strode off toward his cabin without another word, and Terrence wasn't sure whether to go after him or continue with their announcement about Rosu and Branwen. He finally followed Charlie, straight into his cabin as he began to pack. Apparently it was extremely urgent.
"What's wrong?" Terrence finally asked. Charlie glanced up as if surprised to see him there. He shook his head and kept pulling together his things, haphazardly stuffing them into a large sack.
"My brother's best friend has just won the Tri-Wizard Tournament at Hogwarts," he said. "But one of the other students was killed." He paused and stood up straight, closing his eyes as he blew out a breath. "By You-Know-Who."
"What?" Terrence said, as if he had heard Charlie wrong. "You don’t mean--"
"Yes, I do," Charlie replied, his voice strangely distant and calm now. "Voldemort is back."
"That's…that's not possible," Terrence stuttered. "That's insane, they don't know what they're talking about…"
"They're my family, they're not making it up, Higgs," Charlie snapped. He stopped and took a deep breath. "It was the other Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory. He was a Seeker, too."
Terrence nodded, vague memories of having flown his last match against a young Hufflepuff Seeker floating through his mind as Charlie continued packing. It seemed so long ago, and so impossible, to think that a student had died, someone he had known, and that the Dark Lord could be responsible.
"I need to go home for a few days, something is happening and I need to be there," Charlie was saying. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Right," Terrence murmured, still too stunned by the implication to argue. He was a Slytherin. His parents were Slytherins. And while that might not matter in every case, Terrence knew perfectly well his father had supported Lord Voldemort during his first rise to power. Benjamin Higgs had only got out of Azkaban by claiming to be Imperiused, like so many others had done and been pardoned for. If the Dark Lord had truly returned, Terrence had little doubt his father would be called back to service--and he with him. He even wondered if his father had known about it already, and had wanted him to stay in England in order to be ready.
He shook his head: no, Charlie had just received his owl, so it must have happened recently. No doubt Terrence would be receiving his own owl shortly then, imploring him to return to his family, return to Gringotts, to settle down and marry a pure-blood and serve the Dark Lord. It was inevitable: he knew his family.
"Terrence, are you all right?" Charlie asked, standing before him with a concerned look on his face. He had his pack slung over his shoulder, ready to leave. Charlie was lucky: his family was important to him, and they supported him. They weren't calling him home for all the wrong reasons, they were calling him back for the right ones. And Terrence envied that, would have given anything to be a part of that.
He nodded, swallowing hard as he tried to find his voice. "I'm fine. I'm just…shocked, I guess. And worried. I'm worried about my family, about your family, about Llwytmor, about England…about you."
He reached out and put his hand to Charlie's shoulder just as Charlie had done earlier. He tried to ignore the feel of strong muscle beneath his hands, the warmth of skin, the tingle of even such brief contact; instead, he focused on Charlie's face, because he had to say something, even if he couldn't say it all. "Be careful. We made a breakthrough today, you know. I'll send Rosu after you if anything happens."
Charlie's pupils were very wide as he stared into Terrence's face; he had to feel it too, how could he not and look at him like that? Charlie cleared his throat. "Right. I'll be fine. I'll be back in a week. Promise."
He ducked under Terrence's arm, but turned before leaving the cabin. "You be careful too. I won't have your back, you know."
Terrence grinned in spite of the churning feeling in his gut that he might never see his partner again. "I'll be fine. I'll rein in my cocky git until you get back. Which will be dull and boring, but I can wait a week to take my next risk."
Charlie nodded slowly, his eyes studying Terrence's face, his mouth half open as if he wanted to say something. He didn't; he finally turned and left, and Terrence watched him go, wondering how it had come to all this and what would happen now.
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