Chapter Five
Charlie stumbled into his cabin, exhausted after the long trip back from the Burrow. He flicked on a light with his wand, set down his bag, and turned toward the door…only to stifle an exclamation when he found Maggie already standing there, obviously in her pyjamas, looking worried and upset.
"It's about time!" she exclaimed, sounding cross.
"Good to see you too, Maggie," Charlie mumbled, shaking his head at the welcome. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you, of course," she replied. "I need to talk to you."
"Well, I literally just got back, and it was a long trip." He stifled a yawn that he didn't need to fake in order to convince her he was telling the truth. "I'd really just like to fall into bed. Can we talk in the morning?"
"No," she said softly, closing the door. She looked intense. "He's leaving in the morning."
"Who?" Charlie asked, completely confused. "Look, Maggie, it took me six hours, two Portkeys, and an Apparition to get back. I'm exhausted."
"Sit down then," she ordered, going into Healer mode. "I'll do the talking. I'll even make some tea."
He did as he was told, resisting the urge to put his head down on the table and close his eyes as she bustled around the small kitchen to start some tea even though it was almost midnight.
"Terrence is going back to Wales the morning," she began. "You have to stop him."
"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked, abruptly sitting up straighter and wide-awake. "Why is he leaving?"
"A dozen reasons, all of which you would know if you had been here and talked to him about it." She turned and gave him a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry, I know it's hard for you two."
"Maggie, stop talking in riddles and just tell me what's going on!" Charlie exclaimed. She sat down across from him to wait for their tea. Pulling her long blond hair into a quick, messy bun, she tucked her feet beneath her and began.
"You've been gone almost three weeks, Charlie. We didn't even know if you were coming back, you were gone so long. And there have been rumors about why you left." She gave him a pointed look, which he acknowledged with a nod before she continued. He didn't want to say anything to her, not now in the middle of the night. He'd approach her another time, knowing she would almost certainly support the Order's cause, however that might be in Romania.
"Terrence got an owl, too," she was saying as he forced himself to focus. "A few days after you left. It was a letter from his mother, begging him to come home." She paused and took a breath. "Then he got another, from his father, just a few days ago, demanding the same thing. I think there's more, but he won't tell me, because now all of a sudden he's leaving."
Charlie just stared at her, his heart suddenly racing. Terrence was actually going to go home, give into his parent's demands and settle down with the nice day job and the pretty wife and--
He shook his head. No, there must be something else. Higgs wouldn't change his mind so completely, so quickly, without reason. Not after all the things he had said out on the rock.
"You're right, there's probably more," Charlie finally said. "He wouldn't just pick up and leave because of one letter from his father."
"That's why you have to talk to him!" Maggie exclaimed. The teakettle whistled and she stood to pour the hot water into the cups she had set out. "He won't tell me anything."
"What makes you think he'll tell me?" Charlie asked as she sat back down.
"Because you're his partner," she said very matter-of-factly. "And even if you won't admit it, you know there's more between you. You're both just too stubborn and arrogant to see it or believe it."
He knew he should have been shocked, or offended, or embarrassed, but he wasn't. Maggie was one of the most honest and perceptive people he had ever met, and a close friend since she had arrived as a replacement for their retired Healer. He trusted her and knew she was probably the best person he could confide it at the reserve; he probably should have talked to her earlier, only he had tried to deny it, over and over and over, until he had left and realized the truth of it.
"Or just scared," Charlie murmured, glancing up to see her reaction as she set the cup before him and sat down once more.
"There's nothing to be scared of, Charlie Weasley," Maggie said. "You two just tamed a Chinese Fireball. You've had more scratches and burns than anyone over the last few months. You're not scared of dragons, so why would you be scared of each other?"
Again Charlie just stared at her, speechless at her blunt reproach. Finally he shook his head. "You're right, of course…but that doesn't mean much if he's leaving."
"He'll stay if you ask," Maggie said. "I know he will. I think that's one reason he's leaving: he doesn't think he has anything to stay for. Not you, not the Fireball. Talk to him. Please."
Charlie nodded slowly, even though the thought terrified him now that he was facing it head on. He had thought about it constantly on his way back to the reserve and had not once figured out how to start. "Okay, I will. But I have no idea what to say."
"What did you say to Lauren, to Jake?" asked Maggie. "To me? Nothing. Sometimes words aren't really necessary, you know."
"This is different," Charlie said. He didn't know why it was any different, but it was. He had talked to his brother about it a bit at the Burrow, though most of their time had been spent doing business for the fledging new Order of the Phoenix and there had been little opportunity to go into detail. But Bill had told him the same thing: he just needed to say something, get it out in the open, and move on from there, whatever happened.
And really, if two such different dragons as Rosu and Branwen could find it in themselves to bond on a lake in Romania, why not their keepers?
* * *
Terrence woke up before dawn the next morning, completely exhausted. For the third night in a row he'd slept poorly, thoughts of leaving Romania and returning to his family's estate in Yorkshire running listlessly through his mind as he tossed and turned hour after hour. He didn't want to leave, but what did he have to stay for? Charlie had left and even though he had said he would return--promised it, even-- he had been gone three weeks. Something was either keeping him in England, or else he simply didn't want to come back; either way, Terrence feared the worst.
Rosu didn't need him: he'd recovered from his brief depression and disappeared into the mountains for a week, finally returning to the lake to swim by himself. After a few days Branwen appeared for brief periods, though she did not stay for long and always flew back to the mountains instead of to the shore or the reserve grounds. It seemed to confirm their suspicions: Branwen had laid her egg, and had likely accepted Rosu back into her life now that the worst was over and they waited for it to hatch.
His family didn't need him, not really, but still they pressured him mercilessly to return, and therein lay the problem. His mother's letter had hinted at some of the things Charlie had said about the Dark Lord; his father's letter had so much as confirmed it. His mother had begged him to come home and be with the family; his father had demanded that he return and offer his life in service to the new direction the country would soon be heading.
Which meant Terrence would take up arms for Voldemort, whether he liked it or not. He was being called to follow in his father's footsteps…or he would be disowned and cut from the family fortune, removed from the family tree, never to see or speak to them again.
Terrence didn't care about the money, but he cared about his mother and his sister, and even his father. He did not want to see the former upset--or worse, forced into servitude to the Dark Lord against their wishes. If he went home, he could at least be with them, protect them. He would join Voldemort's quiet uprising with his father, but he would hate every minute of it.
He did not want to take the Dark Mark, he did not want to fight for anyone. He had no reason not to leave, other than he wanted to stay. He wanted to work with dragons, alone and away from whatever was happening in England. But maybe his wishes didn't matter anymore: Weasley had left, after all, with little word to any of them, little thought of him or the dragons or the reserve. If Charlie could leave, so could he.
But as he began packing his things, he doubted himself once more. Maybe he should request a transfer, go to Africa or even back to China. He felt like he was always running from his family, but he saw no other solution: they would hound him until he did as they wished or forget he even existed.
He finished packing, sat down on his bed, and glanced around the small cabin he had actually come to call home. It felt abruptly claustrophobic: he needed to be outside with his dragons on his last day. So he left his things and headed down to the lake. The sun was just rising, and he doubted the dragons would actually be out so early, but he could still enjoy one last hour of peace.
He had not been there long, idly skipping stones into the still water, when he heard someone come up behind him. He tried to stop his heart jumping in his chest: he would have known if Charlie had come back, so it was likely Maggie, come to try and talk him out of leaving again. He sighed.
"It's all right," he called over his shoulder without looking back, skipping another rock across the surface. "I know you're there. You won't talk me out of it, though."
"I can still try," said a gruff voice. Terrence whirled, his breath catching in his chest as he saw Weasley standing behind him with crooked grin. It was all he could do to stop from both embracing his absent partner with relief and knocking him hard across the head. Instead, he covered up his surprise with the snark he had first met the other man with.
"You came back," he said, hoping he sounded far more casual than he felt. "We thought you'd given up on us out here--settled down in England, maybe."
"It's not my thing," Charlie murmured, joining him at the edge of the rock. "And it's not yours either, but Maggie said you were leaving--going back home."
"Maggie's right," Terrence replied, continuing to busy himself the stones he had gathered, tossing them into the water with more and more force.
"Why?"
"It's just something I have to do," Terrence said. Which was, in a way, exactly the truth.
"You said you didn't want to go back, take their job, marry their pretty witch." Charlie frowned. "One owl and you're leaving behind everything you've worked so hard for? What changed your mind?
Terrence laughed through his nose. "One owl sent you rushing home, why not me?"
"I went home for an emergency," Charlie protested. "And I came back, just like I said I would."
"You're late," Terrence snapped. "So you missed the rest of the story, sorry."
He could hear Charlie blow out his breath in frustration and was sure the other man would shout right back. Instead, he sat down on the cold rock, elbows on his knees as he stared at the ground and spoke.
"Please tell me," he finally said, his voice very soft. "I want to know why you're leaving."
The tone of Charlie's voice stopped Terrence short: he not only sounded worried, but like he actually meant it--as if he really did want to know, maybe even cared. Terrence had not expected to give in so soon, but with a sigh he sat on the edge of the rock, feet dangling over the edge, and found he couldn't fight it: he had to say something, so at least someone knew.
"I had an owl from my father," he began, and Charlie nodded.
"That's what Maggie told me. But what did he say to change your mind?" Charlie pierced him with his shrewd brown eyes. "I know there's more, because they've been sending you owls for months. What was different?"
Terrence shook his head, taking a deep breath to keep his voice steady. "My father demanded I return to England, or he will disown me completely."
"Bollocks." Charlie whistled under his breath.
"Oh, it's gets better." Terrence looked at the sky as he said it. "He fought for the Dark Lord the first time, you know. I'm certain he intends for me to join the Death Eaters."
"No!" Charlie jumped up, arms flailing. "You can't do that, you're not one of them--Terrence, you can't go--"
"I have no reason to stay, and every reason to go." The logical part of him knew that wasn't entirely true--he still had choices. He had defied his parents and left Gringotts to go to China, for Merlin's sake. He could stay, hidden away in the Romanian mountains, or even go back to Wales, though it would be much closer to the coming conflict. He would be disowned and disinherited if he remained a dragon keeper, but what was that really? In some ways he had been on his own since the day he had left the bank and never returned.
The Slytherin part of him recoiled at losing his honor and family name, though. And he could protect his mother and sister, couldn't he? Wouldn't they be safer with him to look over them in a world where the Dark Lord had returned?
No, that wasn't it, and he knew it. He knew exactly what he was running away from, because it was right before him, staring at him with bright eyes. Terrence stood, deliberately keeping his back to Charlie as he mindlessly tossed the last few rocks in the lake. He heard Charlie draw a shaky breath.
"Stay for me," Charlie said, his voice so soft Terrence could barely hear him.
"I didn't even think you were coming back," Terrence returned, hoping anger might fuel his refusal; it didn't. His voice was flat, because he felt only a deep sadness.
"I did, and I need your help now." Charlie touched his arm and forced him to turn around. "Please."
"With Rosu?" Terrence asked, allowing his skepticism to show on his face. "You'll be fine on your own, you know that. You could probably even introduce him to another keeper now."
"Bloody hell, Higgs, I'm not talking about Rosu!" Charlie exclaimed, and his arms were flailing again.
"Then what do you need my help with?" Terrence asked.
"I need someone to help me…well, recruit for the resistance, back in England…to fight…" He trailed off at the look on Terrence's face.
"You want me to stay and help you fight the Dark Lord? Are you serious?" Terrence couldn't help but laugh, suddenly feeling almost hysterical at the ridiculousness of what Charlie was asking of him. "I'm being called to go back and join him, and you want me to stay here and fight him instead? Are you mad?" Now, at last, the anger was flowing. Was that all Charlie wanted? His help? To defy his family once more, stay and fight against them?
"I need you--" Charlie started, but Terrence stopped him with a violent slash of his hand through the air between them.
"You don't need anything, Weasley," he practically spat. "You're so stubborn, you just want--"
Charlie grabbed his wrist and stared into his face, his lips a thin red line, brown eyes staring into his soul.
"I want you," he growled, the warmth from his hand searing into Terrence's arm. He stared at their interlocked arms before wrenching himself away from the burning connection. He tried to muster another furious retort, but he felt abruptly drained. He had nothing anymore, just bitter defeat.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Terrence said, barely mustering the ability to stare at him defiantly, as if daring him to break down the wall between them.
"Yes, I do," said Charlie, and he looked somewhat abashed after his outburst. "We've both been ignoring it, avoiding it, talking around it--but it's there, this thing between us. I think you've felt it too."
Terrence was silent as Charlie took a step forward, but the smallest flutter of hope had appeared within him. He knew it was true, had known it for a while, but he had accepted that nothing would ever happen between them as working partners. Yet now that seemed about to change, and a small smiled played at his lips as he slowly nodded.
"I have," he said, knowing with those few words he had made his choice. He couldn't go home and marry someone he didn't love, take a job he would ever enjoy, fight for a madman he could never believe in. He belonged in Romania. He belonged with the dragons. He belonged with Charlie Weasley. "But I didn't think you did, stubborn prat."
* * *
Charlie raised an eyebrow, even though his heart was racing with relief. In spite of what Maggie had told him, he had never been so scared in his life admitting what he had just said to Terrence. Yet the thought of Terrence leaving was overwhelming and had finally pulled it out of him.
"Good thing I'm a Gryffindor prat then," Charlie replied, "since one of us had to work up the guts to say something." He stepped closer and reached for Terrence's hand. Terrence glanced down at it, eyes narrowed.
"Please stay," Charlie murmured. "I really do need you."
He moved closer still and could feel the warmth of Terrence's body against his. "I'll be disinherited, disowned," Terrence murmured as their lips seemed to move toward one another of their own accord.
"But you don't want to go back, get married, sit behind a desk," Charlie said, and he raised his other hand to Terrence's face, sending a shiver rippling through them both. "And you can't join You-Know-Who. You can't."
"I know," Terrence replied, staring into his face. Charlie was transfixed by his lips, his eyes, each and every detail on the face that was so very close he could feel warm breath on his neck that threatened to fell him right there. "But I--"
He was cut off as Charlie threw caution to the wind and leaned forward to crush their lips together. They both gasped as the initial shock of it passed between them, then Terrence stepped into it even as Charlie pulled him closer. He closed his eyes and let the longing overwhelm him, knowing it was right, had been right all along, only they both had refused to see it or believe it.
"I'll stay," Terrence finally murmured, pulling away. Charlie's eyes widened slightly, because a part of him had still feared it would all be for nothing. "But Merlin's beard, it won't be easy."
Charlie grinned. "What, the bit with us or the bit with your family?"
"Both," Terrence tossed back. "And the part with You-Know-Who."
"I know," Charlie replied, nodding soberly. "Believe me, I know. It's why I was gone so long. But I think leaving also helped me sort things out. And I really do need your help."
Terrence sighed. "I'll do what I can," he said. Charlie grinned again and pulled him close, arms around his waist.
"And I'll do whatever I can to make it easier for you," he said, and he meant it to be both a bit cheeky and completely serious.
"You can help me unpack, to start," Terrence said, and for the first time in days Charlie felt like laughing. It seemed odd, though, to be happy when he knew terrible things were going to happen soon. Yet why shouldn't they enjoy whatever time they had together, before the world turned dark?
"Whatever it takes," Charlie replied. "But first we should talk to--"
He was interrupted by the call of a dragon overhead. Rosu flew over the rock, strong wings flapping in the light summer breeze as he roared a greeting. Behind him flew Branwen, leaving her nest for a rare early morning flight together. They circled the lake as if performing for their keepers, until Rosu splashed down into the water with another roar. Branwen joined him for a quick swim; she would need to return to her nest quickly, before the egg lost too much heat.
Charlie gazed out at the lake just as he had the day Terrence had arrived, yet then they had been watching only the Fireball, swimming in the cold water by himself. Now Rosu was no longer alone, having found his match in the Romanian mountains. It was a remarkable sight, the red and green together, one that would never fail to fill him with awe, one he was glad to be able to share.
And as Terrence slipped a hand into his once more, Charlie nodded wordlessly, suddenly understanding so much more, and together they sat down on the rock and watched their dragons on the water.
* * *
Dragons on the Water by Gmariam
Chapter Endnotes: The end!
This was always were it was going to end. Not sure if I will write more of them, but I am pretty sure they fight together at the Battle of Hogwarts, so things do work out for them...for a while. ;)
I do hope you enjoyed it. See that white box? It's curious what you thought. Thank you so much for reading!