#dragon range

It had been months now. Months since those thieves stole a Thunderbird from Arizona, the very Thunderbird you and your team had been studying for weeks beforehand. This was your job, studying and caring for magical creatures in America, the country you had been born and raised in. A few years ago while doing a creature study in Arizona you had come across a Thunderbird, and something inside of you told you that this was the one creature you wanted to study more than any other. You moved out to Arizona to live with a team that had already been stationed there, and two years later you were well known as the best Thunderbird caretaker in all of America. It was because of this title that you were currently in Romania searching for the very Thunderbird that had started it all, a Thunderbird you had named Charles. You had known Charles for as long as you had been in Arizona, you would even consider him to be a rather good friend of yours, but four months ago someone had captures and kidnapped the Thunderbird from right under your nose. You had done everything in your power to find him, pictures were released of the missing creature and you were almost about to give up hope when reports started rolling in of a Thunderbird in Romania. You had refused to get your hopes up, telling yourself it couldn’t be Charles for hours when your team got a call from a dragon range located in Romania, claiming that they had managed to capture your Thunderbird. No one knew what had happened to the person who kidnapped Charles, all they knew was that somehow the Thunderbird had managed to escape and was not doing well with being trapped again. Your higher ups, knowing the bond you shared with Charles sent you out to the Romanian dragon range to calm him down and bring him home safely. So now here you were, the best Thunderbird caretaker in all of America, in Romania looking for the Thunderbird someone had stolen from you four months ago. This probably would have seemed pretty odd for anyone who didn’t work with magical creatures. 

You sighed as you followed behind a woman who told you she would be bringing you to where they were keeping Charles, a bit impatient to check on your favorite Thunderbird and make sure he was alright. You were led inside of a large building and couldn’t help but smile when you saw Charles looking rather upset inside of a large cage that must have been for the dragon that would usually inhabit it, seeing as the habitat inside of it was nothing like what a Thunderbird would be used to, so clearly it wasn’t made for one. “Charles!” You yelled happily, running towards the cage to help soothe the rather angry looking creature only to be stopped when a voice sounded out from the cage, “I prefer Charlie actually.” For a split second you thought that Charles, the Thunderbird who wasn’t supposed to be able to talk, had spoken to you. It was when you looked closer at the cage that you realized Charles was not the only living being inside of it. There, within the cage was a rather roughed up looking young man with ginger hair, and you wondered for a moment how you ever could have missed a man with a head of hair like that before snapping back to reality. You looked the man over slowly, noting the scarring on his bare arms which looked to be from burns he had received in the past, which allowed you to reach the conclusion that he worked here with the dragons and was not another Thunderbird caretaker that had come to steal Charles away again. But that raised the question of what a dragons expert was doing in the same cage as a Thunderbird when they were so obviously not his area of expertise. You raised an eyebrow at him, crossing your arms over your chest, “I was talking to the Thunderbird.” The man, Charlie if you remembered what he had said correctly, gasped in mock surprise, turning to the creature and putting his hands on his hips as if he was going to scold him, “You never told me we had the same name! Merlin, you think you know a bird once you’ve fed him and entertained him for four hours!” You watched, eyes widening a bit as Charles flapped his wings as if in response, it was rare he responded to anyone, much less a stranger he had only just met a few hours before. You cleared your throat, trying to shake off the shock you felt due to the situation, catching the attention of both Charles and Charlie, who turned their heads to look at you. “Do you have a place I could give him a medical examination before we have to leave?” You asked, trying to sound professional despite the events unfolding before you. Charlie gave a quiet hum and nodded in response, “I suppose so, but it would be a huge waste of time, I examined him not long after he got here and everything seems fine.” You blanched, your eyes widening further than they had any other time during this odd encounter, “You what?!” 

Charlie, or rather the man you understood to be Charlie seemed rather surprised by your sudden outburst, raising a confused brow at you, “I examined him. You know, that thing you’re supposed to do with any sort of magical creature before you remove it from one area to another?” You glared at him, scoffing, “I know what an examination is, Mr...” You trailed off, blushing in embarrassment when you realized you didn’t know this mans last name, causing you to successfully make a fool of yourself. The ginger haired dragon trainer smirked, his arms crossed over his chest, “Weasley.” He said, chuckling at your obvious embarrassment. You chose to ignore him, continuing, “Well Mr. Weasley, as I was saying, I know what an examination is, I’m just wondering why on earth a dragon trainer thinks he can perform one on a Thunderbird!” You shouted, surprised when Charlie’s only response was to chuckle once again and shrug. “Well Miss L/n, I can promise you I am more than qualified to examine your Thunderbird.” You blinked in surprise, taking a step back, “Wait a second, how do you know my name? And what makes you qualified to examine Charles?” You watched as the man sighed, making his way to the locked door of the cage and letting himself out, and as he stood in front of you you couldn’t help but notice the fact that he was not by any stretch of the imagination an unattractive man. He had obvious scars in a lot of places, some more faded than others but still there nonetheless, his shoulders were broad, his arms were rather muscular, he had a bit of a stubble growing in along his jaw, and his hair was long enough that you could tell he hadn’t cut it in a while. But before you had noticed any of that you had noticed something else, a feature you had been too far away from him to notice before. Charlie Weasley had the warmest pair of soft brown eyes you had ever seen in all your life. You snapped yourself out of your haze suddenly, hoping he hadn’t noticed you staring as you folded your arms across your chest. “I know your name.” Charlie began, “Because you’re the best Thunderbird caretaker in all of North America. It doesn’t really matter where you live, if you work with magical creatures you know who Y/n L/n is.” You watched as he put his hands in his pockets, his demeanor casual as he focused in on your other question. “I’m qualified to examine Charles because I know plenty about Thunderbird’s and I know when one is in need of an examination. He looked injured when he got here, and since no one else knew what to do for a Thunderbird I volunteered to take care of him until you got here. An examination was part of my taking care of him. And as you can see I didn’t do anything wrong during my examination of him. If I had there would have been consequences, I know you have to be aware of that.” You sighed and nodded slowly, a little bit angry with yourself for assuming Charlie didn’t know what he was doing. “I’m sorry.” You said, running a hand through your hair, “I’ve been really worried about him since he got stolen from his habitat in Arizona, and I guess I jumped to conclusions a little when you said you had examined him. I probably should have known that at least one person at this range would know how to care for a Thunderbird, huh?” You let out a breathy chuckle, one Charlie didn’t return. For a second you were worried you had angered him, but when you looked up to meet his gaze again you saw he was smiling at you in a fond way that almost made you blush. “Don’t worry about it. Why don’t you come with me? We can take a look at the examination reports I filled out so you can figure out a safe time to bring him home. 

For the next three hours you and Charlie looked over Charles’ medical examination report that Charlie himself had only filled out hours before your arrival. Charles looked okay, but Charlie speculated he was probably a little bit tired after all that had happened. Because he seemed so tired, Charlie brought up the idea that maybe he should stay at the range for a few days to rest, and reluctantly you agreed. If staying at the range for a little while meant Charles would be healthy to travel back to Arizona you would gladly do so. After it was decided that you and Charles would remain at the range for another day or two you told the higher ups about your decision, and once they agreed to it everything was official. You would call Romania your home for two more days before returning to Arizona with Charles, once you were there you would work with your team to make sure nothing like this would ever happen again. You walked back to the large glass cage that was currently housing your favorite Thunderbird, and after a single pleading glance at Charlie he agreed to let you go inside to check up on him. 

It was the first time you had been able to see Charles face to face in months, and to say you were happy to get a good look at him and make sure he was alright was an understatement. You slowly made your way closer to him, sitting down on the ground by his feet and allowing him to make the decision of whether or not he wanted to be near you at all. Thunderbird’s were no idiots, they understood things most magical creatures did not. For example, you knew that Charles knew that you were supposed to protect him from those who wanted to steal and use him for their own benefit. Therefore he knew that it was your fault they had been able to take him away from his home in the first place. You were sad to see how hesitant Charles seemed at first, watching you and blinking slowly as if he were trying to decide whether he wanted you with him or not. You watched carefully as the Thunderbird relaxed, more than just a little glad to see him warming up to you again. It was apparent that he forgave you for not being able to keep him safe, and you were grateful for that. 

After a few more minutes of bonding with Charles after such a long time of being away from him you exited the cage, smiling as you watched the exhausted Thunderbird fall asleep, his guard down for what you could only assume was the first time in a long time. “You know.” You heard a familiar voice from behind you speak out gently, causing you to turn around and come face to face with those lovely brown eyes you couldn’t help but stare into. “I happen to know a little more about Thunderbird’s than your average man.” Charlie continued, giving you a small smirk as he took a step closer, “So I was thinking, maybe if you’re gonna be here a few days we can talk a little more about your area of expertise.” You tried to hold back a grin after hearing his words but failed to do so, your smile lighting up your face as you glanced up at him, “Only if we can talk about yours too. I’m not just a Thunderbird girl you know.” You said smugly, watching as Charlie’s small smirk turned into a full blown smile that was so contagious you couldn’t help but smile too. And that was the day that your favorite Thunderbird who had already changed your life so much by helping you find the job you loved changed your life even more. That was the day that Charlie Weasley and Y/n L/n fell in love. 

masterlist

Ko-fi