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Hermione and Harry hadn't had much time for their flying lesson. He'd only been able to set aside a half hour for her, but they'd enjoyed spending that small amount of time together with a promise of more quality time coming that evening.
Hermione wondered how she was going to get out from under Lavender's watchful eye. Her roommate was currently trying to practise wandless magic. She was trying, unsuccessfully, to get Hermione to join her.
"I really just want to go study," Hermione replied. "In the library."
"I'll come with you," Lavender said.
"I study better alone," Hermione said quickly. "Really."
"Oh," Lavender said hurt.
"Maybe tomorrow night?" Hermione offered.
"Sure," Lavender replied. "I guess I'll see you when you get back then."
Hermione smiled at her and quickly slipped out of the room before Lavender could change her mind. She didn't like lying to her new friend, but there wasn't any way around it if she wanted to continue seeing Harry.
She took the lift down to the instructors' offices and hoped she wouldn't run into anyone.
She knocked softly on Harry's office door. "It's me," she said softly.
There was no answer and Hermione knocked again.
She looked at her watch. It was after seven.
"Harry?" she knocked again.
There was still no answer. She wondered if perhaps his meeting had gone longer than he'd expected.
Either that, or he'd wised up and decided that all the sneaking around wasn't worth it.
The door to Lupin's office, which was directly behind her, swung open. "Hermione," Lupin said warmly.
She jumped. "Hello sir!"
"Are you here to see me?" Lupin asked.
"Um... I actually had a question for Ha-- Mr. Potter," Hermione said, spotting Harry behind Lupin. "About the reading he assigned us."
"I'll leave you two to it," Lupin said. "I have a dinner date."
"Have a nice time, sir." Hermione blushed as Harry unlocked his office door.
"Think about what I said, Harry," Lupin said.
"I will," Harry nodded. "Talk to you later."
Harry held open the door. "After you, Miss Granger."
"Thank you," Hermione said.
Harry closed the door and set a silencing charm on the room. "Sorry about that. Remus likes the sound of his own voice."
"It's okay," Hermione said softly. "What does he want you to think about?"
"Helping out on some raids," Harry said.
"Wow," Hermione was impressed.
"My plate is full right now though," Harry said. "Teaching. The trip to Romania. Spending as much time with a certain someone as I can."
Hermione smiled. "I like that last option quite a bit."
"I thought you would," Harry said pulling her to him. He'd wanted to kiss her all day.
Hermione melted against him, pressing her lips to his.
He'd just lifted her jumper when there was a knock on his door.
"What the hell--" Harry said crossly. "Quick- go behind my desk."
Hermione nodded and moved behind his desk, crouching down.
Harry opened the door to see Tonks wiping at her eyes. "I'm so glad you're still here."
"What?" Harry asked. "Tonks--"
Tonks' lower lip trembled. "I--I saw him in the lift just now. With...with her."
"I'm sure it's nothing serious," Harry assured her.
"He was flirting with her!" Tonks said in exasperation. "I didn't even know he could flirt!"
"I didn't either," Harry said. "Not something I want to picture."
From behind the desk, Hermione wondered who Tonks was talking about.
"Would you like me to say something to him?" Harry offered, hoping to get her out of here quickly.
Tonks shook her head. "No. It wouldn't do any good. It's so unfair, Harry!"
"Come on Tonks," Harry patted her shoulder and cast a look towards his desk. "I'm sure he's not as interested in her as you think..."
"You really think?" Tonks asked hopefully.
"Sure," Harry nodded. "I'll try and talk to him about her."
"You're such a great friend," Tonks said giving him a hug.
"Sure," Harry smiled at the other woman. "It'll be all right, Tonks. I promise."
"You probably want to go home," Tonks said. "I'll leave you to it, Harry."
"Thanks," Harry opened the door. "See you tomorrow."
Tonks walked out and Harry closed the door behind her.
Hermione stood up. "That was close."
"Too close," He agreed, locking the door again.
"Where were we?" Hermione asked.
Harry smiled at her. "Here..." he wound his arms back around her.
Hermione smiled back at him. "It's all coming back to me now."
"Uh huh," Harry brushed his lips over hers.
Hermione looped her arms around his neck and he walked her backwards over to the sofa.
"Oomph," she laughed as they fell onto it together.
Harry tickled her side. "Very graceful."
"You did it," she smiled at him.
Harry's eyes darkened as he looked at her. He'd meant what he'd said to her earlier. She was the best thing in his life right now.
"What are you thinking?" Hermione asked softly, running her hand through his hair.
"Just how glad I am that you're here with me," Harry replied.
"I'm glad too," Hermione kissed him. "But I almost couldn't get away from Lavender."
Harry laughed. "And I couldn't get away from Lupin."
"I wonder what Lavender would say if she knew," Hermione said thoughtfully.
Harry had asked himself that question, too. Lavender and Parvati had been best friends since they were 11 years old. Lavender was devastated when her best friend died, but she'd been a great friend to Harry.
"Not that I'm going to tell her," Hermione said quickly, mistaking his silence for disapproval.
Harry gave her a kiss. "It's not that, Hermione. This is just really complicated."
"I know," she said softly.
"But being with you is definitely worth it," Harry whispered.
Hermione felt her heart beat faster at the look on his face. "I feel the same way."
Harry gave her a kiss which quickly turned passionate.
"Mmmmm..." Hermione tugged at his jumper. "Off with those clothes..."
He grinned. "And off with yours..."
They fumbled with the buttons of the blouse she wore underneath her jumper. "Just tear them off," Hermione said. "I'll fix them later..."
"As you wish," Harry said tearing open the blouse.
The buttons went flying everywhere, but Hermione didn't care as she pulled the damned thing off and threw it aside.
He made quick work of pulling off her jeans and then her knickers.
She tugged down on his boxers and he unclasped her bra.
Harry positioned himself over her and kissed her softly. Hermione arched her back, guiding him to enter her. He thrust inside her hard and fast.
"Oh," Hermione's eyes opened wide.
Her body moulded perfectly around him and he marvelled at how well they fit. Not just here, but everywhere else. She got him like no one else had which seemed to strange given that they hadn't known each other very long.
"Harry," Hermione said breathlessly. "How did this all come about?"
"What?" Harry asked against her skin.
"You and me," Hermione whispered.
"I don't know," he said looking down at her.
"It just feels like something out of a dream," Hermione said as he pushed into her again.
"Good dream, I hope," Harry said before kissing her.
"Very much so," Hermione closed her eyes.
He knew what she meant though. There was no explanation for how they'd come together like this. He wasn't in the habit of having one night stands and he knew that wasn't her style either. Despite their every effort to stay away from each other, they'd been thrown together time and time again. He wanted to know everything about her.
There was a part of him that still felt as if he was betraying Parvati's memory, but he knew that she would have wanted him to move on.
Moving on hadn't seemed possible until he'd met Hermione.
A short while later, they were lying together in a comfortable silence. Hermione enjoyed the feeling of his hand running through her hair.
"I could get used to this," Harry finally said.
"I already am," Hermione admitted.
Harry smiled. "Hermione Jane..."
She smiled into his shoulder. "Harry James..."
He knew she'd have to go soon, but he wasn't ready for that yet. If he had his way, she'd stay here all night with him.
"So what was Tonks talking about earlier?" she asked curiously.
"Ah," Harry said. "I was wondering when you were going to ask about that. Well, Tonks fancies Remus."
"Really?" Hermione raised her head up and looked at him.
"If you spent any time around her, you'd see," Harry said. "She's fancied him for quite some time now, but he can't see it. And I think if he knew, he'd have a problem with the age difference."
"You think she'd be good for him?" Hermione asked, laying her head back down on his chest.
"I do," Harry replied.
Hermione was silent for a few minutes. "Do you think your friends would think that I'm good for you?" she ventured.
"I would like to think that they want me to be happy," Harry said. "And you make me happy. I think you're great for me."
She smiled. "When I first met you, I never thought we'd... well... I never thought we'd have a relationship, if that's what we want to call this."
"It's not conventional, but I'd like to think it's a relationship," Harry said softly. "Don't you?"
"Yes," Hermione answered. "I do think that."
Harry kissed the top of her head.
"I don't want to go," she murmured.
"We still have a few minutes before curfew," he said.
"It's just not enough," Hermione said quietly.
Harry knew what she was talking about. He wanted nothing more than to wake up with her tomorrow morning.
It was a few minutes later when she pushed herself off him. "I should get dressed."
Harry sat up and placed a kiss on her bare shoulder. "Me too."
Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, wishing she could stop time.
He was going to ask if she wanted to come by his place Saturday, but he remembered that this coming weekend would find them all in Romania at the dragon reservation. He didn't know if they'd be able to find some time along together.
"I guess I'll see you in class tomorrow," Hermione pulled her jumper on and straightened her hair.
There was another knock on the door and Harry cursed. "This place is as busy as Kings' Cross on the first day of school."
Hermione ducked back down again behind the desk without a word.
Harry threw on the rest of his clothes and slid into his shoes before opening the door. "Lavender?"
"I know it's nearly curfew," she said barging into his office. "But I have to know..."
"Know what?" Harry moved to his desk, blocking her way.
"I've known you for some time now," Lavender said looking at the sofa and raising an eyebrow at the blanket. "Were you taking a kip?"
"Yeah," he lied. "I was."
"I didn't mean to wake you," Lavender apologised. "But I can't help but be curious. There's something different about you, Harry."
"I'm same old me," Harry shrugged and hoped he looked innocent.
Lavender shook her head. "No, you're not. You're----you're happy. "
Harry raised an eyebrow. "So you're saying I wasn't before?"
"No, it's just that you were not really yourself these last few months," Lavender said quietly.
"I haven't even seen you since I left school," Harry pointed out.
"Which is part of the problem," Lavender said. "You kind of shut yourself away from everyone."
"I had to deal with what happened in my own way," Harry told her.
"We all did," Lavender said. "But, you went through the worst of it because you---you blamed yourself for it."
"It was my fault she sneaked off and came," Harry looked away. "Nothing could ever change that."
"You didn't know!" Lavender argued. "You had no idea that she was going to come after you and if you had, you'd have done everything in your power to save her."
"Of course I would have," Harry said sharply.
"I didn't come down here to bring this up," Lavender said. "I just---you're different. You're smiling again. I just think that there's something going on with you."
"I'm just keeping busy," Harry said truthfully.
"Please tell me Megan Jones isn't the reason for that," Lavender said.
"No," Harry shook his head. "I have no plans on seeing her again, Lavender."
Lavender sighed in relief. "Thank God."
"You'd better get back," Harry said. "Curfew."
"Are you seeing anyone?" Lavender asked studying him.
"No," Harry answered quickly.
Lavender folded her arms. "You wouldn't tell me if you were, would you?"
"I'm not," Harry insisted.
Lavender didn't believe that for a moment. But, she wasn't going to press her luck. "Okay. Well, regardless, it's good to see you smiling again."
"Thanks," Harry said. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Good night," Lavender said.
"Night," Harry responded, shutting the door behind her. "Bloody hell..."
"She's just concerned about you," Hermione said standing up.
"I know, but still," Harry ran his hands through his hair, making it stick up on end. "She's a bit too nosy sometimes."
Hermione came around the desk and put her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry."
Harry relaxed at her touch. "It's not your fault," he said, resting his forehead on hers.
"I do have to agree with Lavender," Hermione said softly. "I like seeing you smile, too."
Harry grinned at her. "She was right about that."
Hermione gave him a kiss. "I have about two minutes."
"Take my cloak again," Harry told her.
"Thank you," Hermione said.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Harry touched her cheek before leaning in to kiss her good night.
Hermione lingered a bit longer, but finally broke the kiss. He handed her the cloak.
"Night," she whispered, pulling it over her head.
"Night," Harry said before opening the door.
Hermione quickly headed back along the corridors; slipping into the room she shared with Lavender right as the clock struck eleven.
Lavender was sitting up in bed reading. "How was the library?"
"Fine," Hermione lied. "I got loads done."
Lavender smiled. "So did I."
Hermione nodded as she put the cloak in her trunk. "That's good."
"Can I ask you something?" Lavender asked.
"Sure," Hermione looked over at her.
Lavender bit her bottom lip. "Um...what did you think of Charlie Weasley?"
Hermione thought for a moment. "He seemed pretty smart and knowledgeable," she said. "I'm looking forward to the trip to the reservation."
"Me too," Lavender admitted. "He and I had lunch together."
"You did?" Hermione asked. "What did you talk about?"
"Just small talk," Lavender said. "And it was really nice, but then I thought he was hitting on me..."
"Why would you think that?" Hermione asked though she knew the answer. Lavender was very pretty and it was easy to see why blokes would be falling all over themselves to ask her out.
Lavender blushed. "He just seemed interested... and he said he'd take me up close to the dragons when we got to Romania."
"That doesn't sound bad at all," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"I just... I'm not the type of girl who's easy," Lavender explained. "And I didn't want him thinking so."
"Do you fancy him?" Hermione asked.
Lavender blushed even harder. "I don't know."
Hermione smiled. "Well, maybe this weekend in Romania, you can figure that out."
"Perhaps," Lavender closed her book. "I went and saw Harry, too."
"Oh?" Hermione asked turning away.
"I still think he's seeing someone," Lavender said. "But he won't give me any hints."
"I'm sure he'll tell you when the time is right," Hermione said trying to sound neutral. She quickly changed into her pyjamas.
"I just want to know who's making him happy again," Lavender hugged her pillow to her.
"Isn't enough that he's happy again?" Hermione asked sliding underneath her covers.
"I guess," Lavender replied.
"We should get some sleep," Hermione said turning off her lamp.
"Right," Lavender also turned her lamp off.
Hermione didn't close her eyes though. She was thinking about the time she'd shared with Harry and the two close calls they'd had tonight.
She knew it wasn't going to be as easy to dodge people if they kept meeting all the time. Perhaps they needed to cut back the amount of time they spent alone.
She didn't want her studies and training to suffer either. Being an Auror was important to her and she wanted to prove to herself and to her parents that she was capable of the job.
*** *** ***
The trainees were scheduled to leave from the Ministry at five o'clock that Friday afternoon. They were arriving at the dragon reservation in Romania via portkey. Everyone was excited to get away from the Ministry, but they all knew that they'd have a lot of work ahead of them. This was as Harry liked to remind them an important part of their training and not just an excuse to get away for a weekend.
"Come on," Ron tried to joke. "Surely we'll have a little time to ourselves. Saturday's supposed to be our day off!"
"You should take this seriously, Ron," Harry told him. "You lot will have some time to yourselves, but our main objective this weekend is to learn as much as we can about dragons."
"I can learn about dragons and have a good time too," Ron grumbled.
"Will Charlie---I mean, Mr. Weasley lead the training?" Lavender asked hopefully.
Harry nodded. "He'll be with us all weekend."
Hermione gave her friend a knowing grin.
Lavender blushed. She'd thought a lot about Charlie these last couple of days. Maybe she'd get a chance to talk to him and get to know him better.
"We have to get to our portkeys," Harry glanced at his watch. "We leave in three minutes."
"Where are we departing from?" Hermione asked.
"A few floors down," Harry told her.
"We'd better get a move on," Justin said.
Hermione followed behind Harry as they went downstairs. "Are we meeting up tonight?" she asked him quietly.
"I think that might be arranged," Harry replied in a hushed tone. "If you aren't doing anything..."
Hermione grinned. "I kept my schedule free... in case."
They hadn't had a chance to be alone since Monday. Harry was looking forward to being with her again.
"You find a place for us," Hermione whispered to him. "And I'll meet you there at ten."
Harry hid his smile as he directed the trainees toward the portkeys.
"Just grab onto one of them and in a few minutes we'll be in Romania," Harry told them.
Hermione, Lavender, Eloise and Ron each put a hand on one of the books. Justin, Ernie, and the others took the second portkey.
Harry had his own and just a few short minutes later, they all found themselves standing in the midst of a large dragon reservation surrounded by mountains.
Lavender was speechless as she took in the surroundings. It was quite cold, but the landscape was absolutely breathtaking.
"Hello!" Charlie Weasley was striding up to them. Lavender blushed as he looked her way and smiled.
"Hello, Charlie," Harry said warmly.
"Harry," Charlie clapped him on the shoulder. "Alright?"
"Yeah," Harry said. "We're really glad you could set aside time for all of us this weekend."
"We're always happy to see people who are interested in dragons," Charlie said. "I'll show you lot where you're going to be sleeping, and then we can get started."
"How's the food here, Charlie?" Ron asked his brother.
"Sludge," Charlie told him. "Sometimes, dragon dung."
Ron stopped in his tracks. "S-sludge?"
"It's quite good for you," Charlie nodded.
Ron's face fell. He knew that he should have packed some snacks or something in his trunk. There was no way he was going to survive the next three days on sludge and there was absolutely no way he was going to eat dragon dung.
Charlie laughed at his brother. "Relax Ron. The food's good."
Ron hit his brother on the shoulder. "Not cool, Charlie. Not cool."
Harry laughed too. "I wish I had a camera so you could have seen your face, Ron."
"You should never, ever joke about food," Ron said glaring at them both.
"Relax," Harry shook his head. "You wouldn't have starved."
"All joking aside," Charlie told the group. "We want you all to learn as much as you can this weekend, but please be careful. Don't approach the dragons unless you are in the company of myself or one of my colleagues. We've been studying them for years and for some of you this is the first time you've come up close and personal with them."
Lavender wondered if Charlie still wanted to show her the dragons like he'd said when they had lunch together.
Charlie explained that the ladies would bunk in one room while the blokes would bunk in another.
"Even Harry?" Ernie asked.
"As the instructor, Harry gets his own room," Charlie replied casually.
"He can't be slumming with us peons," Ron joked.
"Figures," Ernie muttered.
Luckily for Ernie, no one heard him.
Charlie led the group up the stairs to the main building. "How many of you work here?" Eloise asked.
"About twenty two of us," Charlie answered. "A group has to be on call twenty four hours a day, so we rotate shifts."
At the top of the staircase stood a tall raven-haired girl dressed in jeans and a navy jumper. Justin and Ernie's jaws dropped when they saw her. Lavender watched as the girl's eyes lit up at the sight of Charlie.
"Jessica," Charlie said turning to see her. "Come on down here so I can introduce you to our group."
Jessica sauntered down, coming by Charlie and standing close to him.
"Jessica Truman," Charlie said. "This is the group of Auror trainees from London. Everyone, Jessica and I have worked together for two years now. She knows ALMOST as much as I do."
Jessica hit him on the arm and laughed. "I know MORE than you and you know it."
Lavender bit her lower lip and looked away. Obviously Charlie and this girl had something going and he wasn't interested in her at all. She was surprised to find out how disappointed she was about that.
"Jess, why don't you show the ladies their room?" Charlie asked.
"Sure thing," Jessica winked at him. "Girls, follow me."
"She looks like she should be in a fashion show," Eloise whispered to Lavender. "Instead of on a reservation like this."
"Tell me about it," Lavender muttered sullenly.
Jessica waved at them to follow her upstairs. "You are going to love it here."
"I hope so," Hermione hurried alongside her. "I've never actually seen a dragon before."
"You're in for a real treat," Jessica told her. "You're going to see your fair share of them in the next couple of days---"
"Hermione," Hermione said introducing herself. "And this is Eloise and Lavender."
"Nice to meet you all," Jessica smiled at them.
She led them down the corridor to a set of double doors. "You'll be staying in here with Ramona, Tabitha and me."
"Great," Lavender muttered quietly so no one heard her.
"We've set out some extra beds for you," Jessica said opening the doors. "We eat dinner at around seven. Breakfast is at eight and Lunch is at one."
"Thanks," Hermione said, dropping her bag on one of the empty beds. She was pleased that Harry had his own room- it meant it would be easier for them to be alone together.
"So, Jessica," Lavender said setting her things down on the bed beside Hermione's. "There's you and this Tabitha and Ramona, you're the only girls with all these boys?"
Jessica nodded. "Kind of unbalanced, wouldn't you say?"
"Your---your boyfriend must be very secure," Lavender fished.
Jessica laughed. "I don't have a boyfriend, Lavender."
"Oh," Lavender tried not to show how much that pleased her. "Sorry..."
"But I've got my on someone," Jessica said with a grin.
"Who?" Eloise asked.
"A lady never tells," Jessica said coyly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish up an experiment. Charlie will want to meet you downstairs in about ten minutes."
"What a tart," Lavender muttered when she'd left the room.
"I bet it's Charlie," Eloise said. "That she fancies."
Hermione looked over at her friend. "But perhaps Charlie fancies someone else..."
Lavender shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. We're here to learn and not get caught up in the love lives of dragon handlers, right?"
"Right," Hermione was unconvinced. "Well we best get back downstairs..."
"Right," Lavender agreed.
Charlie was already waiting for them when they got back. Lavender wasn't really sure what to say to him and was a bit dismayed when he headed in her direction.
"How are your accommodations, Miss Brown?" Charlie asked. "Fine," Lavender replied shortly.
"I know it's not the Ritz," Charlie didn't catch onto her tone. "But I'm sure for a weekend it'll do."
"If Jessica can handle it, I think I can," Lavender shot back.
Charlie seemed surprised at her answer. "Don't you like Jess?" he asked.
"Why wouldn't I like her?" Lavender asked, wondering why she was acting like this. It was petty and childish and she had no claim to Charlie Weasley. She barely knew him.
"I don't know," Charlie replied. "Are you all right?"
Lavender didn't get a chance to respond as the rest of their group joined them. Charlie frowned. "We have to get started, but I was hoping you might join me for a walk after dinner?"
"What?" she asked surprised.
"A walk," Charlie said. "If you're up for it..."
"Okay," Lavender agreed.
A wide smile spread across Charlie's face. "It's a date."
She found herself smiling too. "I'm looking forward to it."
Charlie gave her hand a quick squeeze before walking over to Harry.
Lavender nearly sprinted over to Hermione. "He just asked me to go for a walk after dinner," she hissed in the brunette's ear.
Hermione smiled at her. "So I guess this means you've decided that YOU fancy him?"
Lavender gave her a look. "It means he doesn't fancy that tart!"
"Well, she's not the one going for a walk with him, is she?" Hermione pointed out.
"Nope," Lavender said smugly.
"Come on," Hermione tugged at her arm. "Let's get closer so we can hear what they're saying."
The girls joined the group as Charlie explained what they would be doing that day.
"Today you'll be observing from a distance," he was saying. "Tomorrow, we'll have you lot get a little more close up."
"I'd like to get close up to that Jessica," Ernie whispered to Justin.
"I know," Justin agreed. "She was HOT!"
"I think she's into Weasley though," Ernie said.
"That's a shame," Justin said, not realising that Eloise, Hermione and Lavender could hear what they were saying. "I'd like to have her go to that ball with me."
Charlie led them back outside. "We'll start off with the Hungarian Horntail. We have three of those on the reservation."
Harry shook his head. "I've seen enough of those." he joked.
Ernie rolled his eyes. Yet another opportunity for Potter to lord over the rest of them all that he'd done.
"I remember the Triwizard Tournament," Charlie said. "Bringing four dragons without them being seen by Muggles is no easy task."
"Surviving that Hungarian Horntail wasn't an easy task, either," Lavender said looking at Harry. "Parvati and I were scared to death the entire tournament!"
Harry smiled a bit at that memory.
They arrived at a large caged area where Jessica was waiting for them.
She broke out into a rather radiant smile as Charlie approached. "I've got Velma ready for you." she said.
"Thanks, Jess," Charlie said patting her on the shoulder.
The trainees watched while the Hungarian Horntail stepped out from behind a tree.
"The Horntail is distinctive because of its' black scales, bronze horns and their spiked tails. The flames they shoot can extend as far as fifty feet."
"I can vouch for that," Harry said to his group. "They're incredibly fast, and very, very defensive of their eggs."
"Velma here has been with us for over three years," Jessica told them. "A week ago, she gave birth."
"You mean there are baby dragons?" Hermione asked excitedly.
"Charlie and I were with Velma the entire time during the birth," Jessica told her. "If you look to your right by the tree...that's the baby."
"Wow," Hermione whispered.
"How cute!" Lavender gushed as the baby dragon peered out at them from behind it's mother's leg.
"She won't allow anyone but me or Jess to get any closer than this," Charlie told them.
"Have you named the baby?" Eloise asked.
"Not yet," Charlie answered.
"That is the cutest thing I've ever seen," Lavender commented.
Charlie grinned at her. "I'm glad you think so."
"Will she come any closer?" Hermione asked.
"I doubt Velma will let her," Charlie said.
Hermione noticed Harry standing behind her and she smiled. "It's something else, isn't it?"
"You can say that again," Harry agreed.
"Charlie mentioned that you have four of them on the reservation," Eloise said. "Where are the other two horntails?"
"Some of our trainers take them out to stretch their wings," Jessica explained.
"You might get to see the other two this weekend," Charlie promised. "Harry, since you battled one of these, maybe you could give the trainees some pointers..."
"Are you going to make them fight?" Harry asked in amusement.
"Not unless you really tick me off," Charlie said dryly.
"Very funny," Jessica nudged Charlie's shoulder with hers.
Lavender wished she knew what kind of dynamic Charlie and this Jessica person had with each other. Deciding to find out, Lavender tapped Ron on the shoulder. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Ron answered.
"Your brother," Lavender said. "Does he---is he dating anyone?"
"Which one?" Ron asked. "I have five brothers, Lav. There's Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, Bill..."
"Um," Lavender blushed. "Sorry... I meant Charlie."
Ron looked over at his older brother who was chatting with Jessica. "I think that should be obvious."