Chapter Text
Rani shielded her eyes from the bright summer sun and stood up on her tip-toes. It didn’t make much of a difference to her insubstantial height, unfortunately, and her quarry was still nowhere to be seen.
It shouldn’t be this hard to find one man. Especially the man who was supposed to be in charge of the whole place. She’d tried his office, but he wasn’t in there. He rarely was, of course, but she’d already tried everywhere else. Sometimes an emergency would require him to venture up into the mountains, but in that case there was usually a nervous sort of energy humming through the entire sanctuary. Everyone was currently going about their work like normal though.
Just when she was about to get out her wand and try to send him an enchanted memo, she spotted him. The sunlight caught his red hair on the other side of the square and set it off like a beacon. He’d come striding out of the hatchery and was heading away from her now.
Finally. She tried calling his name, but to no avail. There was nothing else for it then. Rani started to jog after him, dodging and weaving in between people. It wasn’t long before she was out of breath and her fringe started to stick to her sweaty forehead.
“Charlie!” she panted.
He didn’t stop walking, but he did slow down a little and peer over his shoulder at her. “Oh, come on. What is it now?” he asked, an exasperated edge to his voice.
Rani stopped in her tracks and put her hands on her hips. “Excuse me?”
“Sorry, sorry,” Charlie said quickly. He stopped abruptly as well and retreated a few steps to stand in front of her. “I’ve been putting out fires around here all day. I shouldn’t take my bad mood out on you though. What can I do for you, Rani?”
“Well, I hate to add to your shitty day now, but you did promise you’d get that Hebridean scale sample to me.”
“Yeah, I said I’d have it to you by the twelfth and I will.”
“Charlie…it’s the fourteenth.”
“Fuck.” Then he grimaced guiltily even though she’d told him multiple times that she didn’t mind swearing. “I’ll sort it out right now. Does the sample need to be a certain size?”
“A square centimetre should do it,” Rani replied.
“Righto.” Charlie turned on his heel and started walking away again. “Come on. Let’s go get it now then.”
“Wait, Charlie! I didn’t mean you had to get it yourself! I thought you’d send one of your keepers to fetch it. Slow down!”
Rani blew out an annoyed huff as he ignored her and kept walking. She had to trot along after him because her stubby little legs were no match for his long ones.
“Do you want your scale or not?” he asked, glancing sideways at her.
“Yes, but you’re clearly busy and surely it’s easier to delegate something like this.”
“Everyone already has enough to be getting on with and it’s my fault you don’t have what you need to do your job. Does it matter if the scale comes from a juvenile?”
“No. Are you thinking of Valentina?”
Charlie nodded and turned left at the canteen. They were heading towards the north-east corner of the sanctuary, which housed the young dragons.
“The kids have just been fed so it’s the perfect time right now. Val will be lounging in the sun with a full belly. It won’t be too hard to snip off a scale.”
Rani didn’t agree with Charlie’s blasé assessment, not even after working with dragons for the last three years. She’d still never been up close and personal with one. Well, one that wasn’t a hatchling or knocked out unconscious. She knew she’d always retain a healthy amount of fear for the magnificent beasts, no matter how long she worked with them. On the other hand, Charlie often spoke about them as if they were nothing more than cuddly kittens.
“Do you not sweat or something?” Rani asked, as they approached the juvenile pens. She pulled at the front of her shirt, which was now sticking to her chest. “Like, is it a by-product of working with fire-breathing creatures for most of your life?”
“What are you on about?”
“You aren’t sweating. It’s kind of annoying.”
Charlie shook his head and smiled down at her. “That’s because it isn’t even that hot today. Seriously, Rani. This is your third summer here with us. You ought to have acclimatised to the Romanian weather by now.”
“It’s at least twenty-eight degrees today,” Rani replied crisply.
“Yeah, like I said, not hot at all.”
He gave her a little wink at that, then turned around to open the gate. Rani rolled her eyes at his broad back. What a smug bastard.
“I never handle heat well, all right. It doesn’t matter where I am. My dad took me to visit relatives in Mumbai one summer when I was a teenager and I was a sweaty, wheezing mess the entire time.”
“That must have been a sight to see.”
They approached Valentina’s enclosure then and fell silent. Just as Charlie had predicted, she was lying on her back on the grass, sunning her round belly, completely at ease. The enclosure was large and entirely fenced in on each side. A charm in place over the top prevented her from flying away before she was ready to be released into the wild.
“When was the last time someone gave her a check-up? Are you certain she doesn’t have her fire yet?” Rani asked softly as they paused outside the magically reinforced chain-link fence. One of Valentina’s large purple-coloured eyes opened but she thankfully made no other move to get up.
“She was checked out last week. No fire then and still no sign of it as far as I know,” Charlie answered, not bothering to keep his voice down.
Valentina was almost eleven months old now. Most fire-breathing species began to sputter their first flames between nine and twelve months of age. After that they wouldn’t be safe to be around anymore. It was the dragon equivalent of hitting puberty and Valentina could experience it at any moment now.
“Wait. Maybe you should have some back-up with you,” Rani said uncertainly, catching hold of Charlie’s arm before he could unlock the enclosure.
“I have you here, don’t I?” Charlie took his wand out of his pocket. “I might be a little out of practice these days, but I have done this before. It’ll be fine.”
Rani bit her lip and let go of him reluctantly. Who was she to doubt Charlie Weasley of all people? He mightn’t work with the animals on a day-to-day basis anymore, but there wasn’t anyone at the sanctuary with more experience than him. He knew what he was doing.
“All right. Just be careful please.”
“Always.”
Rani took out her own wand as he unlocked the gate and opened it. Valentina’s head swivelled around at the sound of the clanging metal. A puff of smoke swirled out of her nostrils, but she stayed lying on her back. Rani swiped her sweaty hand down the side of her trousers and readjusted her grip on her wand. The last thing she needed was to have it slip out of her hand at the crucial moment.
Charlie was all business now. His demeanour changed entirely the moment he stepped into Valentina’s domain. Rani saw the fine lines around his eyes deepen as he concentrated. He gave her a little nod as he closed the gate behind himself and turned his back on her. His shoulders were squared, his head held high.
Rani knew he was trying to make himself seem bigger. Not that he was a small man to begin with. Valentina rolled onto her stomach then as Charlie took a few steps towards her. She looked him over, sharp eyes assessing whether he was a threat. Her long tail flicked back and forth lazily.
“Hi there, girl,” Charlie said. “You enjoy your lunch? My friend Rani over there needs one of your scales if that’s okay. How about it, Val? You feeling friendly today?”
Rani held her breath as the young dragon stood up, rising to her full height, which made her taller than Charlie and thus gave her the advantage. He didn’t react other than to tilt his head up so he could keep looking her in the eye. He kept walking towards her and talking in a melodic, lilting tone the whole time. It was a little mesmerising. And still completely nerve-wracking obviously. But seeing Charlie working with a dragon had always been a sight to behold.
“I promise it won’t hurt,” Charlie said. He held his wand down by his side and his other hand reached out towards the dragon. Valentina mightn’t have her fire yet, but she certainly had teeth sharp enough to do Charlie some serious damage if she suddenly lunged at him. Of course Charlie knew this. Valentina knew it as well. Everyone knew who was really in charge in that enclosure.
But still Charlie reached out to her, his hand steady and held palm-side up. Valentina lowered her head and Rani could hear her sniffing from where she stood outside the fence. If the dragon’s natural instincts had kicked in over the last few days then she’d class the intruder into her territory as either a threat or as prey. It seemed she went for a third option though. She lowered her nose into Charlie’s open hand and let out a puff of smoke in greeting.
“That’s my girl,” he cooed.
Rani smiled to herself as she recognised the delight in his voice. Not many dragons, not even the young ones, ever showed affection like that. Valentina was special though. Half a dozen eggs had arrived at the hatchery a year ago after being rescued from the black market trade. Sadly, they were in bad condition and Valentina had been the only dragon to hatch. They’d both been there to witness the Hebridean Black emerge from her egg and Charlie had actually been one of the first people on the sanctuary to handle her. She’d been hand-raised by the keepers ever since so she had an affinity for humans that most dragons never had.
Still, she was a wild creature deep down and she’d become unpredictable and dangerous soon enough. Rani knew that this was likely the last time Charlie would get to touch her and it became obvious why he had wanted to get the scale sample himself. He never got to do this sort of stuff anymore.
Charlie spent some time fussing over Valentina as Rani looked on in amusement. She really was like a big puppy, tossing her head and preening as he patted her expansive chest. Charlie, for his part, was beaming and seemed in no rush to get the sample.
When he finally emerged ten minutes later, Rani was leaning casually against the fence and she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. “That was adorable,” she informed him.
Charlie frowned at her. “Uh, I think you mean to say brave and manly. I told you there was nothing to worry about.”
“You’re just lucky she still has a soft spot for you. Did you even remember to get my scale while you were in there playing around?”
He held his hand out, presenting her with a shimmering scale the same colour as the midnight sky. “You know, you hurt my feelings when you doubt me like that, Rani.”
“Well, better late than never.” She quickly conjured a petri dish and put the scale safely inside it. “Thank you, Charlie.”
He locked the door to the enclosure and gave Valentina one last wistful look. “I should be thanking you. That was exactly what I needed today.”
“I’m glad I could help, as unintentional it was.”
“I was on my way to the canteen when you accosted me. Have you had lunch yet?” When she shook her head he smiled and rubbed his hands together. “Great. Then let me buy you a sandwich to properly thank you.”
“The sandwiches in the canteen are free,” she pointed out needlessly.
The two of them made their way back towards the main square. A number of the communal buildings were centred there and at this time of day most human residents of the sanctuary could be found congregating there. Rani hadn’t been planning on taking a lunchbreak now that she had what she needed to start her next project, but she knew Charlie wouldn’t want to hear that she was skipping meals to work.
“So what are you working on that requires a Hebridean scale anyway?” he asked as they walked along one of the rough cobblestone streets that wound through the sanctuary.
“I noticed something during our scale-rot outbreak over Christmas but I wasn’t free to pursue it till now. Most of our Blacks fared a lot better than the other species and I thought I might try to pinpoint why. I analysed some bloodwork we already had at the lab but it didn’t show any anomalies. My best guess is that it’s something in the structure of the scale itself that makes it more resistant to the disease. There’s a chance it can be isolated somehow.”
“Brilliant.”
“Maybe. If it pans out. I’ll know more once I can dissect this sample.”
“I know you’ll crack it,” Charlie said firmly. “You’re the best magizoologist in the world.”
It wasn’t the first time he’d said that to her so she knew better than to try to refute him at this point. She’d been head of the research department for just over a year now and she still felt like an imposter sometimes. Nobody had expected her to get the top job, especially her colleagues. Some of them were still bitter about it and she knew they made snide comments behind her back.
So it was nice to have Charlie’s support.
“Want to run me through why you’re having such a bad day?” Rani asked as they settled at a table with their lunch. “Maybe I can help out in some way.”
“That’s doubtful,” Charlie said as he unwrapped a sandwich. “It’s not really about work, you see. It didn’t help that I’ve had a busy morning, but that’s not the real problem. I got a letter during breakfast that put me in a bad mood straight away.”
Rani swallowed her mouthful of salad sandwich and nodded. “Okay then. You don’t need to share in that case.”
Charlie ate in silence for a while and Rani followed his lead. It wasn’t like they never discussed personal things. They shared stories from their childhoods sometimes and they talked about their Hogwarts days, even though Rani had been a Ravenclaw and two years ahead of Charlie. Still, it wasn’t like they were best friends or anything, so there was a lot they didn’t know about each other.
“My brother’s wedding is in three weeks.”
Rani remembered him talking about that previously. One of the twins was marrying his childhood sweetheart. Charlie was going to be a groomsman so he was taking leave soon to attend. “But I thought you were happy about that,” she said.
“I am. Angelina’s a great girl – Merlin knows how she puts up with Fred. The wedding itself isn’t the problem. My mother just reminded me that I said I would be bringing a date along.”
“Oh. I didn’t realise you were even seeing anyone.”
“I’m not. Hence the problem.”
Rani frowned as she mulled the situation over. She knew Charlie’s mother often lamented the fact that her second-born son was now almost thirty and still a bachelor. He’d probably pretended to have a girlfriend to get her off his back about it.
Charlie confirmed this theory when he said, “Once the wedding was announced my mum started talking about all the single quidditch players Angelina would be inviting. I knew I’d basically be a lamb to slaughter then. I’d spend the whole night being introduced to single women and I wouldn’t get to enjoy myself.”
“So you said you’d be bringing someone along,” Rani concluded.
He nodded. “That was three months ago. I sent off the RSVP with a plus-one ticked and I figured I’d have plenty of time to sort it out. Except I’ve been so busy that I’ve only left the sanctuary once or twice in the last three months.”
Even though there was thirty or so women employed at the sanctuary, Charlie had decided it was unethical for him to date any of them now that he was in charge. He didn’t want to be accused of favouritism or anything inappropriate. Rani understood that and furthermore, she respected it. Unfortunately, that made opportunities for relationships rare.
“Now mum needs to know my date’s name so that the place cards can be made for the tables.”
Rani wiped some crumbs off her mouth and hummed thoughtfully. “That’s quite a mess you’ve gotten yourself into, Charlie. What were you planning on saying when you turned up alone?”
“I was going to wait till a few days before I left then say that she was too ill to travel so I’d have to come alone,” he explained. Rani winced and shook her head. “I know, I know! Compounding the lie will probably only make things worse but I don’t know what else to do. Mum was so happy when I told her I had someone to bring along.”
Charlie sat there glumly for a while, chewing listlessly as Rani started running scenarios in her head. If he said that they broke up he’d be back at square one – being offered up to every available witch within a one mile radius. He could probably convince one of the local witches to accompany him back to England. Plenty of men at the sanctuary dated women who lived in nearby villages and towns. Charlie himself had even done it in the past.
“I could come with you.”
Charlie stopped chewing and stared at her. He swallowed then said, “I appreciate the offer but that would be a nightmare. My whole family would spend the week trying to convince us we should be more than friends. I wouldn’t want to put you through that.”
Rani shrugged casually. “So then we pretend to be in a relationship already.”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
“No. Hear me out. I think it’ll solve your problem. At least it’s the best solution I can come up with off the top of my head.” Rani leaned forward and raised her voice as Charlie started laughing. “Listen! All we have to do is play along when we’re in public. Once we’re back in Romania you can send a letter saying we broke up.”
“A fake relationship is your solution? That’s really the best idea a genius like you can come up with?” he asked, still chuckling away to himself. “You’re mad. That’ll never work.”
“Of course it will. You’ll just have to put your arm around me every so often and tell people how great I am. In return I’ll shield you from all the horny, desperate witches.”
“Why would you offer to do this, Rani?”
“Because I don’t like seeing you stressed out like this. Besides, I could use the rest. I didn’t get to go home over Christmas because of the scale-rot outbreak, remember? I’m owed a holiday and after the wedding is over I can go spend a few days with my dad.”
“You seriously want to pretend to be my girlfriend? That’ll break my rule about dating people who work for me.”
Rani narrowed her eyes at him. They’d been over that several times. Charlie ran the sanctuary, but technically the research department was jointly funded by the British and Romanian ministries. Therefore she answered to those officials, not Charlie. She knew now that he only brought it up to irritate her, but she could never resist rising to the bait.
“I’m not your bloody employee,” she snapped. “But fine. Don’t listen to my fabulous plan then. Have fun watching you mother’s heart break when you tell her your girlfriend is either on her deathbed or non-existent.”
Rani snatched up her empty sandwich wrapper and made for the door. Honestly, she’d only tried to help the idiot and he’d laughed in her face. And called her mad. Sometimes it really wasn’t worth being nice to people.
Back in her office, she started to examine Val’s scale, running a few preliminary diagnostic spells on it.
“All right then. Let’s give it a shot.”
Rani spun around in her chair and found Charlie casually leaning against the doorway to her office. His hands were in his pockets and he suddenly looked like he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Sorry. Offer’s been withdrawn,” she replied waspishly, then spun back around.
Undeterred, he let himself in and stood on the opposite side of her desk. He rested his hands on it and leaned over to briefly watch the pulsing green light enveloping the scale. Rani pointedly ignored him and shuffled her papers around.
“Look, I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I’m honestly just amazed that you’d want to do something like this for me. I consider you a friend and everything, but this is still above and beyond.”
“I wouldn’t have made the suggestion in the first place if I didn’t want to do it. I love going to weddings and I miss England and I get to meet the infamous Weasley family. It’s all a win-win for me.”
Rani finally looked up, meeting his curious brown eyes. “So how would it work exactly?” he asked.
“We’d have to work out the logistics properly. Get our stories straight and whatnot. It’ll take a fair bit of acting, but I think it’s doable.”
“So you’re back on board?”
“I suppose so.”
Charlie beamed down at her. “You’re a lifesaver, Rani Sharma. We’ll meet whenever you’re free again and come up with some sort of backstory, okay.”
“Sure. I’ll start thinking up some possibilities.”
He reached out and covered her hand briefly. “Seriously. Thanks for this. It already feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I’ll owe you big time.”
“Don’t worry about it. That’s what friends are for.”
Charlie patted her hand then straightened up and left the office. Rani’s stomach lurched. Oh god. What the fuck had she just done?
She’d just agreed to be in a fake relationship with the man she had an intense, soul-searing crush on.
She was such an idiot.