I own nothing familiar, and I took creative freedom freedom with all the things that ARE familiar.

I've always been good with animals, even as a kid I would rather be around them than people. It didn't matter what kind, and they were as drawn to me as I was to them. The connection just grew stronger as I got older and went to Hogwarts where I took Care of Magical Creatures. I spent all my free time with Hagrid and the various animals he tended to on the grounds; it was always the highlight of my day. Then Professor Kettleburn took me under his wing and taught me everything he knew.

When I turned seventeen, I had a job lined up in Romania working with dragons I'd worked my arse off to get. I had training this summer, then I was going to work with them for real! I remembered the lesson on them back in Hogwarts and my obsession, I wanted to know everything I could. They were endlessly fascinating and it seemed like I never ran out of things to learn. Every dragon had their secrets, but only the best trainers could figure them out.

"I can't believe my last baby's leaving home so soon! And to Romania!" mum exclaimed the day I got my acceptance letter by my owl. "The boys put me through the rough stuff, I thought you'd be my easy child."

I had two older brothers and both of them were pretty rambunctious, but Miles was a handful to say the least. Compared to him and James, I was the most docile of the bunch and never got in trouble. But mum knew how much I loved animals, and neither of them had the heart to tell me I couldn't go.

After mum grew more comfortable with the news, we went to St. Mungo's to get my potions. I was going into a new environment and I had to protect my system from new illnesses. In my seventeen years, I'd only ever been to England and Scotland -Romania was exotic compared to them.

The nausea was nothing compared to the excitement welling in my belly over my upcoming adventure. I'd dreamed of working with dragons even before Hogwarts, so imagine my surprise when I realized it was possible. Needless to say, this sanctuary has been my goal since second year.

When the day of my departure finally came, I was chomping at the bit to go while mum was still a bit nervous. I had to be at my first Portkey in twenty minutes and she was still holding on to me. I'd said goodbye to Miles and James ten minutes ago and they were just watching us now with matching amused grins -assholes. After I swore to her a billion times I'd write, she finally released me and I left with a middle finger tossed over my shoulder to my brothers.

When I got to Dragon's Den, I could've literally kissed the sandy ground under my feet. I'd never taken that many Portkeys in my life. I had quick reflexes and good coordination, but Portkeys tended to distort that in even the most talented wizards. Especially after taking seven of them back to back.

I was instructed to wait for a man named Delos when I got to the sanctuary. He ran the place and signed the papers for my training. I didn't know what he looked like, I just relied on him remembering the picture I submitted of myself.

When no one met me at the gate, I ventured deeper inside on my own. Once my eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, I gasped out loud. There were at least five dragons within seeing distance with more further out. They were huge and majestic and everything I always imagined they'd be and more.

I sat my rucksack on the ground and approached one of the pens slowly. They recently opted for the invisible fences so the visitors could get the best possible view of the creatures inside. I got as close as I could and pressed my hands to the invisible barrier, catching the eye of the… Catalonian Fireball?

That wasn't possible! Those were extinct and had been long before I was born, so long there were only drawings of them. Yet there one was, it's red and orange and yellow scales shimmering in the sunlight just like the books described them. Its black snout pointed towards me as it stalked to the barrier, stopping a few meters in front of me.

"You're beautiful," I breathed, refusing to blink and miss a second of the majestic creature staring down at me. "So beautiful."

The dragon crept up to the barrier, eyes locked on mine. "You're okay, beautiful. I'm not going to hurt you. It's okay, everything's fine."

Dragons were proud creatures, I'd read that in every book about them I'd gotten my hands on. I bowed my head down to show respect to them and my submission as I rested my hand against the invisible barrier between us. That move, however, was a theory from Dr. Blankenhorn, a dragonologist from Spain. It was basically pseudoscience, never been proven to actually work, but I was dead set on proving it right. Dragons weren't violent by nature, they were only that way when they felt threatened like most predators.

Even with the barrier between us I still felt the unevenness of the dragon's nose when it decided to let me touch it. Just as I brushed my fingers against the scales, fire singed out and made my fingers ache. I hissed and tore my hand back, whirling around to see who spooked the dragon with fire of my own barely concealed under the surface. I was so close to proving Dr. Blankenhorn's theory right.

When my eyes landed on a tall redhead, I instantly started raving. "What the hell? Who do you think you are coming up behind me when I was trying to bond with the dragon? Do you know how dangerous it is to interrupt that? Dragons are prideful creatures and it was choosing to bond with me. What the hell is your problem?"

I had a bad temper, but my fuse wasn't usually so short. It just sparked when people didn't respect me like he hadn't. There was a reason I opted to bond with animals, they never made me angry like people. Maybe a little frustrated, but that was nothing compared to the fury coursing through me right now. This dragon only existed in the pages of books and here it was, less than a meter in front of me, and this asshat interrupted my bonding.

Before the redhead could say anything, a man with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and a scar running through his eyebrow stepped around him. He clapped the redhead on the shoulder and grinned, "It seems you've got quite the spitfire to train, Weasley."

"The spitfire has a name," I snapped, placing my hands on my hips and tapping my foot.

"I'm Delos," the man with the scar said, still smiling happily. "You're Ruby Thorpe, the only girl to apply and the only accepted applicant out of 345."

There were 345 people who applied and I got accepted? And I was the only girl who wanted to work with dragons? So much for breaking gender roles –Carrie Fisher would be so disappointed.

"Okay, now that we're all acquainted, do you mind telling me where the hell you get off scaring the dragon when I was trying to bond with it?" I asked, glaring up at the redhead with unhampered anger.

"Well, I'm going to leave you with Charlie for your training," Delos laughed, winking at me before turning to Charlie and saying, "Good luck, Weasley."

After that he left the two of us where we were standing and Disapparated. Charlie seemed to find his words and moved out of his rigid stance.

"Do you know how stupid that was? Approaching a dragon like that?" he asked, trying to be intimidating and failing because I'd already seen him flustered.

"Do you know how stupid it was to startle the dragon while I was so close?" I countered, my hands still on my hips and my foot tapping.

I saw a couple emotions playing out on his face: annoyance, frustration, and realization. "Okay, fine, you're right. That wasn't smart, if the fence hadn't been there, you could've been seriously hurt. But what were you trying to do?"

"I was trying to bond with it," I said, then I looked over my shoulder at the dragon's hind scales and corrected myself, "With her, I was trying to bond with her."

"Bonding? You know that's complete bollocks, right? Anyone that's tried to do that has ended up scorched or dead," he told me, trying to keep a straight face. "It's a rookie mistake to try it."

My temper was still burning red hot, but I stamped it down a bit. "Listen, you do whatever you're supposed to do as my trainer and I'll work on bonding on my own time. Sound good?

You should probably agree because the other option is me sneaking around and doing it regardless of what you say. At least this way you'll know about it," I added, figuring I should be honest.

Again, I saw a couple emotions cross his face before he settled on annoyed again. "And what makes you think you can stay here if you don't follow orders?"

"Number one, I didn't say I wasn't going to follow orders, master," I replied, my anger turning into sass. "Number two, something tells me that if I got chosen over 345 other people, I'm pretty irreplaceable. And number three, your boss really likes me."

"My first trainee and you're a pain in the ass," he sighed, realizing this was a losing battle and giving up. "Wonderful."

I looked back at the Catalonian Fireball one last time before picking up my things from the ground. "Well, Weasley, care to show me where I'll be staying? I'd like to put these down and get started on training."

He let out a huff of breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Right, that'll be the barracks, they're this way."

The Dragon's Den was huge, way more than just dragon enclosures. There was a big building he told me was the canteen, where we had meals, beside the barracks where we slept. There were a lot more buildings, but he said we'd get to those when it was time -he was so frustrating!

The barracks themselves were bigger inside and looked kind of like small flats. The hallway was lined with doors and Charlie led me to number 14. He tapped above the doorknob in a pattern and the door pushed open to reveal a bedroom.

"There's a bed and a wardrobe," he told me, allowing me to walk in first before following. "There's a bathroom at each end of the hall we all share."

"Exactly how many of us share two bathrooms?" I asked, sitting my bag on the bed and turning to face Charlie.

"Counting the two of us, fifteen," he replied after a minute of counting. "And we all eat in the canteen so there's no kitchen, but there's a fridge in the basement."

"Okay, my stuff is here and I know how to find the room. Now let's go start my training!" I said, trying my best to not jump up and down.

"Slow down, firecracker, you've got to finish up some paperwork before that can happen," he told me, holding up his hands. "Let's go to Delos' office and do that; also, your training doesn't start until tomorrow morning."

I huffed in dissatisfaction but went with him to Delos' office anyway. The papers were probably more things that said I wouldn't sue if I got hurt. I'd signed my life away already, a couple more papers wouldn't hurt.

We went down to the bottom floor of the barracks and into a small office. Charlie knocked on the door before easing it open to reveal Delos sitting at a desk with a bottle of whisky in front of him.

"The tour's finished, I figured I'd drop her off with you," Charlie announced, making the older man look up at us. "If you need me, I'll be in the canteen."

"You can sit down if you want, 346," he replied, gesturing to the seat in front of his desk. "And yes, before you remind me, I know your name is Ruby."

"I was told I needed to fill out some paperwork," I said, relaxing back against the seat with my arms crossed over my stomach. "I'm kind of starving, so…"

"No, that was just a lie to get Charlie to leave you alone. That boy hates paperwork," Delos smiled, pouring me a shot of whisky and sliding it across the desk to me. "Have a drink with me, 346."

I figured this was a test to see how tough I was, he wanted me to see if I could handle this job. You'd think after what he'd witnessed when we first met would've given him his answer, but I also knew what I looked like. I was about five foot four with blonde hair and blue eyes. I looked like a total pushover.

I made sure I held his eyes as I killed the shot and didn't wince even though it was possibly the strongest alcohol I'd ever tasted. He seemed pleased with me and nodded his head.

"I was just going to tell you to go easy on Weasley. He's never had a trainee before," he told me, recapping the bottle and bridging his hands on his desk. "He's the best dragon trainer we've got here, and I know he can help you be just as good if not better than him."

His praise made me straighten up a bit. "Thanks, that means a lot."

"Also, don't let Weasley know I told you that. You're not the only one with a temper, but his can get bit violent," Delos replied, tapping the desk. "But it takes a lot to make it flare up."

I nodded and tried to take in everything he was saying. I would be spending a lot of time with Charlie in the next few months, I needed to know as much about the guy as possible. The last thing I needed was to get into an argument that made us both lose our temper.

"That's good to know, I'm not great at making people like me," I told him, drumming my hands against my thighs nervously. "I'll be more docile if that's what you want. I just really want this job, it's all I've ever wanted. I don't want to ruin it before it even begins."

"Trust me, I got that from your essay. The one that wasn't required nor asked for," he told me, but the grin on his face said he appreciated it. "You can go eat now. You have an early morning ahead of you, 346. Also, your attitude is why I picked you, don't lose it."

Thanks for reading! Drop a review and tell me if what you think.