A/N: Okay just a little note to say even though I don't own Harry Potter and the HP universe the dragon reserve is strictly my imagination and anything that happens on it is made up. I know this is probably not how it really works.

Cast: (I'm a visual person. I cast everyone)

Nina Dobrev as Katerina Petrescu

Liam Hemsworth as Alexei Zdravko "Ironman"

Jeremy Irvine as Malcolm Mallory "Malware"

Matt Czuchry as Stefan Morganstern "Major"

Manish Dayal as Bodhi Sudhir "Freeze"

Lesson Eight: Walking away from a redhead is never easy, especially when you're developing feelings for him.

On Thursday morning I woke up next to Bill. The last few days had wonderful, and I was kind of sad to see them come to an end. I had to leave for Romania in a few hours and I had grown so comfortable here at Shell Cottage. Walking away from Bill was going to be the hardest thing I had ever done. I had really gotten to know him over the past few weeks, but I wasn't ready for anything more than what was going on. So, maybe the fact that I was leaving today was a good thing.

I slowly untangled myself form Bill and got up to shower before he woke up. I showered quickly and dressed in the bathroom because I didn't want to wake Bill just yet. When I got out of the shower to get dressed, I realized I had forgotten my shirt. I went back into the bedroom as quietly as I could and searched for the box that I had gotten from the dragon reserve. I had thought I had put everything together last night, but Bill had distracted me, and my shirt wasn't there. I found the box from Dragomira containing the uniform they sent me. As I slipped the shirt over my head, I heard Bill moan.

"Oh god yes, Hermione," Bill whimpered.

He was so peaceful when he slept. His hair fell across his face and I wanted to go over and tuck it behind his ear so I could see his face. The scars from Greyback made him even more sexy to me. I watched him as he grabbed my pillow and hugged it to his body. He sank his teeth into the pillow, and a feral growl came from his mouth.

"I love you Hermione," Bill whispered as he pulled away from the pillow.

It was almost inaudible; the whisper was so faint. I stopped and just stood there staring at him. I couldn't move. I observed him to see if he was awake, but I knew he was still sleeping when he snored lightly. His eyes were still closed, and he rolled over to face the wall.

I panicked. He couldn't love me. That wasn't the part of the plan we had worked out when I agreed to stay here. Not caring if I was quiet or not, I grabbed my bag and ran for the stairs. I wasn't ready for him to profess love for me. I had to get out of here. I didn't know what he would do wen he woke up and found me gone but I couldn't think about it. I'd send him a post or something later explaining, although I had no idea what I would say to him. I didn't think he had meant for me to hear him say that. He was dreaming after all.

I found myself on the beach once again. I had wanted to properly say goodbye to Bill. I hadn't wanted to leave like this but maybe it was for the best if I did. We couldn't be together. I didn't think we would ever really work. The part of Bill that was wolf wanted a mate and that would mean submission to him. I still had so much I wanted to do and even though I had submitted to Bill sexually many times I wasn't sure what him claiming me as he mate would actually entail.

I took the amulet the dragon reserve had sent me as I portkey and held it tight in my hand. It was almost time. I looked up at Shell Cottage and noticed Bill watching me from the window. I wanted to rush back up there and tell him I had heard what he said. I glanced back up and he was still there watching me. I knew I didn't have time though, and I wasn't sure how I felt about Bill. I cared for all the Weasley men so, all of this was confusing for me.

The portkey activated and Bill and Shell Cottage disappeared. I landed at Dragomira inside the portkey pad on m butt. I hated using a portkey. It was always so rough, and my stomach churned for a minute. I stood there a minute with my hands on my knees and tried to take deep breaths, so I didn't throw up. Once I was sure I wasn't going to vomit I made my way to the tent I where I had been instructed to meet a man named Major.

As I made my way to the tent, I got the chance to look around. The reserve was a beautiful place tucked in deep in the valley of the Carpathian Mountains. I had been briefed and I knew this part of the mountain was enchanted so muggles had no idea it was even here. There were charms and spells up so muggle couldn't enter. I passed by a man working with a dragon I hadn't seen before. The dragon breathed fire at him, and I could feel the heat from the fire as I passed. The brunt smell that followed was something that was going to take some getting used to.

I finally found the tent I was supposed to be in. I walked in and found out it was an office. Sitting behind the desk as a blond man who looked to be about in his mid-thirties. He turned to look at me as he sensed my presence. I looked away from him to see who he had been talking to and saw Charlie was also in the tent.

"Hello, you must be the new witch," Major said.

"Yes," I said.

"Please have a seat," he motioned to the chairs in front of his desk.

I took a seat across from him. I was suddenly nervous. I looked over at Charlie and he gave me a reassuring smile. I smiled back even though my nerves were still getting the best of me. I was never nervous, and I had no idea what was wrong with me. I was here to do a job and nothing more. where was all this anticipation coming from?

"As you probably know I'm Major and you know Red." He motioned behind him to Charlie. "We all have a code name around here. You will be working with Red's team, who you'll meet as soon as we are done here. I trust all of these men immensely and have great respect for them. Here on the reserve we have six teams of four men each. We are one of the bigger reserves. We specialize in rehabilitating dragons who have been abused by poachers. Some of them are easy to heal and release back into the other reserves who study them and eventually release them back into the wild. Others not so much. We do have some permanent residence who will never be well enough to be released. Do you have any questions?"

I looked from him to Charlie and asked, "Will I be working directly with the dragons?"

"Yes, you are here to over see the rights of magical creatures and I think it would be best to see what we do here first hand," Major answered.

"Am I the only woman on the reserve?"

"No there are two other women besides you, Princess and Thorne," he said with a warm smile.

"Okay," I said.

"One more thing before I release you and Red. You need a code name. We are not allowed to use real names on the reserve for the safety of our friends and families. Any suggestions? If possible, I like my tamers to pick their code names." He sat back and crossed his arms over his chest.

I had no idea what I would use as a code name. I hadn't known I would need one or else I would have had one picked out already. I hated not being prepared for something. Being put on the spot was a pet peeve of mine. I was always prepared but I hadn't been prepared to pick a code name.

"Don't over think it Hermione," Charlie said from beside me.

I jumped and look over at him. When had he come to stand beside me? He wasn't there a few seconds ago. I gave him a help me look. I wasn't sure how well Charlie knew me but maybe he knew enough to help me with this.

"How about Muse?" he said coming to my rescue.

"I like it," I smiled at him to say thank you.

"Okay Muse it is then," Major smiled. "The two of you are free to go. Red will show you around."

I followed Charlie out of the tent and out into the reserve. He showed me around and told me about everything. I found out Major was the guy in charge of overseeing the reserve and each team consisted of men with different specialties. Each team also had a team captain, which Charlie happen to be in his team. There was so much to take in and I was a little overwhelmed. I had no idea I would be in direct contact with the dragons. I would have to put complete trust in these four men. I was sure they wouldn't let anything happen to me.

"So, does Dimitri have a code name too?" I asked as we walked to the back of the reserve where his men were.

"Yes, he's Riding Hood," Charlie answered as he stopped in front of a fenced in area where some men where working with a dragon.

"As in little red riding hood muggle fairy tale?" I asked.

"Yes, Malware is a muggle born like you. He came up with it, even told him the story."

"That's too cute!" I said as I looked back at the men and the dragon.

I recognized the dragon from my research as a Ukrainian Ironbelly. As I stood there outside the fence and watched I realized what majestic creatures dragons actually were. I was here to study the dragons for a new law I was trying to pass for dragon rights. I was trying to pass law making poaching illegal and punishable by time in Azkaban. Right now, poaching was frowned upon but not necessarily illegal. Poachers tortured dragons and some of the things they put them through were unspeakable. Dragons could not speak for themselves, so they needed laws in place to protect them.

I watched as the dragon blew fire at a blond man and he blocked it. Then he strode right up to the dragon and ran his hand down its side. He spoke softly to it and I couldn't hear what he was saying. The dragon laid down as the man continued to stroke his side. He was not afraid of the dragon even though the beast could easily over power him and kill him with one swipe of its tail.

All of a sudden, the men who had been working with the dragon looked up ad noticed Charlie and I watching them. All three of them jogged our why. As the got closer I noticed how handsome they were. Damn lust potion and damn Fred and George! It was going to be hard to concentrate on work around all these handsome men. Get it together Hermione I told myself.

"Guys this is our new team member for the next three weeks, Muse," Charlie introduced me.

"This is Ironman." Charlie indicated the tall blond. "He is the Ukrainian Ironbelly whisperer."

Ironman holstered his wand and smiled at me as he extended his hand. I shook it and smiled at him. He had really big hands and they dwarfed my tiny hand.

"This is Freeze," he motioned to the shorter one of the group. "He is always cold, even being around all the heat from the dragon's breath."

I shook his extended hand and sure enough it was freezing cold to my touch.

"Lastly this is Malware," Charlie said without an explanation.

"Hi, nice to meet you," Malware said with a charming smile.

I could see that Malware was going to be trouble with a capital T. He had a way about him, and I could see he was a charmer. He reminded me a lot of Fred and George. He was the trouble maker of the group. He had the same mischievous gleam in his eyes that they did.

"Back off Malware," Charlie warned him.

"Oh, sorry Red I didn't realize she was your girl," Malware said stepping back with his hands up.

I turned and scowled at Charlie. "I'm not his girl," I said as I looked back at Malware and smiled playfully just to ruffle Charlie's feathers.

"I'm nobody's girl as a matter of a fact," I said as I winked at him.

I didn't know why I was flirting with him. I was never a flirter, nor had I ever been very good at it. I had read a lot of romance novels from both the muggle and wizarding worlds, but I had never been able to successfully pull it off. It was some that baffled me.

"So, are we gonna break her into Saturday night," Malware asked.

I shot him a look. That sounded very dirty and yet I liked the sound of it. I could feel the attraction between us. I saw by the way he looked at me he thought I was attractive, and the feeling was mutual. He was a very good-looking guy but not the typical red head I seemed to be attracted to. Both of us being muggle born I wondered what else we had in common.

"Excuse him he has no filter and doesn't think before he speaks," Charlie said. I looked up and noticed Malware was rubbing his thigh and Charlie was holstering his wand. I had no doubt Charlie had cast a stinging hex at him.

"Bloody hell Red, you no that shits gonna leave a mark!" Malware said.

I looked from him to Charlie. This was no the time for an alpha male contest. I got enough of that from Charlie and Bill and now I could see I'd have to deal with it here too. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I meant is she going to go out with us to the muggle bar Saturday?" Malware shot me a glance that said sorry.

"That's up to her. If she wants to go, she can," Charlie said.

"I don't need your permission to do anything Red," I huffed as I put an emphasis on the word Red. "Now what else is there I need to know or see?"

"Come on I'll show you the hatchery," Charlie said as he tried to grab my hand.

I yacked my hand from him and as we walked away, I heard Malware say, "She's a feisty witch. I wonder if she's that feisty everywhere?"

"With Red's scent all over her you may never get the chance to find out," Ironman said as I turned back and smiled at them letting them know I heard their conversation.

A/N: Wow a whole chapter without sex. That's a first! I just wanted to introduce the team and Dragomira in this chapter. Charlie's team will play a roll in the next few chapters so, it was important to at least introduce you to them beforehand. Up next: The muggle club and Charlie's POV.