Wynter Nytes here, with yet another story. This one is slightly different in the fact that it doesn't revolve around Hermione or any of the trio. Sorry. :)

However, Sarah Beth Adams is mine. Please do not borrow, take without asking, pinch, pilfer, rob, filch, snatch, grab, seize, run off with, or steal her in any way.

Thank you, and have a nice day.

Also, I'd like to acknowledge Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia for helping me with the research needed for this story.

Title: Must Love Dragons
Rating: 'T', until further notice.
RFR (Reasons for rating): Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.
Summary: Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student- that is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

Disclaimer: THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE YOU WILL SEE IT. I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, OWN HARRY POTTER, ITS CHARACTERS, OR ANY AFFILIATES.

Publish Date: Sunday, March 12, 2006. 9:41 p.m.

Sarah Adams grinned as she pressed her face flat against the taxi's window. As the scenery flew buy, she could feel her heart beating faster in excitement. She couldn't wait to get out and explore the wonders of London! Sarah held her pet's cage tightly in her arms as the taxi turned off Bette Lane and into an apartment complex.

Good. The moving truck was already there. She giggled wildly and bolted out of the taxi before it was even fully stopped, throwing cash into the front seat. She looked up at the dingy complex, and was unperturbed by the peeling paint, cracked windows, and the shouting in apartment 13- the one next to hers.

She sighed happily. It was her very first place. And it was perfect. She bounded over to the door of number fourteen, and slid the key in the lock. Holding in a breath of anticipation, she slowly pushed the door open. She was surprised with what she saw. While the outside was rather… dreary (though she didn't care), the inside was pleasantly nice. Everything was clean and fully functioning, from what she could see.

Sarah grinned and clapped her hands together as she jumped up and down. Her moment of childish elation was interrupted, however, as a voice grunted from behind her,

"Oi! Lady- do you think you could move? This couch isn't getting any lighter!"

Sarah turned and immediately flattened herself against the wall as the rude moving men shoved past her. Even this, however, couldn't quash her jubilation. She fluttered about the moving men, much to their annoyance, and squealed happily as each piece of furniture was put into place. After a few hours of this excitement, the moving men were finally gone, and the sun had begun to set outside. Sarah sighed happily and curled into her loveseat, watching as the sun sank below her patio.

Can this get any better? Sarah asked herself as she rose from the couch, ready to order takeout. After she dialed the number, Sarah squealed in delight at the sound of the voice on the other end. British accents… she'd never tire of them.

Sarah was from the United States- Seattle, Washington, to be more exact. Her studies of archaeology and anthropology had brought her to a well-known university in London. Now in her final year of schooling, she was ready to face the world with her notebook and tool kit in hand.

"Miss? Would you please order something?"

Sarah had spent the past few minutes rambling to the poor boy on the other end of the line about how she loved his particular accent. She'd just started on his pronunciation of the letter 'R' when he interrupted. Unperturbed, she complied with his request and ordered a medium cheese pizza.

She couldn't bite back a grin as she recited her address for him. Sarah sighed happily and placed the phone back in its cradle. She was finally out on her own, and it absolutely thrilled her. Her parents hadn't been too happy with her decision to move to London, but Sarah didn't care. She was too restless to stay in Seattle. Sure, it was a big city, but that's all it was: a city. Sarah wanted the world, and she didn't care how long it took her to explore it.

A snuffling sound in the corner of her living room drew her attention. She giggled and bounded over to the cage of her pet chinchilla, Kirby, with a bag of treats in her hand. She let Kirby out of his cage and let him stretch his weary limbs while she fed him some treats. Sarah scratched him behind the ears and looked out the sliding glass door that opened directly off her living room. One of the perks of living on the first floor was having a tiny backyard, even if it did mean hearing the footsteps of her upstairs neighbors. She stood and peered outside to the tiny garden.

Obviously the person who had lived here before hadn't cared for the garden, as it was overrun with weeds and garbage. Sarah pushed the door open, careful to keep Kirby inside, and began to explore the little bit of vegetation. Her "backyard" was more like a small square patch of land. It was private, however, as it was surrounded by three high walls. The patio was nice, big enough for a barbeque and a chair or two. Sarah shivered from the night air and turned to go back inside, when a sudden movement and a flash of red caught her eye.

Pausing, her hand still on the door handle, Sarah turned to get a better look. A small bush in the corner was quivering slightly, and odd snorting noises were emitting from behind it. Thinking a small dog had gotten trapped in her yard, Sarah moved towards the bush to investigate. Before she could reach the bush, however, a red blur shot out at her, hitting her in the chest and knocking her to the ground.

After regaining her senses, Sarah froze after seeing what lay upon her. It was red, scaly, and the size of a bulldog. But that wasn't what shocked Sarah. What shocked Sarah was the fact that it was a DRAGON.

Yep. A dragon. Complete with black claws, gold eyes, and thick wings.

Sarah felt like she was about to pass out.

The dragon's claws began to tighten, and she cried out in pain as she felt them puncture her skin through her t-shirt. Struggling and letting out frantic shrieks, Sarah tried to push the creature off her. She froze when it opened its mouth to reveal sharp fangs dripping with saliva. The dragon sucked in a deep breath of air and made a choking sound. Its body began to emit heat. Sarah's heart sank.

Don't tell me it breathes fire…

Charlie Weasley frowned in annoyance as he filled out paperwork for the Ministry. A small baby dragon had just managed to escape, and that meant emergency search parties and muggle security. His supervisor had just finished yelling at him for this rare mistake. The new cages sold to their company, Dragon Research and Care Options (D.R.A.C.O.), had been faulty. Fortunately, only little Raltred had managed to escape.

Charlie groaned. The only problem with that was the fact that Raltred was new to D.R.A.C.O., and therefore had not been de-fanged. Charlie let his head drop to the table. This was bloody perfect. He'd be lucky to even keep his job.

"CHARLIE!" A loud shout came from the next room, followed by the scuffling of feet as Charlie's partner, Alan Grey, came bursting through the door. Panting, Alan wiped the sweat from his brow.

"What is it, Alan?" Charlie asked wearily, "Did another cage malfunction?" Alan shook his head.

"The communications department intercepted a muggle's phellytone- "

"Telephone," Charlie corrected.

"Right, telephone. They intercepted a muggle's phellytone call to the please-men. Raltred has been spotted in London!"

Like a flash, Charlie was up from his desk and struggling with his overcoat. Pulling his wand from his pocket, Charlie barked orders to Alan.

"Get the retrieval team in gear and ready to go. Tell them to be prepared to obliviate muggles!" Alan nodded and ran off as Charlie gathered an old, collapsible cage, shrinking it to fit in his pocket. After checking around for anything else he might need, Charlie apparated away with a loud POP!

He appeared at the communication's module on the third floor of the D.R.A.C.O office building. Taylor Barker, Head of Department, was there to greet him with a location readout. Spreading the readout on a table, Taylor explained the meaning of it.

"Our calculations indicate that the call came from this apartment complex in London," Taylor said, indicating the area on a map. Charlie didn't understand a lot of what the Communications Department did; due to the fact it included a great deal of muggle technology, but accepted what Taylor was telling him.

"Raltred is a Ukrainian Broad-Wing, so that much distance in such a short time is fairly reasonable," Charlie said, scooping the readout into his hands. "Thanks, Taylor. I'll inform you of our status once the team and I reach London." Taylor nodded and turned back to his work. Charlie disapparated to the holding area where his retrieval team waited

"Ready?" The team nodded and pulled their wands out, ready to obliviate any muggle they might come up against when they arrived. Charlie took a deep breath and on the count of three, the team apparated to London.

Their arrival went rather smoothly, with Alfred Knoxly, a big, burly man, only having to obliviate two muggles. Quickly, Charlie, Alan, and the rest of their team moved to the apartment where the call came from. Just as they were about to burst in, Alan held up his hand.

"Shh! Do you hear that?" The team strained their ears to hear what their comrade did. Faint screams were coming from the next apartment over. Without a word, Charlie and his squad burst through that door, knocking over boxes in the entryway of the apartment. Alan pointed to the yard where a woman lay on her back, Raltred perched on her chest.

"Shit," Alan muttered, blasting the sliding glass door open with a simple spell. Charlie followed, motioning for his team to come behind slowly. He cursed as he saw Raltred open his mouth to breath a flow of fire onto the poor woman.

This was not good.

Sarah scrunched her eyes shut to keep the tears of fright from escaping her. Suddenly, the weight on her chest disappeared. Sarah snapped her eyes open just in time to see a team of men wrestling the dragon into a large cage. Breathing heavily, Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes and struggled to sit up. She started in surprise as a man with blazing red hair dropped to his knees to help her up.

Charlie looked the woman over carefully. Blood was beginning to seep through her shirt, but not in alarming amounts. He assumed it was from Raltred's claws. Bringing his attention to the woman's face, he grinned slightly at her hair. It was a rather interesting shade of pink, and it reminded him of Tonks. Her hair, however, was long and held up in a messy ponytail.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" Charlie asked, pulling her to her feet slowly. The woman held her chest, dabbing at the blood that was there.

"Uh… y-yes," Sarah stuttered. She was still trying to get over the shock of nearly being eaten by a DRAGON. She focused her attention on the man. He was handsome, that was to be sure, and Sarah had the odd urge to giggle. Must be the shock, she thought to herself. "Who are you?" The man smiled.

"Charlie. Now, I want to look at this, okay?" Charlie held up his wand in front of her. Sarah looked at it in confusion.

"A stick? Why do you need-?"

"Obliviate," Charlie said calmly. Sarah's eyes slid out of focus and her shoulders drooped. Charlie led her inside and had her sit on the couch. He placed her odd pet on her lap and left through the sliding door, closing it behind him.

Sarah's eyes opened just as Charlie and his team disapparated. She sat in a stupor for a while, trying to figure out what she had been doing. Kirby just sat in her lap, content and without a worry in the world.

Sarah was startled from her daze from the ringing of the doorbell. Gently, she set Kirby on the floor and answered it.

"One medium cheese pizza and a Pepsi?" The pimply teenager asked in a bored tone. Sarah nodded dumbly. "That'll be 12.95," the boy replied. Sarah stood still for a moment, before torpidly walking to her purse and pulling out her wallet. Handing a wad of cash to the boy, Sarah took the pizza and soda, closed the door and walked back to the living room.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Sarah stared at the pizza.

When did I order this?

Charlie returned to his office with a small smile on his face. He hadn't lost his job; in fact, he'd been given a pay raise for apprehending Raltred so quickly. His small smile turned into a large grin as he remembered the pink-haired lady at the apartment. It was refreshing to find someone who liked to be different. She was kind of cute, too. Too bad he had to wipe her memory.

Throwing his overcoat onto his chair, Charlie picked up a letter from his brother, Bill. He smiled as he read it. Bill had finally proposed to someone. He rolled his eyes as he pictured his mum's happy expression. The wedding was to be held in eight weeks. Grinning, Charlie rolled up the letter and thought for a moment.

Maybe it was time for a surprise visit to the Burrow…