"Today's the day," said Lucas as he finished up his breakfast of eggs and toast.

Charlie grinned back at him, "Yeah mate, it is. I reckon it'll be an easy move though. Those blokes from the reserve in Wales said she's pretty even tempered for a Horntail." He wasn't worried at all. This was supposed to be an easy transfer and then he can get back to the hatchling keep, his favorite place on the reserve. There was something magical about the way dragons hatched that fascinated Charlie, there was nothing more beautiful than watching a baby dragon make its way out of the egg and see the world for the first time.

The pair got up from the table and left Charlie's small hut making their way to the Hungarian Horntail cage. They arrived just in time to see their new dragon be guided over the mountains into the reserve. Seven trained keepers slowly flew alongside the dragon, keeping it harnessed with unbreakable rope, one of a dragon keepers most valued items. Charlie and Lucas were in charge of the ground team to make the dragon's transition as quick and safe as possible and much to Charlie's displeasure, there was a rookie on the team. His name was Davis and he had only been a trained keeper for a few months. He wasn't seasoned like the rest of them, he didn't innately know when to dodge a stream of fire or a flying tail. He was reckless and careless. He was a hazard.

Charlie was one of the best tamers on the Romanian reserve; he seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to dragons. He knew when to dodge, when to duck, and when to dive. He rarely flinched and always had his head about him.

That's why when things started going south with the transfer, everyone looked to him.

As the Horntail started to land she realized she was in unfamiliar territory and began to get angry. Very, very angry. And an angry Horntail was dangerous Horntail. "Stunners on three!" yelled Charlie, wand at the ready. Simultaneously nearly fifteen stunners were shot at the dragon, usually enough to get it down. It didn't work. After shaking off the spells, the dragon brought its head back and let out a large burst of fire. She roared sending flames into the sky at the keepers still around her on brooms. The men tried stupefying the creature once more, but they were again unsuccessful.

"Damn Welsh liars!" shouted Lucas as he dodged yet another breath of fire. She was a nasty dragon. Charlie was focused on getting this dragon down; he was throwing unbreakable rope trying to bring down her neck in an attempt to stop the fire. The other keepers had successfully roped together her wings, preventing her from flight. Thank Merlin, thought Charlie, if the beast could fly we'd all be killed. Frowning he realized that her tail had gotten loose. This was getting more dangerous by the second. He nearly had her neck roped down for the fourth time, as the angry dragon kept yanking it out of the ground, when he heard a terrified scream. Davis, the rookie, was about to get himself skewered on the deadly tail.

Charlie ran towards him shouting to move but Davis was petrified with fear. Charlie heard Lucas scream something in the back of his mind but it was drowned out by his need to save his fellow keeper. He managed to push Davis out of harm's way when he was suddenly airborne. Their best tamer was hit. His name was screamed by the other tamers as he was flung off towards the ground, pain flooding his system. He faintly heard footsteps running towards him before another agonizing pain shot through his back. Everything in Charlie's world began to get fuzzy as his vision blurred to black.

"So Hermione, how did your first night go?" asked Maggie, head healer on the reserve. "I know the first couple of nights can be lonely." Hermione smiled at the other woman, she was feeling a bit homesick, but at the same time, she was glad to be away.

"It was alright, thanks, but honestly? I'm grateful for the fresh start. Things back home didn't go so well after the war, but the past is the past and I'm ready to see what living on a dragon reserve is like. I've always been curious about them after the Triwizard Tournament back in my fourth year." That wasn't a total lie, however, Hermione also wanted to get as far away from Ron as possible. He'd let the fame and money get to his head and Hermione couldn't take it anymore. The Ronald Weasley she fell in love with fifth year was long gone and she was finished waiting for him to come back.

Since their breakup things had been tense at the Burrow, especially between Hermione and Mrs. Weasley, who was planning Ron and Hermione's wedding from the moment Hermione walked through her door. Thankfully, Harry and Ginny announced their engagement shortly after, shielding Hermione from a full berating.

Hermione was pulled from her thoughts by screams coming from the reserve. Looking nervously at Maggie, Hermione pulled out her wand and began to rise, flashing back to the war. "Don't go. I expect we will be needed here shortly." She wasn't wrong. Nearly a half an hour after the chaos began two tamers Hermione knew to be Justin Smith and Miles Brown rushed into the clinic levitating a burned and bloodied body. "It's Charlie," murmured Justin, his voice wavering.

The two female healers jumped up and began working immediately once Charlie was placed on the nearest bed. Hermione calmly did what she was trained to do, muttering spells and waving her wand in precise movements. She worked best under pressure, which is why she was chosen to move to a dragon reserve. Once the two witches stabilized the redhead, Maggie moved onto the other wounded tamers and left Hermione to finish up with Charlie.

She carefully administered another blood replenishing potion before moving onto his burns and bruises. Gently she peeled off his bloodied clothes and scourgifyed his body. Hermione frowned at the extent of the damage Charlie sustained; his front was covered in dark red and purple bruises while his back was covered in both a severe burn and a large wound from the dragon's spiked tail. Gritting her teeth, she massaged various burn and healing balms onto Charlie's wounds. She would need to reapply them every few hours because his injuries were so intense.

Hermione was again reminded of the war when she thought back to the time spent in the Great Hall after Fred had died. She couldn't bear the thought of the Weasley's losing another son and if Hermione had her way, they weren't going to.

"Is he going to be okay?" questioned Miles, afraid to hear the answer. To see Charlie, one of the greatest tamers the reserve had ever had, go down like that made him incredibly nervous. Miles had seen a lot of injuries in his three years working as a dragon tamer, and this was one of the worst.

Hermione cast another diagnostic spell and felt her face drop at the test results. "Well, he suffered a lot of damage to his back and right shoulder. The spike really tore up his shoulder and he lost a lot of blood and took in a lot of venom. That alone could have killed him. When you add in the effect of the massive burn on his back as well, Charlie Weasley is lucky to be alive." She paused and looked at the three crestfallen tamers before her letting them take in the news. Taking a breath she continued, "Unfortunately, he remains in a coma. He could wake up in a few hours, a few weeks, or a few years. He may never wake up. Maggie and I are doing the best we can to make sure that he survives this."

She knew going in to her profession that she would have to deal with injuries, death, and constant bad news, but she never expected it to be so serious on her second day and especially to a member of her second family. Hermione swore as she watched Charlie's best friends crumble, that she would save him, that he would wake up.