Chapter 3
Nora felt like she read the words on the paper, wishing they said something else but what they currently said.
Charlie Weasley. She went to Hogwarts, but he was around three years older than her. They were also in different houses, Nora was in Ravenclaw house and Charlie was in Gryffindor. In Fact, all of the Weasley's were in Gryffindor. Because of the age gap between her and Charlie, she never spoke to him. The only reason she even knew him while she was in school was because he was Gryffindor's Seeker. Nora never interacted with him, and he never interacted with her.
Nora's eyes flicked up towards Charlie's face before moving back down to the piece of paper.
"Are you having a problem reading?" Charlie asked, raising his eyebrow. He snatched the piece of paper from Nora's fingertips. She glared at his cocky face.
"So, what are you doing here?" Nora asked.
Charlie scoffed at her. "You're kidding me, right?"
Nora shook her head. "No, I'm serious."
Charlie stared at her for a while, his fingers playing with the place card. "What are you doing here?" He asked her.
It was Nora's turn to scoff at him. Only someone living under a rock wouldn't hear about her. Nora wouldn't go so far as saying she was famous, but she was getting a lot of attention with how many dragon sanctuaries she worked at and how much she traveled.
"Are you a sponsor, is that why they had you sitting next to me?" Charlie looked around to see if he would understand what was going on. He wondered if they sat a sponsor at a table full of dragon tamers.
"Are you for real?" Nora asked.
Charlie ended his survey of the ballroom and turned his eyes on her. "You don't seem to be." He raised an eyebrow at her.
Nora was taken aback; she really was starting to regret coming. She was the dragon tamer that never stayed in one spot, she traveled to the different dragon sanctuaries. She had only been out of school for around seven years and had been completely dedicated to dragons and her career. The benefit of dragons was that she didn't have to have small talk. They had their own way of communicating.
Never in her life has she been so insulted. Granted, being a sponsor for a dragon sanctuary deserved the utmost respect among dragon tamers. Dragon Sanctuaries were also the reason dragons weren't running rampage in cities when they were sick or when they were babies. As adults, they are terribly shy and avoid areas where humans are most frequent. They also are only comfortable with their dragon tamers. Dragon tamer isn't even the right word, they don't really train, they were more like caretakers.
Without even answering him, Nora closed herself off from the conversation, she turned her body away from him and crossed her leg over the other.
"Did I hurt your feelings?" Charlie asked, angling his head towards her.
Nora sighed and tried to ignore him. She rested her chin in her hand that was closest to him.
"Nora, I'm talking to you," Charlie said, placing his hand on her shoulder and shaking lightly. She took a deep breath and looked at him.
"Well, you insulted me, what makes you think I want to continue this conversation?"
Charlie pressed his lips together as he thought about what she said. "Well, you haven't really told me anything besides your name. You can't really be mad at me for not knowing why you're here and me guessing wrong."
Nora gave Charlie a pointed look, raising her eyebrow. "Well, you haven't given me an answer either."
Charlie clasped his hands together and steepled his pointer fingers, bringing them to his lips. "Well in all honesty, you and I are perfect strangers, there is no need to give you all of my information."
Nora scoffed. "I don't know about you, Charlie, but that is kind of how you get to know people."
Even though Nora herself wasn't an expert herself on meeting with people. Although Charlie takes the cake in not being able to get to know people. Nora couldn't tell if he was being difficult on purpose or if that was his personality. She wondered if he was here by himself or not, if he was that wouldn't be a surprise.
Nora looked at Charlie, he had a smirk on his face, challenging her. He was clean shaven, but the coarse hairs on his mustache were slightly visible with the lighting. His ginger eyelashes were also slightly visible in the lighting. Nora would have been attractive to Charlie, if it weren't for his abrasive attitude.
Charlie cocked his head. "What?"
Nora shook her head. Thankfully in the time of the conversation between her and Charlie, the room started filling out and all the tables were full of people. There were more people at the table they were sitting at, so she didn't have to just have a conversation with Charlie. As far as she was aware, she only had to sit next to Charlie for that night, as it was a meet and greet kind of thing.
The host was now at the podium, introducing himself and some of the seasoned sponsors. As he called their name, they stood up and got their applause from the other dragon tamers. They go over a power point that talks about the benefit of being a sponsor for the other wealthy guests who were considering sponsoring dragon taming.
During the introductions and power point, Nora felt eyes on her face, and she couldn't tell if it was from Charlie or Zihan. She wasn't sure where Zihan was in the room, but knowing him, he would be watching her. When Nora took a look around, she met the brown eyes of Charlie. She dropped her eyes to her lap, but she still felt his eyes on her.
What was his problem? Nora flicked her eyes back to him and he didn't avert his eyes like people usually do when they have been caught staring. Nora cocked her eyebrow and Charlie smirked and looked back towards the podium.
Then the dinner was served, and Nora welcomed having something to distract herself besides the thought of having another conversation with Charlie. She looked around the table and realized she didn't know any of the people in attendance, but they were all absorbed in their own conversations and Nora didn't want to interrupt. Especially if she was just trying to get away from conversing with Charlie.
After the plates were cleared, Nora was left with her wine glass and a napkin. She started folding the napkin in little, tiny pieces. She was starting to feel shy and skittish like it was time to go back to the Leaky Cauldron, maybe have a few drinks that were stronger than the wine and champagne they were serving.
A lot of people were dancing now that dinner was over. As far as Nora could tell, the same exact music was playing as when she first walked in, but the guests seemed to be enjoying themselves.
"Would you like to dance?" Charlie was now standing, and he extended his hand to her. She managed to effectively forget his presence during the dinner. She looked at his hand for a moment before slowly placing her hand in his. "I'm not going to bite."
Charlie pulled her up from her chair and to the dance floor. Nora took one of Charlie's hands and placed her free hand on his shoulder. His free hand went to her waist. Goosebumps raised up on her arms and back when she felt his fingers on her back. The satin on the dress was so thin it was almost like she could feel the rough pads of his fingers. Nora felt her cheeks heat up as she looked away from him.
Charlie cleared his throat and Nora looked at him in response. "Dragon tamer."
She looked at him in question.
"That's what I do for a living, I'm a dragon tamer." Charlie explained as they swayed to the music. Well, they were finally getting somewhere, after they had a very tense conversation, she wondered if he was trying to make amends after hurting her feelings. Nora wondered where he was located, there was a small chance he came in the older locations after she was there. So, he must be at the locations she had never been to. Chances are after nearly forcing that information out of him, Charlie wasn't going to tell her where he was working.
"Me too," she said, meeting his gaze. "I'm a dragon tamer too."
Charlie widened his eyes to prompt her to continue.
"I don't really have a home location; I go with the wind." Nora explained. Which was true, the location she was at was the Norwegian location, but she was going to leave very soon.
Charlie twirled her and she took the time to contemplate her next statement. Judging how Charlie was very tight lipped with his personal life, she decided to pick her words carefully.
"I remember seeing you at Hogwarts, have you been a dragon tamer since you got out of school?" She asked.
Charlie laughed slightly, his hand tightening around hers as he did. "I guess you can say that I don't remember seeing you."
"I was a Ravenclaw, the only reason I saw you was because you were a seeker."
Charlie nodded in understanding. "Interesting," he said with a smile.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked. First, he insults her profession and why she was at that seminar and then he makes assumptions on her Hogwarts house.
"Ravenclaws are intelligent, book worms and stuff." He said after a moment. "Dragon taming just doesn't seem like the right career path for Ravenclaws."
Nora colored in shame; she always did things that weren't characteristic of Ravenclaws. Which explained why she didn't have very many friends in her house. She never worked extra hard at learning and did enough to keep her grades up and the professors off her back. She spent her free time reading about dragons and daydreaming about traveling and seeing different creatures in the wizarding world.
"Maybe I was put in the wrong house." She said quietly hoping Charlie didn't hear her.
He scoffed. "Don't be stupid, the sorting hat put you in Ravenclaw for something, it rarely makes mistakes."
Nora sighed, she was just kidding, and he turned it into a lecture. She always got those kinds of lectures from her parents, but they always felt comfortable in their houses. That's why she never visited, never called out to them. She never got owls from them, and she never reached out as well.
"Do you ever miss your family?" Charlie asked. "You said you go where the wind takes you, I have the feeling that means you never go home."
"I make my home wherever I am." She said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I consider myself a leaf blowing in the wind."
"Maybe you haven't found the right place." Charlie suggested as he watched Nora.
There was something about her that was alluring and frustrating to Charlie. Every time she talked, he wanted to challenge her, and he wanted to know more. He didn't want her to catch on. To know there was a weakness in Charlie Weasley was dangerous. Being closed off with walls built around him was a defense mechanism to him. Nora stared at Charlie's face, oblivious to the inner battle that was going on behind his poker face.
Charlie separated from her, his fingers trailing along the underside of her arm as he brought her knuckles to his lips. "I'll leave you here, I am going to turn in for the evening, unless you want to accompany me back to my room."
Nora flushed red as she glared at him. "I don't know who you think I am Charlie Weasley, but I don't do that!" She ripped her hand from his lips and reached for her wand between her breasts. She gave him a pointed look before turning away and walking back to the table to grab her clutch. Charlie stood in his spot as she looked at him one more time before disapperating.
Of course, it was out of line to invite her to his room, but it was safe for her to leave angry. Rather than trying to reach out to him again. In a couple days Charlie was going to be back home in Romania away from there. Nora was going to be back well, wherever she worked. Charlie never found anything out except she was a dragon tamer.
Since it was chilly out, Charlie apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. If he would have looked over at the bar, he would have seen Nora, with her back to him. She stayed true to herself and had something stronger than what they were offering at the seminar. Charlie carried himself up the stairs and locked himself in his room. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and tossed it on one of the chairs along with his tie. He collapsed on the bed and ran his fingers down his face.
He hated being back home, he felt the best when he was in Romania. Being home brought feelings that he tried to forget. It was only two and a half years since his brother's death and that weighed heavily on his mind. He was better at running away rather than being around his family. Which hurt them and he couldn't bear to see them disappointed about his absence.
But he couldn't just leave after the first day of the seminar.