"Don't tell me another girl's come up here to study the mating habits of dragons."

Penelope turned and regarded the fellow with high color on her cheeks. "What? No. Actually, I was looking for Charlie Weasley. He doesn't know I am coming, and if you tell me he's not here I might cry."

The man blinked. "I'll get him."

"Thank you," Penelope said softly.

She turned and started taking in the surroundings. It was a very lovely place. She hoped they would let Jack come onto the reserve with supervision. He was terribly keen on seeing a real dragon today - even from VERY far away.

Charlie was washing dragon dung off his hands when Tom came to tell him that he had a visitor. The general handyman all but elbowed him and winked as he said this. Charlie just rolled his eyes and finished cleaning up. With any luck it was Gin, come to assure him that her "accident" had consisted of falling down on the sidewalk and that Mum was over reacting. She did tend to be over protective of her only girl, after all.

Or it could be Hermione, come to take him up on his offer of lunch. If it wasn't... Well, he really did need to owl her.

It was neither Gin nor Hermione. Instead it was a pretty witch with dark hair and curves in all the right places. She looked familiar, though he couldn't place her off hand. Maybe someone he'd seen at Hogwarts?

"You wanted to see me, love?"

Penelope's mouth hitched up in one corner. "You don't recognize me, do you, Charlie?"

She knew the moment he did though, stepping forward with a hand out. Penelope was always so surprised by things like this. There had not been a lot of touching growing up in her family, but the Weasleys were far different from her upbringing. She was finding she liked this about them. In her nervous state, she grabbed Charlie's hand in both of hers and shook it, likely looking ten times a fool. Penelope pinkened slightly and released his hand.

"Sorry, Penelope, right? You're the last person I would have expected to ask for me. Last I heard about you --" He cut himself off. The last he had heard was that she and Percy had broken off. Even thinking that brought a twinge of regret to his chest. They hadn't parted on the best of terms despite their closeness growing up. It had been hard growing up with a younger brother who could read while he was still struggling to make hisPs and Bs stop flipping every time he saw them. He'd loved Percy, yes. But sometimes he'd been so jealous.

His baby brother had taken it all in stride, though, he remembered with a smile. Even at a young age he'd had the patience of a saint and would attempt to help Charlie make sense of the letters. When Charlie would get particularly frustrated, Percy would sit beside him and read aloud the stories that Charlie had tried to struggle through. He never made Charlie feel stupid or inadequate.

"What can I do for you?" he finished, his voice a little hoarse.

"I'm just going to say. I stalled with your mother, and with Bill and Fleur, and then Fleur swore at me in French, so I'm just going to say. I am." Penelope turned abruptly, paced away, and then turned back to face him just as quickly. "I have a son. His name is Jack. He's six. You're his uncle. Well, one of them anyhow. Your mother... and I am certain your father now, Ginny, Bill, and Fleur know. I am working my way through the whole family... in... in person."

Penelope let out a loud burst of air. Was she nearly going to faint every time she did this?

Charlie blinked at her. She had a son? He was an uncle? She and Perce had -- No, best not to think on that. Even if he was surprised that Percy had loosened up enough to let go with someone. He had become something of a ponce before his death.

"May I meet him?" He would clear his schedule to be where ever she wanted him to be. A nephew. Percy had a son. Had he known?

"Of course. I knew you'd want to. He's waiting at the edge of the reserve with Brody MacDougal. Jack very much wants to see a real dragon. Even from VERY far away. He's very excited to meet you."

Penelope started walking back at a brisk pace. Her nervousness was making her behave oddly. Her movements were more abrupt and jerkier than usual. Brody stood up quickly, causing Jack to look up from where he was sitting and reading silently. Jack quickly tucked his book away.

Unsure whether or not he should wait or follow Penelope, Charlie finally decided on following her. He watched as she greeted her son. Percy in miniature. It was enough to take his breath away and he was glad that he had a moment to recover before meeting him. Would his personality be like Percy's as well? Often too serious and in desperate need of someone to tease him? He'd taken care of that before he'd left for Hogwarts, passing the torch onto the twins, who perhaps took to the task too well.

"Hello, Jack," he greeted him as the little red head approached. His mum trailed behind, close enough to interrupt if something went wrong, but far enough to give the illusion of privacy. "I'm your Uncle Charlie." He glanced at Penelope as he said this, realizing, belatedly, that he'd never asked what Jack knew. He hadn't asked all sorts of questions he should have.

"I know," Jack said excitedly. "You have the dragons. Mum told me about you and the dragons and Brody said maybe I could look at the dragons and Mum always adds from VERY FAR AWAY. Brody says you were inGryffindor too, but he's older. Brody says I'll probably be in Gryffindor too. Brody says his sister hits people harder than most men do. Brody says I can have a free butterbeer my first Hogsmeade weekend at Hogwarts. I'm going to go to Draco Malfoy's school."

Penelope leaned over to Brody. "Well, you certain say a lot, don't you? I didn't realize you talked so much."

"Well, I don't actually have dragons," he corrected, oddly saddened by the rush of words and thrilled by them. For all he looked like Percy, once he opened his mouth it was obvious that he was his own person. Perce had been too serious to rush on like that.

"But I do help take care of some. It will have to be from very far away, which is for both your protection and for theirs. It wouldn't do for one to get your leg bone stuck between her teeth now, would it? Very aggravating, that, getting something stuck in your teeth. And then I'd have to send my friend Jos in to use his wand like a toothpick. He always complains about having to wipe the dragon slobber away when that happens."

Jack listened to it all with a wide grin, obviously smart enough to know when he was being teased.

"I think I can arrange for you to see some, though. Only if it's OK with your mum." He shot another glance at Penelope, waiting for permission.

"Very far away, and less eating legs talk," Penelope said nervously.

She was less able to pick up on teasing like Jack was, and things like that amused him anyhow.

"Can I see them today," Jack asked.

"Uncle Charlie might have work today. He might have to set it up as a special day, get permission. Patience, Jack."

"As it happens," he assured the boy. "I am just now off work. You and your mum caught me before I left. And today is a very special day. It's nephew day, when nephews of the handlers, and their mums and Brody, can come see the dragons." Not exactly the truth. He could finish his work just as easily later, though it meant getting another fresh dung sample. And he would deal with any consequences that might arise if anyone found out that he hadn't cleared the impromptu tour beforehand.

"What kind of dragon would you like to see? We have Welsh Greens and Antipodean Opaleyes."

Penelope swayed on her feet. Dragons scared the hell out of her. Brody slipped her arm through his, so no one would notice how shaky she was.

"Well," Jack said, considering. "Since this is the Welsh reserve, the Welsh ones. Are they green? Why do they call them green? Is it because they're green?"

Charlie saw Brody weave Penelope's arm through his and mentally gave a nod of satisfaction. Percy would have had a fit over someone as rough and tumble as Bro raising his no-doubt studious son, but he knew that Brody would treat both Penelope and Jack right. He was a good bloke.

"Yes, they are green, just about the color of the forest in the summer time. And they're one of the calmer breeds of dragons. They eat sheep, mainly, with the occasional goat and pig for a treat. Despite my teasing that they'd get your leg bone caught between their teeth, they tend to avoid humans."

He hesitantly held out his hand for Jack to take and was pleased when the boy took it immediately. He couldn't help but grin as he led them deeper into the Reserve. Raewyn would be out, no doubt, sunbathing as she was wont to do. Sure enough, even without the omnioculars he could spot her on her ledge.

He handed Jack a pair of omnioculars before offering a pair to Penelope and Brody. Penelope blanched and shook her head vigorously at the offer, though Bro happily took them.

"That's Raewyn," he said, crouching down and pointing to the dragon. He helped Jack adjust his omnioculars until the he appeared satisfied. "And I have to admit that I think she's my favorite out of all the dragons here. She can be rather playful when she wants to be, though usually she prefers to be lazy."

Almost as if on cue, Raewyn bugled, jumped into the air, and started doing lazy maneuvers. Jack followed her with the omnioculars, fascinated.

When the dragon took off, Penelope jumped. Her heart was hammering in her chest. She was not fond of reptiles or amphibians. Snakes and frogs mostly. Lizards too. Dragon's by default because they reminded her of lizards. They gave her the willies. They always had.

Jack was ooohing and ahhhing, obviously enjoying himself. He had a sense of adventure. Penelope had never discovered where he'd picked that up from. Neither she nor Percy had been so adventurous.

"She's a girl dragon? Has she ever had baby dragons? There was a cat in India that had kittens. It was gross. She pooped them out. I know that's not REALLY what happened, but they came out the poop end, and they looked like they had pink snot on them."

"Jack," Penelope said weakly.

Brody was trying very hard not to laugh and failing.

Charlie chuckled. "But I bet they looked all cute and fluffy in no time at all, didn't they? Most baby animals don't look their best at birth. That's because being born is stressful on them as well as on the mother. I would hazard a guess that even you wouldn't have impressed the ladies until you were a couple of days old." And that was maybe too much information for a child's innocence, even one as precocious as Jack.

"But, yes, she is a girl dragon. And she's not nested yet. That's what we call it when a dragon has babies. Hers will not be covered with pink snot, though. She'll lay eggs and then incubate them, which means to keep them warm, until the babies are ready to hatch. Birds do it the same way, as do lizards and some snakes, though they tend to let the sun do the incubating for them and don't raise the young like birds and dragons do. Snakes and lizard babies are just smaller versions of adults. Birds and dragons still have to grow before they're ready to be on their own, just like those kittens had to."

He glanced at Penelope to see if he had given too much information. Judging by the fact that she wasn't glaring at him, he would guess not. Charlie made a mental note to ask both her and his mum what was appropriate information to give kids. He knew some things were strictly verboten, like how exactly a female could have a baby in her tummy. That was definitely a subject for Penelope to tackle. But would it be OK to discuss the stages of a young animal's development or what happened when the young was not viable after birth? He could remember telling Percy the same kind of information when they were kids, when he was more interested in grossing out his brother than if he was scarring the bloke for life.

"I think I looked all right. Mum said my Dad thought so. Show him the picture, Mum."

Penelope felt like she'd been punched in the gut. She reached into her pocket with shaking hands. She almost always had the snap of herself, Jack, Percy, and April with her. She held it out for Charlie.

Charlie carefully took the picture from Penelope and studied it. Well, that was one questioned answered, at least. Percy had known about Jack, had gotten to hold him on the day of his birth. His brother looked so happy.

"I dunno, you're still pretty red and scrunched up. And I bet you were covered in pink snot too, before a mediwizard cleaned you up. But they try not to take snaps of babies when they look like that. Too much blackmail material for the first time they bring a special friend over."

He handed the picture back to Penelope and smiled reassuringly at her. He could tell that she was uncomfortable around the dragons by her death grip on Brody's arm and the way she had kept insisting on a safe distance from the dragons. Not that the later wasn't common sense.

"Have you had enough looking at Raewyn for today?" The dragon had settled back down to sun herself and Charlie figured that Jack would grown bored with the inactivity.

"No," Jack said forlornly. "But Mum probably wants to go. She doesn't like dragons, lizards, snakes, or frogs. Except for my toad, but that's just cause she's used to him. Can I come back another day and watchRaewyn? She's pretty. She knew I was here, and she did tricks."

"Jack, you don't just invite yourself over. It's rude."

"I wasn't, Mum. I promise. I just want to watch her some more." He looked at Charlie. "Would it be okay?"

"It would be more than OK," Charlie assured him. "We just need to arrange it a few days beforehand. And make sure your mum knows that I won't let you get any closer than this to the dragons or wander anywhere without an adult." He led them back to the little village, noting that Penelope loosened up the further they got from the dragons. He decided not to point out the little fact that the dragons could fly and that nowhere on the Reserve was really safe. It didn't seem like a good idea if he wanted Jack to visit again.

"Or, if you like, we can visit a Muggle zoo instead. They don't have dragons, but they do have all sorts of other interesting animals. Lizards and snakes and spiders and lions, all safely behind barriers. Your mum might be a little more inclined to allow that."

"Behind barriers is better," Penelope said. "I think that would be nice."

"Hey Jack, lad," Brody said. "Let's you and I go on and let yer mum and Charlie talk, aye?"

Jack sighed, obviously not ready to leave Charlie. "All right. Bye, Uncle Charlie. I liked meeting you. Your dragon was pretty."

Charlie knelt down until he was at Jack's level. "Would it be alright if I hugged you goodbye?"

Judging by Jack's enthusiastic response of launching himself into Charlie's arms, it was indeed all right. Once he let go, he watched Brody lead Jack away before standing and turning to Penelope.

"Thank you," he said. "For... For raising such a... Just because." He had questions, so many questions, but he wasn't sure he could express them. And she'd probably been asked by every family member already. He'd get answers later, when he could put the questions into words. "You said Mum and Dad know? And Bill and Gin?"

"I spoke to your mother last week. She agreed to let me tell all of you in person. She told your father. I could not and would not ask her to keep something from him. I saw Bill and Fleur yesterday. Ginny knows because Jack had a minor accident and ended up in her clinic. I'm sure... I'm sure you have more questions. Perhaps I can visit you somewhere that's not here, and we could talk more."

"I'd like that," he said with a smile. He glanced over at Jack and Brody and couldn't help but laugh. Brody was standing still while Jack literally jumped around him, telling him some story or other, judging by the hand gestures.



{SUMMARY} Penelope brings Jack to the Welsh Reserve to meet Charlie. Brody tags along.