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Tweak says, "Chacha!"

Charlie Weasley (tamethebeast) wrote in wished,
@ 2010-03-07 01:20:00

Current music:	los lobos - la bamba
Entry tags:	!1998: 03, !complete, charlie weasley, marcus flint

|WHO:| Charlie Weasley | Marcus Flint
|WHEN:| Sunday, 7 March, afternoon
|WHERE:| Hogsmeade
|WHAT:| Charlie patrols Hogsmeade to ensure students' safety, but also decided to spend a bit of time popping off into various shops, spending most of his time looking at Quidditch supplies.
|RATING:| G/PG
|STATUS:| Complete

It would have been far easier to say Charlie had been nervous and on-edge the last month, but it simply boiled down to nerves and frustrations from not seeing Ron or having specific orders. Romania had been far simpler a task, and now that Charlie threw himself into the war, he wondered what he needed to be doing every waking moment. It was as though he expected there to be more than this, more to look for, more to do, but his expectation was to protect the students and be there for any one who may need him.

The weather had been mild and as Charlie finished lunch, he spotted a Quidditch supply shop. "Why not?" he said to himself, heading in and looking around for a moment.

"Marcus Flint!" he said, smirking a bit as he caught the sight of a familiar rival inside. Charlie read about quite a number of Quidditch teams, and though there was a lot to keep up with and remember, he did know that Marcus was a Chaser for the Falmouth Falcons. "What's it like, Flint? Playing professionally?" Charlie asked, poking around the shop near Marcus. Charlie could have played professionally if he wanted, but he much preferred his work with dragons. "The Falcons have had a brilliant season this year. Congratulations on that, by the way."

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tamethebeast
2010-03-07 10:58 am UTC (link)

Laughing a bit, Charlie leaned against the counter as he turned the quaffle over in his hands a few times. Perhaps the talent had been wasted, that he could agree with to an extent, "I'm working as a dragon-keeper. Well, was," he replied, shrugging a bit, "now I'm at Hogwarts teaching Care of Magical Creatures. It's certainly different from working in Romania."

Nodding, he set the ball down. Charlie did not have a particular reason to be browsing the shop, but there would always be that part of him that missed the rush of flying, of being in a game with people in the stands cheering and shouting. "You're favourite, eh? I think I recall reading than in an article." Charlie read as much as he could, but knowing too much about any one particular player would have seemed a bit much, and he was not in a place to obsess over anything (nor was it a part of his character to, unless it was his work). "And I have no idea where I would have gone. I'd've probably stayed within the U.K. just to be closer to home, but then again I ran off to Romania to work with dragons. Probably..." he paused, folding his arms over his chest, "probably with whoever wanted me," he settled, laughing a bit.

"You've probably gotten better offers. I've seen you play, Flint. You were brilliant in school, and you're even better now."

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itsaflintstone
2010-03-07 11:07 am UTC (link)

"Well that’s...different." He couldn't really see why someone who was brilliant at Quidditch would run off to look after dragons, or any sort of creature in general. Well, maybe it was an interesting job. For Marcus there was nothing that would ever stop him from playing. He had been on his broom with broken bones before, just because he couldn't sit around; he needed to feel the adrenaline and the wind in his face.
Maybe he really was obsessed with the sport; he'd choose Quidditch over a girl or a guy to spend the night with anytime, which had caused a couple of break-ups already.

Marcus nodded. "So you can't really give it up, can you?" He was genuinely smiling now, simply because he understood it. If you were a real player, not to mention a team captain, you couldn't just stop loving the sport.
Marcus listened and then shook his head. "Teams would have fought over you, Weasley!" He said, showing maybe a bit too much how he respected the other. Any other Gryffindor, he would have tried to talk down, but not Charlie, not with the amount of trophies and medals with his name on them in the trophy room and the games Marcus had seen him play in.

"Better offers than the Falcons?" he laughed. "Well...not from my point of view, for me there's no better team than the Falcons. More successful maybe, but not better." Marcus enjoyed being in the team, the way they worked together, it was important for a good team and he couldn't imagine finding a better one.

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tamethebeast
2010-03-07 11:29 am UTC (link)

Agreeing, Charlie nodded once more, "different, yes, but it was a choice between working with dragons or playing Quidditch. I somehow managed to convince myself that I had more of a passion for dragons, which I certainly do. I miss playing, but you would know how useless a player would be if they always thought they may have regretted a choice they made, no matter how big or small. What use would I have been if I spend my career as a Seeker wondering about how different or how much better my life would have been?"

It was a valid point, and had Charlie never chosen to go to Romania, he never would have known. "My heart was not in it as much as I thought it was," he admitted. Only another player, like Marcus, would understand that: the heart and mind needed to be in the game. If one was somewhere else, it had the potential to ruin the whole of the match. "And they may not have," he said, trying to be humble. Charlie knew he had been a good player and worked hard at everything he did, but it was not as easy as earning trophies and a lot of games that put someone on a professional team—he knew that and knew counting on being a seeker until retiring was not a sure thing. He very much believed in a solid, reliable path for his life (especially during a time of war).

"Understandable. Why bother playing somewhere else when you're exactly where you want to be?" He had to accept that answer or he would have looked hypocritical. "I never regretted moving out to work with dragons, but I have wondered about what it would be like if I had been a professional Quidditch player. It's one thing to be a dragon-keeper and dream of being an athlete than to be an athlete and wonder if you made a mistake. This way I'm not liable to six other players' dreams and goals, or disappointing fans if I did horribly."

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itsaflintstone
2010-03-07 07:15 pm UTC (link)

"I'd not be able to do that." Marcus said with a small smile. He didn't want to convince himself to do anything but Quidditch anyway, so it didn't really matter. "But it's cool for you if you're happy."

He had to agree with Charlie's reasoning. He knew how it was when someone didn't put all their heart into the sport. He had always had that feeling with Malfoy, somehow. Probably because he bought his way into the team instead of earning it. For doubts like that it was too late though and he prefered not to think about how he didn't manage to win the cup in his last year.

"so...you went from Quidditch to Dragons to being a teacher at Hogwarts? That's pretty impressive." He had been asked to consider a position in Hogwarts, doing something like Madam hooch, but that just couldn't compare to the Falcons. "Do you like it?"

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tamethebeast
2010-03-08 04:51 am UTC (link)

And Charlie certainly tried to be happy. Like everyone else, the focus had all been on the war. He enjoyed his work with dragons, he very much enjoyed teaching (much to his surprise, though he did a fair share growing up with five younger siblings). The wages and sacrifices of the war wore the Order down: too many people were gone and Charlie could not imagine doing what Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Luna had gone through to get to where they were now.

"And Merlin only knows where I'll end up next," he replied with a bit of a chuckle. "Working with dragons has been absolutely brilliant, Flint. They're far more powerful and incredible than a book can possibly describe them. Perhaps you wouldn't be able to do anything else, and I've often thought about what it would have been like to play Quidditch the way you do, but I wouldn't have given up those years in Romania for it," he said, shaking his head a bit. "I fell in love with them: dragons. I can play Quidditch with mates anytime, granted I wouldn't have a packed stadium or a uniform, but there is nothing more gratifying in my life than working with dragons."

Charlie had a tendency to glow a bit, much like the excitement of a child in a candy store, when it came to dragons—but it was the same talking about Quidditch. "I should get out to one of your games before the season ends," he said to Marcus. Charlie began looking at jumpers, hats, scarves, and various other merchandise, some with the Falmouth Falcons' name and logos embroidered on. "What brings you to Hogsmeade, out of curiosity?"

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itsaflintstone
2010-03-08 08:51 pm UTC (link)

Marcus listened, carefully and with surprising interest. He wasn't much of a people person, he mostly didn’t give a damn about what others liked, simply cause they didn’t care for him either and they weren't close enough to bother. But Charlie talking about dragons reminded him of himself when he was speaking about Quidditch.

"I thought about doing something else. Ya know how they say doing something too much makes you dislike it?" He grinned. "Well...I appear to be lucky it's not happening to me and Quidditch." Now...He did not have a single clue why he was telling something so personal (For Marcus it is very very personal) with a Gryffindor he usually never talked to. "Anyway..." Marcus wasn't comfortable on personal ground and now tried to change the topic. "Very glad it's working out for you. Even if I still think you should have played Quidditch."

He looked around and shrugged. "Good question. I couldn't have possibly assumed I'd get anything here that I don't get in Diagon..." He smirked. "Sentimental, I guess. Just now I can get pissed without hiding from Professors."

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tamethebeast
2010-03-08 09:28 pm UTC (link)

Pushing up the sleeves on his coat and jumper—the tattoo of Norberta revealed on his left arm—Charlie got a bit comfortable. He likely could have stood there for a long time and just talked to Marcus about Quidditch and where they both were in life.

"At least I'm not the only one!" he said with a chuckle. "But I do know what you mean. I worked with people in Romania that stopped caring as much for the dragons as they should have. It's frustrating, really. I'm sure the Falcons get the same situation as well: players stop caring about the game and only want it for the fame, the glory, the money... Last month a professional team lost a player for that very reason, I think." Charlie shrugged, running a hand through his hair (which, luckily for him, was growing out a bit).

Laughing Charlie looked outside for a moment, "it's hard to give up something when you fall in love with it." Marcus being personal with Charlie was not something Charlie thought much of, especially since Charlie was a bit personal himself. "Have you ever shopped for Quidditch supplies in places other then the U.K.? Romania has brilliant stuff, but I don't know all the rules and regulations against that kind of thing while playing professionally. I bought quite a bit of stuff, actually, and some of the things I still have were discontinued."

There was a pause while a smirk formed on Charlie's face, "ever flown with a dragon?"

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itsaflintstone
2010-03-08 09:46 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, heard about that." Marcus was reading a lot of Quidditch mags, he could afford them after all and he needed to keep up with the sport. Of course, he was already pretty up to date just being a player himself, but it was still interesting. Marcus himself had players he looked up to, like those playing in the world cup. Which was his ultimate goal; playing and winning the world cup. He was talking a little slow, momentarily distracted by the tattoo on Charlie's muscular arm. "That's pretty nice." He said, redirecting his eyes to Charlie's face again.

Marcus nodded in reply to that question. "Yeah, been to a couple places with the team and checked what they had. It's not so entirely different, but I guess Romania is a lot different than Europe. Probably worth taking a look, by the way you make it sound."

"No, not as far as I can remember. Don't think I ever got close to one either. Not a big fan of animals and creatures." He wasn't going to say he preferred plants, it was such a wussy thing to say, he rather kept it to himself. "Would be cool, I can imagine."

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tamethebeast
2010-03-08 10:19 pm UTC (link)

"What is? Oh, the tattoo, thanks. It's a Norwegian Ridgeback, a gift from an old friend of mine. Originally he thought the dragon male, called him Norbert, but we found out Norbert was female, so now she's Norberta." Charlie eyed the tattoo a bit, holding out his arm so Marcus could see it better. "I've got another dragon on my right shoulder—a Ukrainian Ironbelly: they're the biggest dragons, and they're absolutely gorgeous." Charlie would have certainly showed Marcus his tattoo, but they were not in a place where Charlie, as a professor at Hogwarts, should be stripping off his clothes.

"You're lucky you get to travel so much," Charlie said, envious of that fact. He was not one to envy others—Charlie had a tendency to appreciate what he had and not look back too often. The desire to travel was in their family in many places, and Charlie certainly jumped on any opportunity he could to do so. Even as a dragon-keeper, he got to see quite a number of places, and was thankful for it.

Charlie shrugged, "animals aren't for everyone. Some prefer cats, some dogs, and I've been on a broom next to a dragon. It's a brilliant combination of fear, adrenaline, excitement... everything you can possibly imagine. It's more than I ever felt during a match, Flint, and maybe that's why Quidditch was easy enough to look back and not regret it too much." Of course he thought about it, he told Marcus that already, but Charlie had done so much with dragons that he would not have been able to want to change his life around now. He was twenty-six, and likely too old to start now.

"Am I keeping you from anything, mate? I can let you go. Just thought I'd shake your hand and congratulate you on a great season so far."

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itsaflintstone
2010-03-09 11:41 am UTC (link)

If it wasn't for the fact that he quite enjoyed their conversation, Marcus would have asked why he told him that story. "Personally I'd not know how to tell if a dragon was male or female, so I can't even laugh at them. Quite a nice story though. Makes you sound like it's your babies name tattooed on your arm." He winked, this was more friendly teasing than anything harmful."So you've got two tattoos?" He looked him over again. "I would have expected a few more than that." He said. Marcus himself had two as well.

"Yeah, it's one of the better parts of the job." Actually, he liked pretty much everything about his job, maybe not annoying journos and their more than stupid questions. But bloody hell he didn't even mind the injuries, quite the contrary. Coming to think of it... "I bet it's pretty dangerous; working with dragons. They must have set you on fire at one point or another..." He could very well imagine that Charlie had at least as many scars as he did, just not from bludgers and scraps.

"I do have an owl though, not that it changes anything." HE did have quite a few plants at home,which tended to surprise his visitors. It was good for him they never asked any questions about that. "Fear for your life cause it could fry you any second? I'm sure it's much more exciting than a bludger, though. Charlie was making him curious about those damned dragons. It was incredible how contagious someone's excitement could be. Now he was wondering if him talking about Quidditch had the same effect on others.

"No it's more me being worried I'll keep you from making sure your students are fine. If they kill each other and you don't stop it, it ain't my fault." If that happened, it'd likely be a Slytherin hexing a Gryffindor and Marcus had to grin even more.

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tamethebeast
2010-03-09 07:00 pm UTC (link)

"She was a baby when I got her, if that counts," Charlie laughed, "but a Welsh Green hatched not too long ago, last month anyway. I've asked them to keep me informed about how both the mum and the baby are doing. It takes a lot of energy on the mother's part to make the egg and the commitment of incubation in order for it to hatch—" Charlie but himself off. He had been grinning without realising it as he talked about the dragon: an old Welsh Green they did not think was capable of laying. "I swear, Flint," he continued after giving Marcus an apologetic look, "someone can be thinking about a dragon and I'll give them a dragon's personal life story for twenty minutes."

Deciding that maybe they should stick with a common subject, Charlie shifted his weight a bit as he continued to walk around the Quidditch shop. "I have some burn scars, naturally. They're quite shiny, actually." Charlie held out his right arm, "it goes up a bit further since I wasn't wearing long sleeves," he said: a shiny burn extended from the top of his arm to a few inches above his elbow. "I've got other burns, though, a couple on my legs and a small on both my back and chest. When they tell you not to tend to the dragons without your shirt on, they mean it," he said with a smirk.

"And the students are all right," he said, looking out the window. "I'm not the only professor here, and it looks like a lot of them are heading back to the castle." Looking at broom kits, Charlie shrugged, "if they want to kill each other that badly, Flint, they can do it at the castle. There are more places to hide." Charlie liked that he and Marcus were able to relax around each other. Charlie had been tense in school when it came to Quidditch, being Captain, and being a Prefect for three years (plus, he had the twins to look after).

"You should fly with a dragon sometime," Charlie added offhandedly. "It teaches you a lot about fear on a broom, mainly that bludgers should be the least of your worries or not something to worry about at all. Since you're a chaser, that's a plus, really. Of course, I doubt you'll be in a match worrying that all of a sudden a Horntail is going to show up and set your broom on fire."

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itsaflintstone
2010-03-09 07:55 pm UTC (link)

"It's okay." Marcus grinned. "It’s quite interesting actually. Dragons just never... I don't know, caught my interest." Which was probably because all he thought about was Quidditch; something that had somehow ended all of his former relationships pretty early. And the fact that he hated clingy people, they were annoying. "I couldn't imagine doing it, even if I wasn't playing Quidditch." Dragons were pretty specific creatures and dangerous. While he wasn't easily afraid, he knew not to risk his life lightly.

"Ah and one day you'll show me those, along with your other tattoo?" Marcus' eyes ran over the scar, somewhat admiringly. "Must've hurt." he commented. "I am not a professional...but I kinda doubt a shirt would help very much against dragon fire...or are we talking special dragon keeper clothes they give you?" there was a thought. Did people in dragon preserves have to wear uniforms?

That was true, even Marcus back in his time had rather spent his time in Hogsmeade doing something useful; getting drunk, visiting shops, meeting people, instead of getting into fights, even though it had happened occasionally. "To hide what? Yourself while you kill someone or the body once you're done?" Did that make him sound like he had thought about it earlier? Okay so Marcus had been a little (well, very) violent at school but killing someone had never been something he had done or wanted to do. Not even that bloody Wood.

"Right." he laughed, again. "Are you inviting me? Because I have no idea where I'd get hold of a dragon. I can tell you the best places to fly all over the United Kingdom but dragons?" Marcus shook his head and took a few steps away, looking at a pair of Chaser's gloves on a shelf. He could need new ones, the ones he had weren't in very good shape anymore.

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tamethebeast
2010-03-09 08:39 pm UTC (link)

"Which is why I need to shut it," he said, setting the broom kit down. It was not as though Charlie needed one as the broom he had worked fine. If he could afford a better broom, he likely would consider investing in everything he thought he would need. For the moment, he would rather spend money on food and coffee so that he spend time with his closest mates and family (not to mention he still had not purchased a belated birthday present for Ron).

Nodding, Charlie had no problem showing off his tattoos or scars (though he imagined his mother would not be terribly thrilled, and he could not remember if she knew about the tattoos or not). Burns anyone would have expected on Charlie, but perhaps not many would think him the type to have a tattoo (or two). "And that's exactly it," he said in response to students going at one another. "There are a lot of fights, but it's expected, especially with the war. We're doing our best as professors, but we can't see or hear everything," he shrugged.

"Nah, perhaps not flying with dragons," he said. "I can't really get away from the castle for much more than an afternoon, and it's not wise to put someone who isn't trained to handle a dragon in front of one. We may have been rivals in school, Flint, but I'm not going to set you up like that." Charlie would not have minded flying with Marcus again but did not think that would be too feasible. He assumed, anyway, that Marcus was a very busy player and was not about to go out of his way to fly around for no reason at all. If anything, Charlie would have wanted a pair of tickets to one of their games and drag Hestia along.

"Anyway, Flint, I'll let you go. Good talking to you and good luck with the rest of your season," Charlie smiled, extending his hand out to shake Marcus'.

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itsaflintstone
2010-03-09 09:04 pm UTC (link)

There he was, trying to be friendly for once and he got shut off. Very encouraging really. "Okay then, I won't force you to share." He shrugged and put the gloves he had been eyeing down again. Marcus liked to get the best pieces of equipment he could, which was why he never bought anything without reconsidering it first.

"Nothing's changed there then. Students are probably getting better at hiding their grudges as well." He had never been good at hiding his anger, which was why he had constantly had hit people with professors around. At some point people had known him better for his tendency to hit someone than his role as a Quidditch captain. Now that he thought about it, he had been lucky he hadn't been barred from Quidditch permanently.

"In case I wake up one day and I really wanna do it, I'll ask you for some advice." It wasn't very likely though. He'd rather quit Quidditch than do it. "I think I'm quite capable of separating something serious from a joke, don't worry. I'm not as retarded as people constantly assume. I'm smart nought to know that having lots of muscles doesn't equal having no brain."

He took the hand Charlie offered him and shook it firmly. "Was a pleasure to talk to you." Even though Marcus hadn't been captain the same time as Charlie had, this oddly made him feel like the handshake before a match and he had to grin. "I'll probably see you around?"

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tamethebeast
2010-03-09 09:21 pm UTC (link)

Charlie knew he talked about dragons a lot and felt a bit bad that Marcus was on the receiving end of what Charlie assumed to be a boring conversation—especially since Marcus said, multiple times, that he had no interest in dragons or animals.

"Things will improve," he said, hope in his voice, "and you're doing something witches and wizards of all ages can enjoy without worrying about what's going on. You are smart, you know the game better than a lot of people, which is why you're on the best team. I hear you're name a lot, Flint, but mostly from my female students," he laughed, clapping Marcus on the shoulder. "And perhaps we will see each other around. I may write to you so I can beg for a couple tickets to a Falcons match."

Nodding, Charlie slipped his hands into the pockets of his well-worn, dark jeans, thanked the shopkeeper, and headed out. He still had some patrolling to do.

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