Fic: Our Cracking Bones Make Noise [Part 2/3]

[snarkyscorp]

Title: Our Cracking Bones Make Noise
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: ~29,000
Pairing(s): Teddy/James (but a lot of gen James for the most part - honestly, this would have been pairingless if not for the recipient...who later dropped the fest >O)
Summary: After the death of his sister, James is out of control. As his family's last resort, Charlie offers to give James a spot on his dragon reserve in Germany, where Teddy will take him under his wing. There, James is forced not only to confront larger-than-life dragons in ways he never imagined but to deal with the loss of his sister and come to terms with his sexuality in ways that will ultimately help him heal and change his life forever.
Warning(s): ADW: 23/16-24/17 and character death (Lily Luna)
Author's Notes: Written for hp_rarities.
Heavily, heavily, heavily (did I mention heavily?) influenced by a certain movie called How to Train Your Dragon. Honestly. I ate, sleep, and breathed that movie while writing this fic.
Thanks to nuclearsugars for the cheerleading and la_dissonance for the hard work betaing something that I'm sure she never thought would make it to 29k. lol



oOo

Working in a dragon reserve turned out to involve a lot more work than James had ever imagined. Granted, he had barely imagined what kind of work he might be required to do on a dragon reserve until yesterday.

After the trek through the mountainous forest to get to the dragons, James' day began with an introduction to the dragon types. He had read about each of them in school, was sure Hagrid went over a lot of the details during classes, but nothing could have prepared James for seeing them up close.

First was the Ironbelly, who they didn't introduce James to personally but who he'd seen first. Then came the Chinese Fireballs, all four of which were scarlet dragons with a long fringe of golden spikes around their massive, lean faces. The Fireballs, Teddy explained, were vicious when provoked, but because of the way their eyes protruded from their face on either side, their blind spots consisted of the whole front of their face. If you could stay in the blind spot, you were safe…assuming they didn't smell you first and spew fire to kill, a trait the Fireballs on the reserve were more than happy to demonstrate when a few of the dragon keepers got too close.

The Swedish Short-Snouts were a smaller but no less deadly breed of dragons with beautiful silvery-blue scales and a neck like a giraffe's…only five times as long. Its short snout was indeed smaller than any of the other breeds James saw, and Teddy admitted that James was lucky to have come to this reserve when he did, because the pair had recently mated. While already overprotective of their first cub, the female was expected to lay a new batch of eggs any day, a sight Teddy said a lot of keepers would have paid to see. James didn't get why, as the idea of seeing a massive blue egg pop out of a dragon's body didn't sound altogether appealing.

The Common Welsh Greens were so far James' favorite, as they appeared to be the most social of the dragons. There were five of them in the reserve, and while they always stuck together in a close huddle of brilliant green hides, they also sought James and Teddy out when they saw them approaching. Teddy got up close and personal, petting them and playing around with the younger ones while a few keepers managed to scrape their scales to clean them and keep the shards for medicinal purposes. James didn't dare try to get any closer, but that didn't mean he didn't think about it as he watched Teddy's massive, gloved hand petting a Green's long, skinny snout.

When they came to the Hebridean Black, Teddy made James stay at a safe distance while they watched the keepers attempt to approach. Teddy explained that the Hebridean was least used to human interaction, as he would otherwise normally have kept to caves on the Hebrides Islands. Having a Hebridean Black on the reserve was, in Teddy's opinion, a great achievement for Charlie as head keeper. James just thought it was foolish, given the Hebridean's temper and the spiked tail that threw thorns like daggers at its opponents and enemies.

Towards the end of the day, Teddy pointed out the Peruvian Vipertooths from an even greater distance. James found himself awed by the copper tone of their scales as the sun caught them. While they were the smallest dragon on the reserve, Teddy admitted that size didn't account for anything as far as dragons went. In fact, it seemed that the smaller the dragon, the deadlier, as the Vipertooths had venomous fangs and blood-colored short horns curling viciously out of their skinny heads. When asked why they kept such dangerous species on the reserve, James was given an odd look and the simple answer: "They're all dangerous. You forget that around here, you're liable to wind up dead."

And it wasn't just studying the dragons in an eco-friendly habitat that the dragon keepers appeared to be after. While a lot of the keepers specialized in documenting the natural behaviours and habits of each species, many of the other keepers were there to study the medicinal effects of dragon's blood, hair, scales, hide, teeth, horns, and every other part imaginable. James saw keepers running around with giant syringes, buckets, tools, knives, wands, and everything in between-there was a lot more to studying dragons than just watching them sleep, fly, and hunt.

Unfortunately for James, that meant that what he thought might be a sort of peaceful trip away from his family was going to get real hard, real fast. James had absolutely no aspiration to become a dragon keeper, but when he tried telling Teddy that, Teddy just snorted and dragged him along to the next task.

And there seemed to be no task too big or too small to force James into. First, he was assigned to shovel dragon dung-the Muggle way, since as Teddy laughingly clarified, James couldn't use magic while on summer holiday, even when dealing with beasts so big they could kill him in seconds without proper magical protection. But James' actual physical strength was pathetically puny compared to the other keepers and by the time he'd lifted his first pile into the waiting bins, the bulky witch beside him had done the rest of the entire area.

Then, Teddy tried to teach him how to approach the dragons to scrape their scales, a necessary task to gather the scale shards for potions and medicines. They started with the Greens, since they were considered to be the friendliest and thus least likely to devour James with a single bite. Teddy said they could sense fear, so James needed to approach them with confidence and purposeful strides. James thought Teddy was insane for making him do it on his first day at the reserve, and his hands shook so much that by the time he got close enough to one of the Greens to scrape its scales, his tools clattered to the ground. That startled the dragons so badly that they turned on James, teeth bared and roaring in feral aggression. Their light green eyes turned to dark, cat-like slits, rage throbbing through the air between them. It was all James could do not to run-Teddy said if you ran, the dragons figured you were prey-until one of the other keepers distracted the dragons with fresh eel snacks.

It was amazing James didn't shit himself in fear. Teddy said the constant danger was just a part of the job and that James would get used to it, but James' legs were wobbly and weak the whole rest of the day.

After another failed attempt at scale-scraping with the Greens, feeding time with the Ironbelly (which lasted a good hour if not two), venom-gathering from the Vipertooths, exercise for the Short-Snout baby, and running away from the Hebridean Black, James was about ready to wish he was dead rather than be stuck at the reserve until the end of summer.

On their way back from work, James plucked thorns and twigs out of his jeans and sweat-matted hair from having been chased by the Hebridean Black for a good half hour at least.

"So where's that mysterious dragon you were telling me about?" James asked, playing keep-up with Teddy, who was a good distance ahead, seemingly unaffected by the awful day's physically demanding tasks. "I didn't see that one anywhere. Unless it's got invisible scales or something." James paused, glancing around as they began to ascend one of the hills. "There aren't any, um, invisible dragons, are there, Teddy?"

"Can't say I've ever seen one," Teddy said, flashing a grin over his shoulder.

"Ha-ha," James drawled. He paused at the bottom of the hill, watching Teddy ascend it like he was born to run up near-vertical slopes. Teddy was built like a mountain climber-thick calves, strong arms, broad-bodied, and rough enough to take the physical climate in stride. When he looked down at his own body, all he saw was a skinny teenager built for huddling under the blankets in a nice warm, far-away-from-dragons bed. With a twang of homesickness, James regretted again being such an awful son that his family was happier to see him off with dragons than at home safe and sound. "Um, that was a serious question, by the way." James sank his fingers into the hard-dirt side of the hill, searching for something to hold onto and using whatever little upper body strength he had to haul himself up.

"What was?"

"Where's the weird, unidentifiable dragon thing you mentioned earlier?" Sliding down the hill again, James kicked the sloping land and sighed. When he looked up, he saw Teddy watching him from the top. Ears burning, James folded his arms. "What?"

"Nothing," Teddy murmured, stepping off the side of the hill and skidding his way down smoothly to a tree that stuck straight out of the mountainside. Teddy gripped it with one strong hand, and James watched his muscles tense to hold and stay his weight as his free hand reached for James'. "Just didn't think you cared about dragons is all."

Groaning, James refused the help and tried again to haul himself up the mountain alone. "I don't care about dragons," he said stiffly, grunting as he fell down again. "I just-" and again, "-was curious-" and again, "-about it-" and again. "Bloody hell, how do you do that?"

Teddy's hand was still outstretched, so James took it.

"Do what?" Teddy asked, yanking James up with him. Their bodies nearly crushed together as Teddy stared down at him, his dark eyes glinting with mischief as they swept over James' sweaty face.

"Climb a mountainside without breaking a fucking sweat," James clarified, clinging to Teddy to keep his balance.

Teddy's grin faltered a bit. "I grab the rocks." At James' confused look, Teddy went on. "See how they naturally poke out of the dirt? They're the steadiest things you've got besides these trees that have been setting their roots in for thousands of years. Find the strongest things that'll hold you up and grab on."

Even though James kind of thought Teddy was the strongest thing that could possibly hold him up, he didn't say as much and just nodded instead. "Got it. Grab rocks and trees."

Grinning again, Teddy gestured up ahead. "Going to let go now. Think you can manage without clinging to my arse for a minute?"

"Clinging to your-no, I wasn't!" James growled, letting go of Teddy like he was made of fire. Losing balance, he fell back with a shout, but Teddy caught him again, this time by his side. Teddy's strength was the only thing holding James up, and as James wobbled there, he realised it with a painful throb of anger. "Maybe you're the one who likes grabbing me, you poof!" he snapped.

For a second, James was sure that Teddy was going to let go of him. It wasn't such a long fall down that James would die, but he knew it would fucking hurt like hell nonetheless. But after a sweeping glare, Teddy sighed and yanked James forward. With one smooth motion, Teddy had James thrown over his shoulder, James' lanky limbs kicking and thrashing the whole way.

"Let me fucking go!"

"What, to fall down the mountain, you mean? Be a lot easier this way, without you mucking about and calling me a faggot for trying to bloody help you," Teddy snarled. "You're an ungrateful little wanker, aren't you? Well, this is all the help you'll get, so don't bother thanking me."

"Wouldn't dream of it!"

Teddy jumped forward and James instinctively clung to his strong body, bloody and weak hands grabbing the hard flesh at his arms and shoulders. Under the skin, the muscles shifted and moved, and James could feel every quiver of them as Teddy worked at getting the both of the up the hill. Once there, Teddy unceremoniously dropped James on his arse and stared down at him from above.

"For your information, I do happen to like men," Teddy said.

"I knew it." James didn't feel too happy about this discovery though. On the contrary, his voice cracked a bit in spite.

"I said men," Teddy growled. "Not poncy little boys who can't lift a bloody Muggle shovel or hold a rock without personal assistance."

Cheeks and ears and neck and everything burning with humiliation, James looked away, brow furrowed. His fingers dug into the dirt at his sides, aching to throw handfuls in Teddy's face but too physically exhausted to try it.

It took a moment but eventually Teddy backed down enough to let James get up off the ground. "Your cabin's about a hundred steps from here-think you can make it without parental supervision?"

"You're not my parent."

"Well spotted. And glad of it. I don't envy Harry one bit having to deal with your attitude."

"Yeah, well you won't have to deal with it for very long, will you?" James spat. "The day I turn seventeen, I'm gone, and none of you will have to be troubled by James Sirius Potter ever again."

Dusting himself off, James started back towards the cabins, trying to save face. Something caught his arm and he turned to find Teddy there, giving him a withered look.

"The cabins are the other way, mate," Teddy offered, gesturing.

"I knew that."

Stomping off in the opposite direction, James trod through the remainder of the forest without Teddy's supervision. He tried to forget Teddy was even there, but the steady breathing behind him was hard to ignore. When he finally found his own cabin and got up to the front door, he heard Teddy call to him.

"We'll get to the mystery dragon soon, all right?"

James grumbled and slammed the door shut behind him. If he didn't slit his wrists in the middle of the night or die from utter boredom and annoyance, then maybe he had a little something to look forward to.

oOo

Late June, 2021

"How's it going there, Jamie?" Charlie called, appearing beside Teddy on the outskirts of the feeding ring.

Glancing up from his work of hauling the food into the centre, James thought of all the mean and nasty and awful things he could say to Charlie…and promptly swallowed them all. It wasn't worth it, being as tired as he was. Charlie would only add to his workload if he showed disrespect on that level. He'd only been at the reserve three weeks, but he'd learned that much by now.

"It's James, and I'm fine," James said, tossing another eel into the huge pile of dead things for the Ironbelly. He paused to wipe the sweat from his brow and glanced up, watching for any sight of the enormous dragon. The skies were thus far clear, even after he'd stacked up a pile as tall as he was of fresh food. "Great. Wonderful, in fact. Loving the manual, Muggle labour. No, really, don't get your wands out and help or anything."

Even from a distance, James could see Charlie's eyes widening. Charlie looked to Teddy, then back to James, and frowned.

"You didn't give him his wand, Teddy?" Charlie asked, in a low tone that maybe James wasn't supposed to hear but that he happened to pick up quite easily. "I thought Harry told us he got a special permit for James this summer. I mean…I've seen him doing the manual stuff, but I thought that was by choice… Not that I'd choose it that way."

"Oops," Teddy said, shrugging. "Must have slipped my mind."

"I can have my wand?" James barked, dropping the rest of the eels unceremoniously and rushing forward towards Teddy and Charlie. "You think I'm doing this for my bloody health? Having a wand would make this so much easier! You can't just keep it from me if I have a right to use it!"

Teddy shrugged again, folding his arms. "Personally, I think you need to build a bit of muscle. Looking a little toothpicky for my tastes."

"Your tastes?" James stuttered. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh fuck, not like that, James."

Charlie looked between them and nudged Teddy's shoulder with his own. "Take a break, okay?"

Teddy looked absolutely devastated. "I didn't mean it like that, Charlie, really."

"I know," Charlie said. He slapped Teddy on the back warmly. "Just give us a minute."

With a grumble and a spared glare at James, Teddy peeled off his gloves with an aggravated grunt and disappeared behind the thrush of trees deeper into the forests. The silence of the forest now the only real 'sound' between them, James breathed out and let his shoulders slump. In front of Teddy, he felt like he needed to build himself up to be some big thing, and now that Teddy was gone, it was nice to let his bones crack and muscles twitch with all the discomfort he felt.

"So you're going to give me my wand, right?" James asked, plopping down in the dirt to have a sit. Charlie seemed willing to let him relax.

Charlie shrugged, his attention on the large pile of dead fish awaiting the Ironbelly. "When you earn it, that's Teddy's decision."

"So you're taking his side," James grumbled. "Great."

"You know, you play the victim pretty well, James, but in this situation, I think Teddy's got your best interests at heart. Harry left you in our care, and you're here for a reason, so you're going to have to do things how we say."

Kicking the dirt with the heels of his trainers, James leaned back, stretching with a grumble of disapproval. "Fine. Whatever. I'll just prove that I can do everything you guys can, only without magic."

"Good," Charlie said. "Glad we agree."

"Only we don't," James murmured.

Charlie let out a long sigh and crouched down in front of James. "Look, let's be upfront with each other."

"Okay," James said, uncertainly.

"You feel responsible."

"For Teddy being an arse about my wand? No way, I-"

"For Lily's death."

With those words, James felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. Charlie's broad, tattooed body seemed to cage him in as he hovered over him, and James' throat clenched up tight. He couldn't swallow, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything but stare at Charlie. He was out of his fucking mind to bring Lily up. Nobody talked about her, because James didn't ever let them. And he wasn't about to start letting them now.

"Shut up," James said, finally choking the words out. "That has nothing to do with any of this."

Charlie's frown stretched the skin of his face, his true age showing a bit when his brow gathered. "I know what it feels like to lose someone, James. Back in the war, I lost my brother, and I wasn't-"

"Merlin, just leave me alone! I said I don't want to fucking talk about it, least of all to someone like you!" Shoving Charlie away, James got up on his feet. Before he could get away, Charlie caught him at his shoulder. "Don't touch me! You're disgusting! Why don't you and Teddy just go off and fuck and leave me alone?"

There was a grit of anger in Charlie's voice as he tried to restrain James. "If you keep it all bottled up like that, it's a real disservice to Lily's memory. She wouldn't want you to feel like this."

"Like you know how I feel! God, I said leave me alone!"

James wound his fist back and thrust it hard forward, landing a dull punch to Charlie's jaw. Strangely, Charlie stumbled back, but it was James who was hurt. His knuckles felt like they'd been smashed with a hammer. Still, Charlie was momentarily stunned enough that James could get away. He kicked the dirt in his path as he stormed through the dense forest, peeling off his gloves and casting them aside as he ran. And ran and ran, until his chest began to heave with every breath and his lungs burned and his legs felt like dead weights under his body.

In a clearing near one of the long, winding rivers, he finally stopped to catch his breath. It felt like he'd been running for an hour, and he'd honestly lost track of how far he'd gone or in what direction he'd been rushing. All he knew was that Charlie had no clue about his life or what he thought and felt, and he didn't ever want to talk to him again. Everybody thought they knew everything about how James felt and what he needed to do, just like all the Healers he'd seen and the grief counselors that lined up to teach him how to let go of the past and free his guilt and let it all out. The problem was, there was nothing to let out except a chest full of ghosts and empty promises and spite and guilt and despair. If he let one thing out, they'd all flood like a dam had been loosed from within.

Twisting to grab the ties that bound his hide breastplate to his chest, James struggled to undo them and wished not for the first time that he had his wand. He cursed Teddy for keeping it from him, despite all the extra work he'd been made to do at the reserve without it. Couldn't Teddy see he hated it here? That he was in pain and just wanted to get home or run away or be anywhere else but stuck there without a wand and chained to responsibilities that he didn't give a shit about?

With a growl, James managed to rip off the final clasp. The breastplate fell to the ground with a thud, and he kicked it for good measure, which only hurt his foot more than anything else. Sighing, he sank to his knees at the river's edge and leaned over to grab a handful of water to splash on his face.

"Bloody ridiculous," he snarled to his reflection, watching his skinny neck crane towards the water. His shoulders were too bony, his lips too wide and thin, his freckles too abundant, his hair too brown or too red but never just one or the other, his eyes nothing like his mum or dad's but just like Lily's.

Head bowed, the tips of James' sweaty fringe touched the surface of the water. While he felt like crying, like throwing every rock in sight until his limbs ached, and like drowning himself all at the same time, he felt no tears on his face, saw no rocks in sight, and found no energy even to drown. He just felt…empty, void of everything he should feel and replaced with a hollow disassociation. James wanted to float away, to lose himself in the gentle current and never come back. Nobody would miss him, nobody would care-like his family, they'd be glad to see him go.

A little splash in the water caught his attention and brought his thoughts back to the present moment. When James lifted his head to see what caused it, something skinny and black disappeared beneath the surface, creating a little ripple where it went down.

Brow furrowed, James crawled a bit closer, focusing his attention on the area where the black spikes had disappeared. It was probably just a fish or something, but part of James was intrigued by the shape it had made in the water. It was kind of big, maybe bigger than a fish should be, and why would a fish need to come up to the surface anyway? It could have been a mermaid, but he'd never read about colonies in rivers in this part of Germany, and had also never heard of them coming into such shallow waters near the banks, especially if a human was there…unless they were looking to drown one. That thought alone made James back up a bit warily.

Wiping the water from his face, he frowned. There was nothing there. He'd imagined the whole thing, and now his brain was so exhausted that it was playing tricks on him, making him think he'd seen something where there was nothing…except that when James looked down into the water, a pair of large, red eyes stared back up at him.

James jumped back with a shout, scrambling backwards as he tried to put as much distance from himself and the thing beneath the water as possible. It was then that the water began to ripple again, in the same spot, and to James' utter horror, a wide, black snout appeared from beneath the surface. The snout was followed by a short neck, stout body, four massive, tree-trunk-thick legs, wings that stretched out thrice the size of its body, and a tail that dragged the ground and drew a spiky trail in its wake. The dragon was like nothing James had ever seen before, its bulbous, red eyes focused directly onto James' wide, startled gaze. They stared at one another, the dragon in full control of the situation and James just frozen and rooted to the spot in absolute fear. As the dragon edged closer, James began to count the number of fang-sharp teeth that closed at its round jaw, exposed and probably dying to sink into James' flesh and bones to rip him apart for its afternoon meal.

"Stop!" James murmured, not sure what else to do but ask the dragon nicely to move along. Where the hell were Teddy and Charlie when he actually needed them? At his quaking, cracked voice, the dragon paused, its muscles tight and stiff under the sheen of water slithering off its jet-black scales. "Nice dragon," James tried quietly. "Good dragon." The dragon let out a low, rumbling warning growl, and James jolted. "Please don't eat me-I'll go away, and you can have your river back. You can have the whole country! I'm just passing through; I'm not an enemy, I swear! I was just-"

A loud noise like that of someone Apparating cracked in the air, only louder than any Apparition James had ever heard before. Hunching, he covered his ears, but it only made the ringing in them harder to ignore. The dragon drew itself low to the ground, its red eyes pulled away from James in order to stare at something far above James' head. James could see the dragon's ribs protruding with every breath in and out and could actually see the pulse of the beast's heart somewhere between its front legs.

Seeing his chance, James thanked whatever gods happened to distract the dragon from devouring him, and launched up to his feet to scuttle away.

"Down there!" someone shouted.

"Shoot it! Shoot it!" someone else added.

The dragon let out a long, high-pitched howl, and James fell to his knees at the sound, shaking from the wave of sound the creature sent that seemed to go straight through his bones. Covering his ears again, James could barely make out the screams that seemed to come from above him on one of the ridges overlooking the river. He tried again to stumble to his feet, but whatever the dragon had done, it nearly debilitated him-his entire body felt like it had no bones and he could feel the pulse of his heart slow to a dangerous thud in his chest.

Through the haze of pain, James looked up towards the screams and saw what most wizards wouldn't have recognized but what James' dad had told him were called handguns. They're a very dangerous Muggle weapon, Harry had explained to his children. You don't want to play with those or anyone who has them. James knew what they could do, had seen the Muggle news programs and how quickly someone died when one of those was pointed at them. Slowly, James' glance followed the line of range from the end of the gun to the wide space between the dragon's eyes.

The dragon reared, its wings spreading and tail bristled with spikes, but James knew it was too late. Something snapped, and he jumped with whatever strength he had left, howling at the dragon to move.

"Go!" he screamed, exhaling as he jumped to shove the creature out of the way.

At that exact moment, James heard the same Apparition-like noise he'd heard earlier and a searing, incapacitating pain sank into his shoulder and jolted down through his arm. It felt like someone had cast a hex at his right arm, like magic stung through to the nerves, like when Scorpius Malfoy threw a curse at his back or when he fell off his broom when he was eleven and broke his arm.

Stumbling forward past the dragon, James began to lose the ability to see anything at all. With one last leap of faith, he tried to grab the dragon's hip for support, but he couldn't move his right arm at all and simply felt the darkness closing in too quickly for his brain to compensate. With a wince, James tumbled forward and rolled into the river.

As he sank beneath the surface, the only thing he could think of was how awful it would be to die like this, from some kind of weird accident, without his family ever knowing what happened. Somewhere above the surface, the sounds of a scuffle kicked dirt into the river, but James was soon sped beyond it all as he bobbed down river and breathed out for what he knew would be the last time.

oOo

When James came to, he was conscious of two things: the first was that he was sopping wet and the second was that there was a large, red-eyed dragon staring down at him. Even with his eyes barely opened, James could see the dragon's massive head and large, sharp teeth leering close, its nostrils flaring with every deep breath in and out.

Without warning, James rolled over and began to cough out all the water he'd swallowed in the river, spluttering and gagging. He tried to brace himself with both arms but he couldn't even feel his right arm, and so he ended up leaning on his left to finish heaving the water from his lungs. When he'd got the worst of it out, he chanced a glance towards the dragon standing beside him and found its red eyes focused on his movements.

Trembling and unsteady, James tried to stand up. He had to get away. He had to run as fast as he could and somehow get back to the camp to tell Charlie and Teddy and get help. Except that as he tried to stand, his legs wobbled like jelly and he couldn't brace himself, and he had absolutely no strength left in his body to move. Falling back down, he rolled over onto his back and stared up at the dragon, which hadn't moved a muscle since he'd woken up.

Breathing in and out with careful, measured movements, James clutched at his wounded shoulder and when he drew his fingers back to gauge the damage, they were covered in red, red blood. James had never actually been hurt like this before. It felt like there was a rock lodged in his shoulder, and though he wanted to pluck it out, he had no idea how he could even begin to find it without being able to see it. And touching it was apparently out of the question, as his shoulder began to throb again in pain from his probing fingers.

"Jesus," he hissed, tears rushing to his eyes. He closed them to stay the emotions swelling within. "Please…just don't eat me, and I promise I won't hurt you, okay?" He peeked his eyes open. The dragon still hadn't moved, and it continued to stare at him, its red eyes narrowed to slits. "Okay? Deal?"

To James' surprise, the dragon gave a low growl…and sat down. Head cocked, its eyes blinked, as if trying to gauge James' threat level. It looked like, if James was honest with himself, the dragon was thinking.

"I'll, er, take that as a yes. Good. Deal."

Closing his eyes again, James winced in pain and coughed up a bit more water. He finally let the tears sting and slide out of his eyes, unable to hold them back. It was the first time since Lily had died that he really, truly wished for his parents. With all his heart, he just wanted to be back in England with them, drinking pumpkin juice and eating his mum's awful cooking that his dad would try to fix behind her back. He missed Albus, of all people, and tried not to think of how stupid he'd been and what a bad brother he'd been since Lily died. Everyone hated him, but James missed them so suddenly it seemed to make the pain worse somehow. He would even settle for Teddy! God, he'd settle for Teddy to pick him up and throw him over his shoulder again, to be carried away safely to a warm bed and a hot cup of tea.

Suddenly, James felt something wet and thick oozing into his wound. With a gasp, he opened his eyes again, only to find the strange, black dragon drooling over his right shoulder. James shook but tried his best to remain as still as he possibly could; the last thing he wanted to do was frighten the dragon and have it tear his arm right off. But when its long, slim tongue lapped over the naked wound and dragged against the exposed sinew and muscle, James couldn't help but scream.

"Get away!" he whimpered, the pain absolutely numbing to the point that when he rolled over on his side and covered the wound, he seized up in pain, twitching as if in a fit.

And then, just as suddenly as the pain had pitched straight through to his core, it stopped. Replaced by warmth and a stiff grate, the feeling slowly but surely returned to the limb inch by inch. Something small and sharp popped out of the wound and though it hurt, it was nothing like the pain it had been before. Staring up at the dragon, James realised with a start that it had healed him.

It wasn't altogether unheard of. Teddy had been explaining all week about how some dragons had different healing properties, some of which they hadn't even figured out yet. Every dragon had different abilities, unique to their breed-this one must have magic spit.

The thought of it made James laugh. He couldn't stop the tears that continue to flow, but his mouth spread into a tender, thankful smile.

"You, uh, well…thanks," he murmured, wondering how to tell a dragon in its own language so it would understand.

James tried to put all his thanks into the single smile he gave the dragon, but it simply watched, its red eyes unwavering until they glanced down to the thing that popped out of his shoulder and was currently puddled in blood beside his leg. James leaned forward to inspect it. Since his right arm was still in a bit of pain, he reached across with his left and picked up the small shard of metal, running his fingers over its smooth surface. The dragon leaned in as well, sniffing what James immediately recognized as a Muggle bullet from the gun, and growled at it, looking from James to the bullet in what James could only assume was an accusation.

"No, it's okay," James explained, trying to show the dragon. But when he held the bullet out for the dragon to see, its growls grew louder and rumbled until the little pebbles beside the shore trembled. "Okay, okay! We'll get rid of this. It's all right." He tossed the bullet into the river, and both he and the dragon watched it sink beneath the current. "See? It's gone."

At that, the dragon seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and sat back down, its pupils widened and focused on James again, this time without the intensity from before. Again, it was almost like the dragon was thinking about something or trying to read James, but James no longer felt threatened at all by it. On the contrary, he felt like he could walk right up to it and stroke its wide snout and feel the rough scales beneath his fingers.

On impulse, James dragged himself up, his right arm still sore to move when he stood. So he reached out with his left hand, smiling confidently and feeling a strange, fearless euphoria as he approached the dragon. It didn't look so big! And it had cleaned his wound, had healed the pain and lapped the bullet right out of his shoulder. The thing had saved his life; without it, James would have drowned, surely.

The closer he drew to it, the more confident James felt that it was incredibly easy and why hadn't he simply approached a dragon with this thought process before? When he'd tried to sneak up on the Welsh Greens, they sensed his anxiety, whereas when he moved in a straight line towards the black dragon that saved his life, he knew he had nothing to fear.

Just before James' fingers reached the dragon's snout, it bared its teeth and began to snarl, hunching over and standing up. Its wings spread, water dripping down off of them, and the euphoria James felt but a moment ago bled away into the same anxiety he had felt with the other dragons. He wasn't even able to make a noise, too afraid of startling the dragon. But instead of charging James or biting his head off, the dragon reared back, opened its enormous mouth, promptly closed it, and leaned in to release its heated breath through its nostrils.

James fell back a few steps at the thrust of warm, heated wind that the dragon's breath produced. It gave him gooseflesh all over his arms and legs and neck, but the cold chill in his body feathered away into a lazy kind of warmth instead. It was then that James realised…he was completely dry. All of the water that had soaked through his clothes and matted his hair down to his forehead and neck had evaporated with that single huff of hot air. Reaching up with his left hand to touch his hair, he found it all standing up at odd ends, hot to the touch.

That euphoria returned in full force. James laughed, stumbled to the river's edge to glance down at his reflection. The sun was just beginning to set, but he could still make out his pale, freckled cheeks and his reddish brown hair fluffing up like an afro. With a grin, he turned back to the dragon.

"I didn't know dragons had a sense of humour," he chuckled. "I look like a wreck…but thanks. Again."

James reached out one final time, wanting to console the dragon with a thankful pet to its side, but James must have moved too quickly or done something to upset the dragon, for it reared back with a sharp whinge, spread its wings, and took off to the skies, soaring above the river. It spared no glances back at James, who stood watching it go and wondering what the hell had just happened.

With the sun setting already, James pulled himself up the nearest hill with some difficulty only using his left hand and began to search for the path that might lead him back to the camp.

oOo

"Where have you been?" Teddy cried. His eyes were wide and a bit bloodshot, but the rage in them far outweighed his apparent fatigue or concern. "We've been-and what happened to your arm? Merlin, is that blood, James? Hold still!"

It had taken James three hours to find his way back to the camp, and he was lucky he'd been able to find it on his own as the dark settled in around the deep forests. Without a wand, without even Muggle tools to help light his way, James had given up a few times during the course of his walk back before deciding if he didn't make it back, he'd be dead for sure. There were giant boars, wildcats, and all manner of species that would be happy to fall upon a weak human for a late-night treat. So he trudged on until he finally made it to the mist around the camp and was able to stumble through it towards his cabin.

It was just unfortunate that Teddy was there waiting for him. Hours ago, James had prayed to see Teddy, but getting yelled at for getting lost and abandoning his duties and hitting Charlie wasn't on his to-do list. In fact, he would have much preferred a good lie-down instead.

Squirming away from Teddy's concerned touches, James grumbled, "I ran off, because Charlie was being an arse." Surprisingly, Teddy didn't argue, though James could see his jaw tighten like he wanted to. James took this as a good sign to go on. "I got lost-obviously-and then, uh, there was this…dragon."

"A dragon? Is that why you're bleeding?" Teddy moved forward to touch James' arm again, but James shied away. "James-"

"Let me finish before you start poking and prodding, yeah?"

Teddy backed off but gestured towards James' cabin. "At least come inside. You look like you're about to fall over."

James' face warmed under that statement. "Yeah," he murmured, hobbling past Teddy and suddenly all-too-aware of just how tired he was. Once inside and comfortably plopped down onto the sofa, he tipped his head back and groaned happily.

"Okay, start talking, and I'll grab us some butterbeers."

Nodding, James considered just how much he wanted to tell Teddy. For some reason, there was a nagging voice at the back of his head that told him not to say anything about the dragon pulling him out of the river or the fact that it had healed his gunshot wound. James tried to ignore that voice, knowing Teddy would want to hear these details, but it was really strong.

"So…I got lost, like I said. I was at some river-dunno which one-and then this dragon came up out of the water."

"Out of the water?" Teddy asked, popping the cap off the bottle of butterbeer before he handed it to James.

"Yeah. Thanks." He gulped a good fourth of the bottle down, wiping his mouth with a content sigh afterwards. That alone perked him up a bit. "Why, is that weird?"

"Most dragons don't really enjoy the water that much. I mean…for a few minutes at a time, but you saw the way they get when we try to wash out a wound or clean the baby Green. They're a right nightmare about it."

James shrugged, then winced at the little jolt of pain still in his sore right shoulder. "Well, this one liked it. He must've been submerged in there before I walked up, and he came out and was about to enjoy me for a snack when these Muggles came out of nowhere with their handguns." James paused. "You know what a handgun is, yeah?"

Teddy nodded, looking more serious than he had all evening. "Yeah, I know what handguns are."

"Okay, well, these Muggles shot at the dragon…but one of the bullets happened to hit me instead."

"You got shot?" Teddy screeched. "James, let me look at your arm, for Christ's sake! We've got to get the bullet out and clean it up and-"

"Hang on, hang on, will you let me finish? Look, my arm's fine, because after I fell in the river, something happened. The dragon must have…I mean, I woke up on the shore coughing up river water, and the dragon was sitting next to me-"

"The same dragon that you got shot for?"

"Yeah, and he was just sitting there, staring at me, and I was in so much fucking pain because of that bullet and then, um… Well, he licked me."

Teddy looked completely aghast. "The dragon…it licked you?"

"Yeah, and then my arm felt weird and warm, and the bullet just popped right out and I think the dragon healed my arm." James rolled his right shoulder a bit until it stung. "It's still sore, but only just a bit. I dunno why he did that for me, but I told him thanks, and he flew off."

For a moment, Teddy was completely quiet. Then, he leaned in towards James with a gentle, curious look. "James, when you got shot…were you trying to protect the dragon?"

That voice in the back of his head screamed at him not to trust Teddy with this information, and again while he didn't know why, he brushed it aside. This was really important somehow-he just knew it. "Yeah," he said. "I didn't want it to get hurt. I knew those bullets could kill it, and they were aiming right for his head."

With a laugh, Teddy reached out and ruffled James' hair. For the first time, James didn't really mind it and laughed along with him.

"What's so funny?"

"You are!" Teddy said, grinning so broadly that the look was infectious. "You saved its life, James." At James' questioning look, Teddy explained, "Dragons are fiercely loyal, even to other species. If you do something on that grand a scale for them, they don't soon forget it. It's almost like a life debt between wizards and witches, except dragons can feel indebted for the rest of their lives even after you've repaid them, depending on the severity of actions taken to help them. It's why most of the dragons on the reserves learn to trust us. We give them medicine and food to cure their illnesses, save their children, and enrich their lives-in turn, they stick around to help us. When outsiders like you come in, it sort of disrupts their trust a bit, but even you must have noticed that even since you arrived, you're better able to manage with them."

James thought it over and nodded. He'd already assumed that the dragon had saved him on purpose, but hearing it confirmed by Teddy's actual knowledge made it seem surreal and wonderful, like a really good dream he didn't want to wake up from.

"It's unbelievable that this happened to you," Teddy went on. There was an unreadable look in his eyes as they swept over James. "Take off your shirt a sec so I can see the damage."

For once, James didn't make a quip about Teddy just wanting to see him naked and tugged his shirt off without argument. It stuck a bit to his right shoulder, but he gingerly peeled it from the skin and turned to face Teddy to let him look it over.

"There's a small mark," Teddy commented, setting his butterbeer down as he scooted closer and leaned down to more closely inspect it. "Merlin, you're lucky."

"Yeah, lucky to have this mark for the rest of my life, huh?"

Teddy leaned back enough to give James a concerned, caring look. "Lucky you didn't die tonight, James."

Their eyes met, and James felt a sizzle of something uncomfortable lurch in his belly. Teddy was looking at him like he was the only person in the entire world, and James couldn't remember the last time he knew someone cared that much whether he lived or died. His own family had thrust him off to Germany without shedding a tear, didn't even know-or would give a shit if they did-that he'd been lost in the Black Forest and shot by Muggles. But Teddy cared. He really cared. It made James feel ashamed for some reason, caused his chest to tighten and his stomach to clench. His throat felt sticky and tight, clogged with some unknown emotion that rose up within him.

"I'm really glad you're okay," Teddy added. Reaching out, he ran his fingertips along the mark at James' wounded shoulder. "Does this hurt?"

James shook his head.

"This?" Teddy asked, rubbing the shoulder with gentle pressure.

Again, James shook his head.

"How about this?" No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Teddy leaned forward and drew James into a tight embrace.

Too caught off guard or too tired to move away, James instead sought comfort in the warmth of Teddy's lean-muscled body and the tenderness of his grip. Something had changed in him. He felt different all over, felt like he wanted to be hugged, and it had been so long since he'd allowed anybody to come that close to him. After the traumatic events of the night, James pegged it all on the dragon-he had done this to James, had made James thankful to be alive and receptive to the concern of others. He'd made James want to be hugged by someone who cared, had made James realise that someone did care.

The realisation brought tears to his eyes. Without worrying over how to save face, James wrapped his arms around Teddy and clung to him. He buried his face into Teddy's chest and shoulder, clung to his back, breathed in his familiar scent and memorised it. Teddy smelled like the woods and leather hide and lime shampoo.

The two of them finally pulled away by mutual decision, but neither of them completely disentangled. James' hands were still secure on Teddy's biceps, and Teddy's hands rubbed James' shoulders and ruffled his hair affectionately, smoothing it down a bit since it still stood on end from the dragon's breath.

After what seemed an endless amount of time, Teddy broke the silence to ask, "What kind of dragon saved you, by the way?"

"Dunno," James said, for the first time actually thinking that it wasn't one of the dragons he'd been introduced to at the reserve. "It was, er, small and black…had a massive wingspan, thorny tail, big red eyes... What?"

"Charlie is going to absolutely flip," Teddy laughed, shaking his head. "Did it have a wide snout, stout body?" At James' nod, Teddy hugged him again. "Jesus Christ. Leave it to James Sirius Potter to be the first person to ever come within five feet of the Bulgarian Blitz-Tail."

"What's that?"

"Only the dragon Charlie's been chasing across the continent for the past five years! It's the one we can't identify, but he's been calling it the Bulgarian Blitz-Tail since he first saw it in Bulgaria and it's tail is…well…you saw it yeah? Sharp, quick, and would hurt like fuck if you got one of its thorns in you."

James' heart leapt. He was the first person to ever be that close to it? While it seemed impossible, James felt an unbelievable swell of pride and awe knowing he had actually interacted with a dragon like that-and in a week's time to boot. Accidental or not, it was still brilliant.

"Oh fuck-Charlie!" Teddy said, standing up suddenly and darting for the door. "I've got to go tell him that you're all right."

With a scoff, James muttered, "Don't rush-I'm sure he wasn't worried."

"James…" Teddy paused, took a breath, and let it out quickly. "Charlie was worried. We all were. Fire-called your dad, sent a team out searching, did everything to try and find you."

"You fire-called my dad?" James felt his stomach drop.

"Yeah, and you ought to call him back, to-"

"I'm really, really exhausted," James said, looking away. "Can you do it? Tell him I'm fine. I'll owl him tomorrow or something if he wants."

Teddy hesitated by the door, mouth opening but then shutting promptly after. "All right," he finally said, nodding. "Get some rest. Sleep in tomorrow. I'll bring you something to eat for lunch, all right?"

James smiled. "Yeah."

"Okay. Rest," Teddy repeated, grinning. "I mean it. Good night."

Waving Teddy off, James breathed out a huge sigh when he was left alone. The quiet of the cabin was a bit startling when compared to the sounds and noises he'd heard all evening up until now, but it was nice to block everything else out and have some peace. As James got up, he found his limbs were stiff and aching, but he managed to drag himself into the bedroom, where he crawled atop his blankets and sheets and sprawled out, half-dressed on his bed. James fell asleep fast, even though he could barely calm his brain with thoughts of the Bulgarian Blitz-Tail rushing through it.

oOo

James didn't wake up until well into the afternoon on the next day. The sun was heavy in the bright sky, throwing light into James' cabin from every angle imaginable. He had spent half the early morning hours tossing and turning and the other half dozing in and out of restless dreams. Finally, he was unable to keep his eyes closed at all, so he sat up in the bed, finding his upper body damp with sweat, his trousers twisted, socks only half on his feet, and a horrendously prominent morning wood begging for attention between his legs.

Attempting to ignore it, James swung his legs over the bed and stretched his arms above his head. His right shoulder seemed to be completely healed, no pain or soreness present when he pressed his fingers to the place where the bullet had pierced his skin, muscle, and bone. What he needed was a cold shower to get rid of the erection and a long walk back to find that river to clear his head of the aimless thoughts of the Blitz-Tail and its round, red eyes.

As James began to slip out of his bed, he braced his hand on the bedside table and found his fingers spread over a slim, familiar piece of wood. His heart leapt up into his throat when he looked down and saw his 9" holly wand beneath his palm. James grabbed it up so quickly that he nearly missed the scrap of parchment underneath it. Catching sight of the note, James picked it up and read:

I'm sorry I didn't give this to you sooner. Sleep well. See you at lunch.
-Teddy

James' thumb brushed over the large, messy script and he felt a weird, wonderful swell of gratitude towards Teddy. He read the note twice over; even knowing there wasn't anything more to it than a simple apology and a chance to start anew, James also knew something had indeed changed. He wasn't angry at Teddy at all anymore; in fact, he felt like Teddy's decision to keep his wand away from him had been the best decision James had never made. Without his wand, he'd learned a hell of a lot more than if he'd had it the whole time, and he'd have never met the dragon if he'd had it in hand.

Lying back on his bed, James glanced at the clock. He had a good hour or two until Teddy came around for lunch. Holding his wand in his hand again, feeling his magic coursing through the wand as he held it in warm pulses, and reeling from that weird churning in his stomach after reading Teddy's note, James knew there was no chance of ignoring the erection twitching between his legs.

For the first time in years, James had an image in mind, a face to put to the fantasy. Wand bit between his teeth to stifle his screams, James thought of Teddy as his fist pumped the length of his dick from stiff base to the wet head. He could smell Teddy's scent, imagined Teddy's calloused hands roaming his slim body, Teddy's stern growl in his ear, and came within mere minutes.

When he was done, James lay very, very still, all the ecstasy loosed from his system and immediately replaced with confusion and a subtle kind of humiliation. James had never before questioned his sexuality, had never had any reason to fear he might fancy blokes instead of birds, and yet there he was, wanking to the fantasy of Teddy Lupin touching him for the first time, of feeling Teddy's hands pressing against his skin, and considering the possibility that if Teddy kissed him, James would not only let him but welcome it. James groaned, thinking of what Teddy would taste like, and felt his dick harden all over again at the mere prospect.

Hand sticky and body sweaty, James climbed out of bed and headed for the coldest shower of his life.

Read Part 3/3