✔️ 𝐔𝐍𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐃 → 𝑐.𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

14 | F L I G H T

   OF COURSE ANA could have just landed back on the ground and took in the most satisfying view of the dragon tamers, who had watched her whole fight against the Dementors; she could have let them admire her powers, and maybe she could have gotten their acceptance of the fact that she, Ana, wasn't a monster, and that Rosie — or all dragons at least —weren't nothing but dangerous creatures who needed to be treated as a thread, who needed to be stunned, and held in chains. Yes, Ana considered it for the split of a second.

     The power flooding Ana's veins got her higher than any dragon could ever fly, and this was what kept her in the air, what had her sitting on Rosie's back for a little while longer, staring down at Charlie Weasley and his colleagues, and it also brought her to the final decision that she already had made before the Dementors had shown up here in the forest: Ana didn't belong here. She was beyond them, not only literally, as she was riding a fire spitting dragon, but also in any given aspect. Ana Voinescu was no human being. She was mightier than them, wiser, and she didn't bow to the false impression that they would hail her as their hero. Nobody would ever be able to accept her nature. Nobody.

   Not even Charlie Weasley.

   They were awaiting her. The dragon tamers had rounded up, staring into the sky, were Rosie was still admiring her new won freedom. They assumed that any second, Ana would return to the ground, and they had her wands already in their fists, ready to wrap their chains around the dragon again. They wanted control. Ana wouldn't grant them.

   Her powers bundled, a soft red glowing hand stroke down the part Rosie's back she was sitting on, and the ironbelly immediately reacted. It was no pain the dragon felt, but only Ana's command, warm and caressing on the thick skin, that had Rosie stop her circling, wings now spread wide, and with a jolt, she and her rider shot up higher into the night sky, until the dragon resort grew too tiny to be seen from above, and Ana didn't know where to go, so she left that decision to her new friend, her new companion, as they headed off into the night, leaving a dazzled looking Charlie Weasley back on the forest ground with no chance to stop her, with a yell stuck in his throat, well knowing there was nothing he could shout out to hold her back. This was were they, Ana and Rosie, belonged to. Freedom and independence.

 •✧• 

   "You let her run away?", Tonks asked with her eyebrows furrowed, as she placed a tea mug on the table in front of Charlie. In her other arm she was swaying little Teddy Lupin, who was about to fall asleep anywhere soon, what seemed to be the only reason why Tonks kept her voice calm and quiet.

   "Actually, she did not run", Charlie replied, looking almost as tired as the young mother in front of him.

   "Charlie, it doesn't sugarcoat the circumstances that she didn't run, but escaped on the back of a dragon!", Tonks fiercely whispered, and the infant in her arm stirred, what gained Charlie a sharp glare from Tonks.

   He was actually surprised about her reaction; as Charlie had come to visit his oldest friend, he did so, because he was sure to find reassurance in her company. Tonks always understood his intentions, but now she seemed to be fuming in anger about Ana Voinescu's disappearance.

   "She did not escape, she never was a prisoner", Charlie replied in a casual voice, trying to hide his disappointment. "Wasn't it you, who scolded me for acting like she's one of my — as you said — creatures? She chose to leave before the Dementors attacked, I wouldn't have been able to hold her back, and I didn't intend to try. Ana is ... different."

   "Ana", Tonks coldly replied, giving the young woman's name a cynical sound, "is dangerous! You're right, she isn't one of your creatures, she's a human being, and a bright one, as you might have noticed. Also cruel. That's not a nice combination, and I rather don't want my boy to grow up in a world where a murderous witch with hyperdimensional powers is riding a fire spitting dragon!"

   "Ana won't harm children —"

   "She did harm children in the past, Charlie! Gosh, have you forgotten about everything?"

   "She never killed a child —"

   "But it's not like she would have minded if they would have died!" Tonks' voice raised, and Teddy started crying, but she didn't pay attention to it. "You're blinded, Charlie! Blinded by whatever abnormal feelings you have for that monster!"

   Charlie got up from the wooden chair he was sitting on, the teacup in front of him untouched.

   "You need sleep, Dora", he softly spoke, throwing her a concerned look. "It's been quite a rough time lately, and I know you usually wouldn't speak like that. I will leave you alone now, we can talk another day, just try to call it a night."

   "How can you not see all the things that are wrong with that girl?" Charlie had never seen Tonks seething like that, but he couldn't feel sorry. "She's a murderer, she's violent, and she's dangerous! I told you to be cautious around her! Blimey, Charlie, we didn't even think you'd make it out of Transilvania alive, but you did, and now you gave that bitch even another weapon, as if she wasn't already cruel enough without a gigantic lizard by her side! Give up, you're not turning her. She won't fight for us, and if you won't be careful, we will have a second You-Know-Who riding a bloody dragon!"

   "Dumbledore was sure I could convince her to help us", Charlie said, pulling his cloak over his shoulders. "I still trust him, and you should trust him as well. Good night, Dora." He kissed her forehead, leaving her perplex, before he disapparated out of her kitchen and reappeared in his small apartment.

   He ran his fingers through his hair, falling onto the small couch Ana once had rested after the attack on her so many months ago, her smell still lingering on the pillows. He closed his eyes, but suddenly felt like he wasn't alone.

   Sitting up straight, his hand reached for the wand in his pocket, as something behind him hit the floor with a clatter and Charlie jumped up.

   "Oh", he said and a smile appeared on his lips. He tucked the wand behind his ear and knelt down, stroking the soft fur of Ezra, the Kneazle. "Seems I'm not the only one she had left, huh?"

 •✧•