Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Written for Em, for the HPFC monthly exchange, using Chaco, Circus!au, Dragons.

Word Count - 1918

Beta'd by Elizabeth and Jane

Case Closed

The case file was handed over with a grim smile.

"If anyone can close this case, it's going to be you, Weasley."

Charlie looked down at the file in his hand and closed his eyes briefly. This wasn't going to be the easiest job.

...

The bigtop was one of the most traditional in the country, the red and white stripes lining the top of it familiar to all who saw it. Charlie grimaced as he approached, his eyes darting around, taking in the cages parked up behind it.

They were hardly big enough to hold the creatures, never mind be humane.

The sign was dull, the lights not yet turned on, but it was still easy to read the words in the sunlight of the day.

Cirque Malfoy.

Charlie had heard much about the Malfoy family's circus, and not much of it was good. Oh, they put on a good show, but their treatment of their performers, human and creature alike, left a lot to be desired.

Charlie was only truly interested in the creatures. Humans had voices; they could raise them if they were unhappy with their treatments. Creatures didn't have such a luxury.

…

Lucius Malfoy stared at him with cold eyes for a long moment. Charlie didn't twitch, though he knew that was the older man's intentions. He wanted to make Charlie uncomfortable.

Barely refraining from rolling his eyes, Charlie waited for Lucius to speak. He already knew he had the job, his experience alone practically guaranteed him that—no matter that the document was fabricated by the Dragon Protection Agency that Charlie actually worked for.

Eventually, Lucius nodded once, stiff and formal. "You will work a month trial, before we have you sign a contract, to ensure that you actually are as good as your resume suggests. If you wait outside the tent, someone will be there shortly to show you to your working and living area."

The dismissal in his tone was clear, and Lucius clearly wasn't expecting Charlie to have any questions. At the moment, Charlie didn't, but he desperately wanted to annoy the man. Biting his tongue, he returned the nod instead and left the smaller tent.

It wouldn't do to have the man send him away before Charlie had the evidence he needed to shut the place down, after all.

He waited outside, enjoying the sunshine, until a younger man approached him. He looked a little younger than Charlie, but he was clearly Lucius' son, judging by his appearance. Almost white blond hair, a pointy chin and grey eyes that were, admittedly, much warmer than those of his father.

"I'm Draco," he introduced himself quietly. "My father said you're our newest Dragon Tamer?"

Charlie nodded, swallowing down the nasty retort that sprung to his lips. Dragon Tamer. Dragons weren't meant to be tamed. "That's me. Charlie."

He shook the offered hand and then gestured for Draco to lead the way. They walked in silence, a slight awkwardness in the air. Charlie wondered if he was being unfair, tarring the son with the same brush as the father, but since all of his intel said Draco was set to inherit the circus when his father retired, he thought he probably wasn't far wrong in his assumptions.

"Uh, this is your living area," Draco said, pointing to one of the small tents. There was a row of them, and Charlie had to duck down quite low to enter. Of course, the inside was roomier, although not by much. There was a tiny kitchen and living area in the first room, the smallest bathroom Charlie had ever seen, and a bedroom taken up almost entirely by the bed and a rickety wardrobe.

Charlie just nodded his head when Draco moved to leave, and followed Draco to the place he'd really wanted to visit. The dragon enclosure.

He barely managed to keep the disgust off his face as Draco led him through the cages. A Norwegian Ridgeback, two Common Welsh Greens, and a Peruvian Vipertooth were in the smallest cages Charlie had ever seen a dragon held in. Forcing away his anger, he asked pertinent questions about the other Tamers, about who was to be in charge of which dragon, about the schedules of the day, about the acts as a whole.

Draco answered each question fully and with detail, and Charlie was surprised to see the passion with which the blond spoke of the dragons. When he looked at them, there was a fire in his eyes that Charlie would never have believed if he wasn't seeing it for himself.

As the other Tamers began leaving their own tents, Charlie turned his attention to them. It would be interesting to hear their opinions on the circus, and the treatments of the creatures.

…

A month into the assignment, and Charlie was proud of himself for not entirely losing his shit and cursing the lot of them. Three of the four other Tamers seemed to find absolutely no problem with the treatment of the dragons, and Charlie had even happened upon one of them cleaning one of the Common Welsh Green's scales in the wrong direction.

Slowly, he was compiling evidence against Lucius Malfoy and his staff, and he was sure that soon, he'd have plenty enough that they'd be able to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. He couldn't wait for that happy day, and honestly, it couldn't come soon enough.

One surprise had been Draco.

Charlie hadn't expected to see much of him after that first day. The press often printed articles about Draco's party lifestyle, and Charlie's idea of him didn't at all seem to match up to the man he'd met.

Draco spent a lot of time with the dragons, and they seemed to like him. Achilles, the Peruvian Vipertooth, in particular practically purred whenever Draco stopped by for a visit. Charlie couldn't help but wonder what the younger man thought of the way they were treated, but it wouldn't do to ask—not yet at least.

If Draco wasn't the man that Charlie suspected he could be, then it would put the investigation in jeopardy if Charlie were to question him too much.

"Come on, sweetheart," Charlie murmured, pressing a hand to the snout of the Norwegian Ridgeback, Nessie. "Open up, there we go."

She blinked her beautiful eyes at him slowly, giving Charlie the chance to check her eyes fully, and remove the build up in the corners.

"You're a beautiful lady, Nessie." She huffed smoke from her nostrils and he chuckled.

He hopped down from the cage, and almost ran directly into Draco. He hadn't realised the blond was watching him.

"You really care about them, don't you?" Draco asked softly.

Charlie nodded silently.

"It's nice to see. The people my father usually hires, they don't care about the creatures. They only care about the paycheck at the end of the month."

"Dragons have never been a paycheck for me," Charlie replied. "I've loved them since I was old enough to understand what a dragon was."

Draco's lips tilted up into a smile. "I was the same when I was young. My mother used to call me her little dragon, because even when I was too young to be around them, I was utterly fascinated by them."

Visions of a little Draco with the dragons filled Charlie's mind and he couldn't stop himself from smiling. It was entirely too easy to picture.

"Do you… do you want to get lunch?" Draco asked, a light blush colouring his pale cheeks. Charlie glanced back at Nessie and then nodded.

"Sure."

…

"I know you've noticed," Draco said, an hour later as the two waited for their food to be delivered. "And I know you don't like it."

Charlie frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"The dragons. My father… he has very little interest in them, beyond how much draw they have for the public. He doesn't care about them."

Unsure if it was a trap, Charlie made a noncommittal sound and waited for Draco to continue.

"I know who you are," Draco said eventually.

"I should hope so," Charlie hedged, his heart beating faster in his chest. "We've known each other for over a month."

"Charlie Weasley," Draco said. "Undercover Agent of the Dragon Protective Agency."

Shit.

"You don't have to look at me like that," Draco added. "It was me that called you in after all."

Charlie blinked. "I… didn't know that."

"You didn't?"

"No. I don't get told the minor details; honestly, they don't usually interest me. Politics have never bothered me; I'm only interested in the dragons and ensuring that they're treated well."

"Have you found the evidence you need?" Draco asked, the hope in his eyes plain to read.

"Mostly," Charlie replied. "I don't think the other Tamers, with the exception of Zoe perhaps, will speak against your father. They're all scared of him, with good reason admittedly. The cases usually go a little better when we have a material witness to the mistreatment."

Their food was served and they fell silent. Draco, staring down at his steak, seemed particularly thoughtful.

When he looked back up and met Charlie's eyes, there was a fierce determination burning there. "I'll do it. I'll be your material witness."

…

Charlie took entirely too much pleasure handing over the warrant to Lucius. He smiled at the man when he glared at Charlie from behind his expensive antique desk.

"You think you can beat me, boy?" Lucius snarled, dropping the warrant onto the desk.

Chuckling, Charlie replied. "I think I already have."

All around the circus, wizards from the Dragon Protection Agency and the Mistreatment of Creatures department from the Ministry apparated in, the cracks loud even inside the tent Lucius used as his office.

"I have the best lawyers money can buy," Lucius sneered.

Charlie nodded. "Perhaps. Unfortunately, even fantastic lawyers can't get around physical evidence, and a star witness."

Lucius' brow furrowed. "Star witness?"

"Hmm. Had you paid more attention to your son, you'd have realised how much he loves the dragons, and how disgusted he's always been with the treatment of them. Had you listened to him, well, you wouldn't be in the situation you're in now."

As Charlie finished speaking, two Aurors stepped into the tent, their wands in their hands. "Lucius Malfoy, if you'll come with us?"

…

"You did well in there," Charlie said, once the court case was finished.

Draco smiled. "Thanks. I'm glad you got a good result. What… what will happen to the dragons?"

"They'll be taken to one of the reserves specifically for mistreated dragons," Charlie assured him. "They'll be looked after there, properly. The spaces are beautiful."

"Can I… am I allowed to visit them?"

"Of course. You have a bond with them, particularly Achilles. It would be cruel to deprive either of you of that bond."

"And uh… I know you're going back to your job but… maybe we can keep in touch?"

The blush on Draco's cheeks really was very charming, Charlie couldn't help but think.

"I'd like to take you to dinner," he said, enjoying the way the blush intensified.

…

The case file lay open on Charlie's desk, and he placed the newspaper clipping into the back, smiling at the headline.

CIRQUE MALFOY, CLOSED DOWN FOR MISTREATMENT OF CREATURES.

He folded it and with a smile on his face, pressed the red stamp to the front of the brown folder.

Case Closed