Lia cringed. The female Chinese Fireball had a nasty temperament. She was still a juvenile-- had only been at the compound for a few months since she hatched-- but they might have to look at releasing her sooner rather than later.

Andrea-- the new female recruit-- dove out of the way, but not enough to avoid catching one of the Fireball's claws. It shredded right through the cargo pants into the flesh of her thigh. Blood splattered on the dirt of the dusty arena. She screamed. 

Lia could see Andrew's face pop out of his office in the compound. She waved her hand at him. There was nothing worth worrying about. She might have to spend a night in medwing, but she'd be fine. Despite the behaviour of the Fireball, there was nothing else of concern. Her breed was naturally aggressive, but her claws weren't poisonous-- like the Irish Barbbelly-- and she hadn't developed her ability to breathe fire, though she likely would within the next couple of months.

Helena snarled behind her, and Lia glanced over her shoulder. The emerald green dragon was crouched on all fours. Helena herself had only started to breathe fire within the last six months-- a sign she was nearing adulthood. Lia stepped slightly, so she was between the Jadewing behind her and the Fireball in front of her. The last thing she wanted was a dragon brawl when she was the only one present able to break it apart. Jason might be able to help, but he was better suited to the eggs and occasional spats between the infants. 

Lia gestured at Andrea with her wand. "Stay down. If you hobble around, you'll be more of a target!"

Andrea followed the order, laying on the dirt. Her blustery attitude from her arrival was gone, now that she realized exactly what dealing with dragons was like. 

Ben Shafiq-- who she could recall from Hogwarts, though he was a couple of years younger than her-- was crouched near the side. He had been mostly useless this entire fight. It wasn't even like it was that hard of a training exercise. All they had to do was get the dragon docile enough to get back into her cage. Sure, it was difficult since dragons were primarily impenetrable to magic unless you got their eyes, but it shouldn't take this long.

Lia twirled her wand through her fingers once and walked forward. She had done this what felt like thousands of times. A few ropes thrown over and once pinned, a gentle sleeping charm. Helena growled, but Lia waved her hand at her. A sign to stay put. 

Lia grabbed the edge of the arena wall and hopped over the waist-high stone wall, landing on the dirt. She had only taken a few steps when Charlie finally moved. 

She paused, crossing her arms. She watched him move across the arena slowly, the sun battering off his freckled arms and face. His red hair was pushed back from his face, exposing his face tightened with concentration. Lia pursed her lips, hating the way her face heated.

As much as she hated it, she wanted him to succeed. 

The Fireball turned her focus to Charlie, and Lia watched him still, not looking the dragon in the eyes. At least he listened now; he never did in school.

Or at least she thought he was. Quickly, he drew his wand, shooting a spell at the dragon. It missed, ricocheting off the dragon's scarlet scales. The Fireball roared and Lia scowled, her own anger rising. Charlie was going to get them all killed. 

She watched him dodge, jumping over Andrea and leading the dragon away from Ben as it snapped its mouth at him, saliva dripping from gleaming teeth. The dragon's foot nearly missed crushing Andrea. An injury like that would get her sent to St. Mungos.

Charlie shot another spell, and this time he got lucky. It hit the dragon's eye and it stumbled back, stunned. Before he could cast another, Lia intervened, waving her wand. Ropes sprung into existence, tying the dragon to the ground. It huffed a couple of times before she nudged it with a sleeping spell, and steam curled from its mouth.

She scowled and turned to face Charlie. Any attraction she might have felt lingering from their trysts in the seventh year was gone, replaced with intense anger. She had told them what they had to do and he had not listened.

"What were you thinking?" She asked. Lia tucked her wand into her pocket. "You could've gotten yourself, and the others killed."

The small grin he had been wearing-- no doubt in satisfaction-- dropped.  "I had it handled. One more spell and the dragon would've been down."

Lia's frown deepened. Now he was challenging her? Until he was riding a dragon, and completing missions, he was not her equal. 

"Sure, but that was a juvenile. If that had been an adult in the wild, not only would you be dead, but so would the other two," She stepped closer, narrowing her eyes. Let him make her into the Slytherin again. "Do that again, and if the dragons don't kill you, I will."

~~~

Lia leaned over the edge of the enclosure, watching the infants clamber over each other. A fire burned in the corner of the stone pit, where several of the tiny dragons-- some so small they could sit in her palm-- were resting. Soon their claws would grow in and they'd need to be moved to separate stalls, but until then, they kept them together to encourage socialization. 

Helena herself was curled in a stall behind Lia, her spiked green tail wrapped around her snout. Lia glanced over her shoulder at the Jadewing. In the steadily dwindling light, she looked significantly less dangerous. She also seemed smaller. 

Lia walked across the room to lean into Helena's enclosure. One emerald eye popped open at her approach but slid shut again as she stroked the edge of her snout. Anyone else would've been charred immediately. 

There was a shuffling behind her and Lia looked over as Jason entered from the egg area. His shaggy dark hair was pulled back from his face, exposing deep purple circles underneath his eyes. 

Lia frowned, continuing to stroke Helena. "Are you okay?"

Jason's eyes darted to hers as he walked towards the infants. They clamoured incessantly as he approached, tipping in a pail of food. Jason avoided eye contact with any of them. 

"Yeah, I didn't sleep well." Jason set the pail down and leaned against the infant wall, watching her. He seemed to be considering something. "Lia, I can trust you, right?"

Lia paused, taking her hand off of Helena and turning to face him fully. Was she trustworthy? She didn't know herself-- she certainly kept a few things secret from everyone. But she liked Jason. "Sure, why, what's going on?"

Jason's eyes darted around, making sure there were no eavesdroppers. "I came into the nursery earlier and a couple of eggs were gone."

Lia's eyes widened. Gone? How was that possible, they were one of the most secretive organizations in the Wizarding World. Nobody could get in and out of the compound without explicit consent from Andrew-- there were enchantments on every inch of the compound. 

"They just vanished? They didn't hatch or anything?" Lia asked. 

Jason shook his head. One of the infants was scrambling at the wall, trying to clamber up. He gently scooped it up and placed it near the fire. "No, they weren't supposed to hatch for another couple months. They are just gone."

Lia crossed her arms. If eggs had vanished, that meant that something had gotten to them. "Did you tell Andrew? That's a huge security base and he might want to look into the defenses."

Jason shrugged. He was shuffling slightly, nudging the pail with his foot. A few drops of whatever bloody meat he had fed the infants were oozing over the side. "That's the thing, Andrew was in here this morning and when I mentioned it, he didn't say anything."

Lia frowned, leaning against the stone wall. The coolness was nice against the evening mugginess. If something had gotten into the nursery and stolen the eggs, that meant they likely had an animal coming in. Maybe something Andrew had forgotten to worry about. Either way, eggs vanishing was bad, especially with recruits arriving. She could see the worry on Jason's face as he ran his fingers along the edge of the wall, infants jumping up to try and snap at his hands.

"It's probably nothing to worry about," She commented. "But I'll talk to Andrew about it. It's likely a wolf or something got in."

Jason nodded. "Thanks, I hope it isn't anything big."

Lia watched him walk towards the nursery where the eggs were kept and hesitated, remembering the runes she had found. She pursed her lips, straightening up. She knew herself that the enchantments kept out forest animals-- she was responsible for checking them every couple of months, though Jason didn't need to know that. She just wanted him calm."

"Jason," She called after him. He turned. "If anything else...strange happens, come tell me straight away."