Chapter Text
'This was supposed to be a restful holiday!' Tilly Toke thought in irritation while directing a young family of beach-goers toward an outcropping of rocks her husband, father, and sister-in-law had turned into a fortification the moment they realized what was flying overhead of the beach was a dragon.
Watching a pair of fat women sprint in the general direction of her, Tilly cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted, "This way! This way!" The women, wild-eyed, looked at her. Tilly waved expressively in the direction of the fortification in response. "This way!" she yelled once more. Thankfully, the women still had their heads on their shoulders and they ran in the direction Tilly pointed them.
Once satisfied that the women were going to be alright, Tilly turned her head and began to scan the beach. The dragon was still stomping around on the east side of the beach. Occasionally, it unhinged its giant deathtrap of a maw and screeched. If the circumstances were different, Tilly would have loved to go a little closer and watch the Welsh Green in action. She always had a keen interest in dragons growing up, and this was a bit of a childhood dream come true.
Suddenly, beside her, her brother pops into existence. "Where are the aurors?" she asked when no more pops sounded in the moment after.
"Coming," Martin replied. Putting his hands on either side of his hips, he asked, "Did you and Mabel get the Muggles out of the way of it?"
Tilly nodded. "Mabel's a little south, toward the huts. I've spotted her now and again – like now," she said, pointing out where their sister stood to her brother. Mabel was a barely identifiable figure, pulling another, potentially male, figure in the direction they'd appeared from just seconds before.
Anxiously, Martin asked, "Has she been doing that a lot?"
"No," Tilly said. "That's just the third time she's come into view. I think she's got some imbeciles up there who don't realize how dangerous the situation is."
Martin grunted his understanding. Then after a couple of minutes of watching the dragon kick up water and sand, grumbled in annoyance, "Those bloody aurors should be here by now!"
Tilly had to agree. Where were they? Did they stop on the other side of Ilfracombe for coffee first? She was about to say something to that effect when the Welsh Green suddenly made a guttural noise and began to charge in the direction of the beach's huts.
"Bloody hell!" Martin yelled.
Heart thundering in her ears, Tilly shrieked, "We have to do something! Mabel's up that way!"
"We're not aurors!" her brother yelled back.
Tilly didn't listen. Charging toward the dragon, she yelled, "Confrigo!" the stream of light that shot out of her wand hit a beach chair to the left of the dragon, blowing it up. The Welsh Green reared back as the flaming debris flew into the air. It let out a loud, furious roar and snapped its head in Tilly's direction. The dragon set its black eyes on her and with a snarl, took a lumbering step in her direction.
She held up her wand and stood her ground. She could do this, she had to do this. People were in danger and she knew how to fight. Tilly tensed as the beast opened its mouth and showed off rows and rows of needle-sharp teeth. She opened her own mouth, prepared to shoot off another curse in the dragon's direction, when, from behind, a body collided with hers and pushed her face-first into the sand.
"Protego!" her brother's voice screamed.
Picking her face up from the sand a second later, Tilly screamed at the sight of a dome of fire surrounding them. It soon died away and she watched as the dragon aimed in another direction just moments after trying to burn them alive. In her ear, Martin wheezed, "The aurors must have finally arrived."
Pushing the man off her, she said, "Oh, thank Merlin."
"Thank Merlin is right!" Martin exclaimed.
Getting to her feet, Tilly told her brother, "Come, let's got to Dad, Todd, and Doreen. I sent at least a score of Muggles in that direction while you were getting the Aurors. We can help clean up this mess by erasing their memories of the dragon."
Her brother trotted after her, calling, "Don't you think we should at least wait until they've got it off the beach before we do that?"
-v-v-v-
A month after what is now called the Ilfracombe Dragon Attack, Tilly and her family are invited to stand before Wizengmot and receive accolade for their part in protecting the Muggles on the beach. Fit to burst with excitement, all Tilly could do was beam as the Chief Warlock stepped toward her. Bowing her head slightly, she allowed the man to put the medal around her neck.
"Thank you," she said.
The old man only chuckled. "After your exceptional display of bravery Missus Toke, you deserve no less than the Order of Merlin First Class."
Blushing slightly, Tilly glanced sideways at her husband beside her. Todd dipped his head slightly, agreeing with the Chief Warlock. Quietly, she murmured, "Still. Thank you."
The Chief Warlock reached for Tilly's hand and gave it a brief squeeze before he moved on to put a medal around her dad's neck. Watching on as the rest of her family was given their own medals for their part in the Attack, Tilly thought the only thing that would ever beat this day would be finding herself or one of her family members' faces on a Chocolate Frog Card.