Disclaimer: I don't own the characters… never have, never will.
Chapter 1- Back to the Burrow
Charlie walked the path back to The Burrow, bag over his shoulder and a wrapped gift in his left hand. Helen had wrapped it for him. Charlie would even attest to the fact, seeing as he couldn't wrap worth dragon dung. Molly had always tried to teach him every Christmas, but Charlie and Bill had always found good ways to get her to wrap for them in the end. Charlie smiled at this thought and wondered if his mum would recognize this wasn't his wrapping job.
Ginny had just finished at Hogwarts. It was odd to think there wouldn't be a Weasley there for a while yet. Not for another ten years, in fact. Bill's son would be one soon. It was almost hard for Charlie to believe his nephew would be that old. Sometimes he felt so out of touch with his family, like it was changing and that he wouldn't know what to expect when he came back. The first thing he noticed was the house itself. It looked as though a room off the north side of the kitchen had been added on. He wondered what it was being used for, as almost all the Weasley children had moved away. As far as Charlie knew, Ginny was only at the Burrow for one last summer before going to Italy on a work exchange sort of program. Once more, he wasn't quite sure on what was going on.
Opening the front door, Charlie stepped in without a word. The rest of the family, save Ginny, was already there, hustling to fulfill Molly's quick orders. "Fred and George! Stop messing around and hang the streamers," she said. Molly turned around and Charlie could see the change in demeanor. "Charles! Oh my Charlie!" she said walking over and giving him a large hug.
"Mum, can I set my stuff down?" Charlie choked through the embrace. Molly let go and took one of the bags, handing it over to Ron.
Charlie noticed that as Ron went up the stairs to put the bag into whatever room he would be using, Hermione followed eagerly. When did that happen? he thought to himself. Charlie didn't want to find out how far things had gone with his baby brother and his apparent girlfriend, so placed his other luggage just behind the couch and his gift on the table. "When's Ginny going to be here?" he asked.
"Tonks is bringing her home," Bill informed him.
Charlie had heard quite a bit about Tonks. Not any more than he had of any other Order member he hadn't known very well, but he was excited to get to meet her. "What about Moody and the rest of them? Are they coming today?"
"There's some business the Order is attending to," Arthur said, "but they said they'd be along after. Why don't you come out back and help me set up there."
Charlie followed his dad out to the yard and started moving the tables into position as Arthur got the old-fashioned Muggle lawn mower moving itself back and forth across the lawn. Charlie smiled, but didn't say anything. "What's been going back here?"
"Not a lot, lately," Arthur said. "Harry's moved in with us, since we have the extra space now."
"I thought Ron moved out," Charlie said. "Why would Harry move in?"
"Ron was going to, but Mum told him he could stay a while longer, so he could save. Mum couldn't stand the thought of Harry moving in with anyone else, either. Or worse: living alone."
"What's Ron saving for?" Charlie asked.
Arthur smiled and shrugged. "He hasn't told us, but both of the boys refuse to live here without paying some rent. Mum doesn't like the idea, but I let them put a little bit into a Gringotts account every month. I figure it can put a good amount of money into their own places that way someday."
Charlie nodded. He almost felt bad, knowing that the year after finishing school, he had stayed at home, doing some more extensive animal training without paying any kind of rent. He had also offered it to his mother, but Molly never would have allowed it. Charlie supposed Ron and Harry were just more stubborn about the idea. They finished up in the back yard and went into the living room where everyone else was sitting waiting.
"Where's Penelope?" Charlie asked Percy, who was holding a large binder of papers.
"She's with her family in Russia. They're on vacation," he said, without looking up once.
Charlie nodded, and looked around for someone else to talk to. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were already talking to one another, which was nothing less than expected, Molly was fussing over last minute details, Fred and George were working on a new product of some kind (something Charlie knew wasn't safe to involve himself with), and Fleur was holding her baby while Bill was leaning over cooing with her. "So this is my nephew," Charlie said, deciding it was better than standing like an idiot in the crowd.
"Yup, little Kyle," Bill said, wrinkling his nose.
Charlie pulled up one of the chairs and sat in front of his brother and sister-in-law. "Would you like to hold 'im?" Fleur asked, her French accent a little less dominant than it used to be.
"Yeah, I'd like that," Charlie responded.
Fleur handed Kyle over with care. "He'll be one in—"
"July," Charlie said, interrupting Bill, priding himself on the little knowledge he had with his family. "Fifth right?"
"Sixth, but close," Bill said with a wink. "How's Romania been treating you?" he asked.
"Good, good," Charlie said vaguely. "The dragons they've been letting me manage are amazing," he said.
"Anymore Horntails lately?"
"No, not really. We still take care of the old clan, but they're big on the Chinese Fireballs now," Charlie replied. Bill nodded.
"I don't know how you do it every day," Fleur exclaimed. "After the tournament, I could do without ever seeing one again."
Bill laughed and leaned over to kiss his wife on the cheek. Charlie's stomach flopped in curious wonder. What was it like to have a companion like that? He had seen the same loyalty and sweetness in different breeds of dragons, but when he saw it with humans, Charlie always wondered what he was missing out on.
"She's coming," Hermione said, moving towards the group from the window. Ron was the first to join her at the room opposite the door, his arm wrapped around her middle. Harry stood a little bit off from the two. Charlie almost felt the awkwardness Harry must be feeling, but then again, Charlie didn't like being a third wheel in any case.
Fleur took Kyle as they all congregated around the spot Ron and Hermione had established. They were just in place when the door opened and Ginny stepped through. "Surprise!" the group shouted, making Ginny stop.
"Wow," she said, setting down her trunk, the woman behind her doing the same with a large smile as Ginny started going around hugging her family.
Charlie's eyes remained on the smiling woman with bright blue hair. She was thin, but not as a rail, like his sister was. "Charlie!" a voice pulled him away.
"Hey Ginny," he responded with a smile, picking her up in a hug. Ginny was almost as tall as him, and much older looking than he had remembered. Last he recalled, his baby sister was still a talkative little girl in pigtails and a jumper. Now she was wearing jeans and a shirt that cut off to show her belly. "You're missing the rest of your shirt," he said in a brotherly fashion.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "When did you get here?"
"An hour or so ago," he said, forgetting about her appearance with a grin.
"When do you have to go back?"
"I have a month off this time."
"Really?" Ginny said, her eyes wide with excitement. She started to squeal as she threw her arms around Charlie's neck and kissed his cheek.
"Whoa there, Ginny," he said.
Harry came up and touched Ginny's shoulder, taking her attention away from suffocating Charlie further. He laughed as she walked away and looked around the room. Everyone had gone back to their different groups, and the woman was talking to Fred and George now.
Charlie cleared his throat and walked up to them. "I'm sorry, I think you're the Tonks I've heard about, but I don't think we've met before," he said, extending a hand.
Tonks gave him a strange look. "Good to meet you too," she said with a quirk of her brow before turning back without taking Charlie's hand.
How rude, he thought, without saying so. He walked off, wondering who acted so cold on first meeting. Molly approached him with a bowl to take outside. "There's more in the kitchen, if you don't mind," she said, wiping her brow. Charlie often wondered why she worked so hard at these, but supposed having her family together was much harder work than what was apparent.
After the party, Charlie found himself talking to Remus about a variety of jobs (as Remus seemed to be well-rounded in this area). "What about the Ministry?"
"I had a job there once," Remus said with a half smile. "Someone found me out within three months, so I never really got to find out what the benefits were like," he added with a bit of a chuckle.
Charlie knew what condition he was talking about; it wasn't a mystery to anyone in the Order, and however distant Charlie was from the actual location, he found he knew more about the members than he had imagined. "You would think if anyone could help you," Charlie exclaimed with a small shake of his head.
"Yes, you'd think," Remus said. "It's much better now, than it had been. I'm now allowed a job, so long as I take the week of a full moon off. It's about time."
"Still, they don't give you the proper pay for that."
Remus shrugged. "It's being worked on, but at least I'm employed." He looked at his watch and stood. "It's getting late and I have to be up early tomorrow morning."
"Good to finally meet you," Charlie said. He stood to lead the man to the door. "Good to meet all of you from the order. Except Tonks, I think her name is. She was awfully short when I tried introducing myself."
"Really?" Remus asked, surprised. "She's really outgoing, under normal circumstances. Then again, there's been a lot of stress with certain events that have come up."
"What events?" Charlie asked in concern.
Remus opened the door. "Nothing for you to worry about," he said with a vague smile. "Just keep your eyes open. Hope to see you later, Charlie."
Charlie gave the ragged looking man one last shake of the hand and watched him start walking down the road before shutting the door. With a sigh, Charlie wondered what kind of missions were going on now. Sure, there were a few Deatheaters still wandering, but it wasn't that bad was it? Maybe there was something he could do while he was home.
Charlie continued to think on this as he joined the family out back. The only people left that weren't part of the Weasleys were Harry and Tonks. Fleur and Bill had left an hour before, so all that could be seen was a wave of redheads. "I feel out of place," Tonks said with a laugh. "Let's see if I can become one of you," she added, screwing up her face. Charlie was almost shocked when her hair became a ginger red and freckles started to scatter her face. She almost looked like Ginny's twin.
"What about me?" Harry asked, now the only one that didn't look a part of the group.
"I can change that," Ginny said taking out her wand with a menacing grin.
"No," Harry said, taking a step back. "I change my mind, I like having black hair."
"Come on Harry, we could make you look so pretty," Ginny teased, advancing.
The two started running around the yard in a childish display as Charlie finally started talking. "You're a—"
"Metamorphmagus," Tonks said.
"I knew one other girl who could do—" Charlie stopped and his mouth hung open a bit. "Nymphadora?"
"See I told you he didn't recognize her," Fred said to George. With a groan George handed over three galleons.
"It's Tonks," she clarified.
Hermione looked a bit surprised. "You two knew each other?" she asked.
"I was a year behind Charlie in school," Tonks said, not taking her eyes off of him. "We had a bit of a… rivalry."
Charlie looked at her. Was this the little brat? Could it have been? "Could you not look like my sister for a minute?" Charlie asked.
After a moment of hesitation, Tonks screwed up her face again and along came bubblegum pink hair. "How have you been, Charred? Singed yourself lately?" Tonks asked with a bit of bitterness to her voice.
Charlie scoffed. "I leave that to the dragons now. You're words are rather heated though, too. It's nice to see you got over your little st-st-stutter," he said.
Tonks laughed and glared. "It's been gone since my third year, not that you would have noticed. Too wrapped up with Quidditch to care about anything besides your broom."
Charlie took a step back and looked down at the woman who now had a much sharper tongue than he had remembered. "For a little runt, you sure have a lot of gall."
"Charlie Weasely!" Molly shouted, now standing just behind the two of them with a pile of empty dishes in her hand. "You apologize right now!"
Charlie thought about retorting that she had started it, but decided that wouldn't be a good idea. "Sorry Mum," then he turned to Tonks with a forced grin. "Sorry, Nymphadora," he said and watched for the red rising straight to her cheeks. "Let me help you with those, Mum," Charlie said, taking some of the dishes and walking into the dishes before Tonks could say another word. "Grand," he said, putting the dishes in the sink and scrubbing as the witch continued to converse with his family.
A/N: Another beginning to another story. J I've been meaning to start a CT story for quite sometime, and finally an idea (and I hope it's a good one) came to me. The rivalry will be explained by the way, so you know.