Fire of a Weasley
Author Note: Hi all! This idea just came into my head and it sort of took over. Though I love writing about the Marauders and will still being doing one-shots of their time at Hogwarts, I thought about the sometimes forgotten generation who attended Hogwarts – the 80s kids. Charlie Weasley and his story, family and dragons, was such a big YES in my head, so here we are. Really hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it and scanning through the internet and the books to get as much information as I could.
The chapters of each story will contain what I feel is an important part of Charlie's life from his years at Hogwarts until after the Second Wizarding War. I think I have everything covered for the future but feel free to write a review if you want to make certain I don't miss certain parts of his life – or just general feedback which will be hugely appreciated!
Anyway, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own "Harry Potter" or anything related to it. I'm just a kid playing in the park the wonderful JK made for us.
Charlie read his letter again and again and again. Curled up under the hedge line that ran parallel to the Burrow, he could hear his mother calling him and his siblings in for lunch. He would stay where he was, just a little bit longer. Only once or twice had he ever thought this letter might not come, that for some reason or other they did not want him or somehow he had done something wrong and they had found out and expelled him before he had even got there. But then the letter came this morning, and his mum and dad smiled at him when they saw what it was, and Bill patted him excitedly on the back. The rest of the Weasley children had at first done nothing but shoot envious glances at Charlie, but soon even four-year-old, stubborn Ron was asking for the letter to be read aloud for him. After Fred and George had spilt milk all over the kitchen table trying to reach for the letter for the tenth time each, Charlie had quickly left into the garden with it to keep it from harm. Bill of course had received his two years earlier, but Percy's new rat Scabbers had chewed it to pieces that very evening. Charlie was determined nothing like that would happen to his letter, after all a wizard only ever gets one letter inviting him to join Hogwarts.
"Come on Charlie, did you not hear mum calling us for food?" came the deep voice of his older brother Bill.
Over the summer Bill's voice had broken and it still took Charlie by surprise at how much he sounded like their dad now. Bill was Charlie's best friend and he had missed him dearly the past two years since he started Hogwarts. Sure he was kept busy by his other siblings but Percy picked up a book at the age of six and never put one down again and Fred and George were only four when Bill left, whilst Ron and Ginny were still babies. But it was not only the idea of being able to see Bill whenever he wanted that made Charlie happy, he could not wait to finally meet witches and wizards the same age as him. By no means had he had an unhappy childhood, but it was the definition of sheltered. It was only last year that Arthur had managed to convince Molly that the children were safe now, that the dark times were behind them. Charlie had only recently come to understand why he had never been allowed to leave the Burrow without being with either his mum or dad. Though You-Know-Who died almost three years ago now, a few months after that historic day Bill had told Charlie that he had overheard their parents talking about a couple called the Longbottoms. That compiled with Sirius Black's murder of Peter Pettigrew saw Molly revert straight back to locking down the Burrow. Neither Charlie nor Bill ever said anything against their mum for being so protective, they were both old enough to remember their uncles Fabian and Gideon and how much their deaths had hurt their mother.
"Sorry Bill, got distracted by a couple gnomes trying to rip apart a flobberworm. Think they may be eating it now," said Charlie as he crawled out from his hiding spot. He quickly jumped up and as discreetly as he could slid the letter down the back of his trousers and out of sight.
"Gnomes and flobberworms looks much more like hiding and reading to me. At least we know Percy isn't adopted then, or maybe you both are," Bill jested back. Charlie bashfully grinned; his brother knew him too well. Making their way back towards the kitchen door, a shriek came from inside.
"GEORGE WEASLEY you put your brother's wand down right now! FRED! Stop trying to put that spider on Ron, you know how much they scare him! Percy where are your older brothers!"
Right on que the two boys jumped through the door and sprang into action. Bill went straight for George and whipped the wand from his hand. Charlie picked Fred up under the armpits and hoisted him away from his petrified little brother. Dropping Fred down into his seat, Bill and Charlie came to attention in front of their mother and saluted.
"Sit. All of you." Commanded Mrs. Weasley as she lay the platter of sandwiches she had made for her children out on the table. Charlie settled into the seat between Fred and Ginny in her raised chair; Bill collected a jug of water left on the side and sat down at the head of the table. With everyone seated they soon tucked in and started to devour their food. "Charlie, I spoke to your father over the floo this morning, he told me he has a half-day at work on Thursday so he can take you to Diagon Alley in the afternoon for school shopping. Bill he says that you can come too if you would like." Both brothers nodded. Bill took a break from his chicken sandwich to drain a glass of water and tie his fallen hair back into a ponytail. "Oh Bill, please let me cut it before you go back to Hogwarts. The professors must think you are so scruffy!"
"Mum at a school full of teenagers who are all capable of performing magic the last thing the professors are worrying about is my hair."
"Still, I think we ought to give it a little trim, just so it's not ridiculous by the time you get home for Christmas."
"Mum, Hogsmeade remember. I'm a third year now, I get to go. So if it does get 'ridiculous' I'll make sure I visit one of the locals and get them to shave it all off for you. That make you feel better and end this pestering about my hair?" Mrs. Weasley huffed and puffed for the rest of the lunch but no more was said about it. Soon the conversation returned to George stealing Bill's wand and the seriousness of underage magic. This continued until all the Weasleys had had their full and were asking to leave the table. Mrs. Weasley took Ginny and Ron up to bed for their naps; Percy returned to the chair by the fire and picked up the book he had left there; whilst Fred and George wanted to go and play quidditch with Charlie and Bill. Collecting brooms from the shed, soon they were up in the air hidden by the trees of the orchard. Eventually it became all three against Charlie who was by far the most comfortable on a broom. Bill started swooping into the trees to grab apples that he began to throw at Charlie, claiming they were bludgers. Seeing Charlie dodge them with ease he changed target and started pelting his younger twin brothers. Soon all four of them had ditched their brooms and were duelling it out with apples in hands.
Thursday came about quickly and Charlie rose at the crack of dawn, excitement filling him. Upon waking he ran downstairs and even caught his dad leaving for work at the Ministry of Magic. It was a warm August morning and he disappeared into the garden before Mrs. Weasley could find a job for him. He would get his own robes today as he was far broader than Bill was at eleven and couldn't fit into the robes he wore in his first year at Hogwarts. All the books on Charlie's school list had already been brought for Bill, which Charlie didn't mind because he knew Bill had been careful with them knowing his other siblings would one day have to use them too. But what got Charlie's heart thumping hard against his chest was the knowledge that he would be getting a wand today. A wand just for him, which choose him and him it. When Bill had returned from Diagon Alley and shown everyone his wand, Charlie couldn't help but twinge with jealousy. But now he would have one as well and that happy thought just could not go away.
Charlie spent the first few hours before his siblings got up wandering through the corn fields that surrounded his home. He had always loved being outside even if it was just to walk. It was the open sky he loved the most, it just felt so natural to be up in the air on his broom. He knew he was too young to be thinking about work but he could not comprehend how his father would want to be shut up in an office all day. Charlie knew whatever he would end up doing he'd make sure it required him to be out in the open as much as possible, he'd be pleased with that.
Charlie must have walked for miles as by the time he got back to the Burrow even little Ginny was up and feeding the chickens with Ron. Percy and Bill were sat in the kitchen chatting about Hogwarts again. "You don't need to worry Perc, if you are put in Ravenclaw then that is brilliant and you will fit right in. There are brave Ravenclaws as much as there are smart Gryffindors. I've got some friends in Hufflepuff but I don't see you in that house myself, and well Slytherin is Slytherin. May disown you if that's where you end up," Bill finished with a smirk. "AH the wanderer returns to us," exclaimed Bill as he spotted Charlie in the doorway. "Mum's got some chores for you, me and Percy. Do you want to eat first or shall we get started?" said Bill, as he slid a plate of pancakes across the table to Charlie who had already taken a seat and was pouring himself a glass of milk.
"What does mum want the three of us for?" Charlie enquired as he started slicing up his pancakes.
"We've got a de-gnoming on our hands!" Percy said triumphantly, "and can we get started pretty soon, I don't want to be left to finish the job after you two have gone. It's almost ten already!"
The de-gnoming took the next three hours leaving all three Weasley boys covered in grime and sweat. The three quickly showered and dressed before everyone settled down for lunch. As the plates were being cleared, the fireplace burst into bright green flames and out stepped Arthur Weasley. "Ah good you are ready! Bill, Charlie shall we get a move on?" The two brothers leapt up, Mr. Weasley gave Mrs. Weasley a quick kiss on the cheek, and then all three had walked into the fire and disappeared.
One by one they walked out of the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron. Waving a quick hello to the barman that Mr. Weasley said was called Tom, he ushered his two sons into the back room. Tapping on the bricks with his wand, the wall started to fold in on itself and behind it lay Diagon Alley. Charlie hadn't been allowed to come to Diagon Alley with Bill when he got his Hogwarts letter due to the danger still posed by those who had served You-Know-Who but had managed to avoid imprisonment. Bill had told him that it was quite empty still, with most people there hurrying to get from one shop to the other to buy everything they needed. Mrs. Weasley had picked up Bill's second year books on her own last year as Bill didn't need anything else. Their father had told them that on November 1st 1981 the street was packed with witches and wizards, getting very drunk and sending up jets of light into the air in celebration. He had spent the next few weeks travelling round the country dealing with muggle fireworks that wizards had tampered with to triple the effects of. The Alley had gone quiet again though for a time after the murder of Peter Pettigrew and the attack on the Longbottoms.
When Charlie's eyes adjusted to the sun, he could not imagine this street ever being empty. Scores of witches and wizards were shopping, eating, or noisily chatting to one another as far as Charlie could see. Bill, though he had been here before, also had a large grin on his face as he took in the crowds. A group of old looking wizards were under an umbrella shielding them from the sun, dressed in long black, grey or brown robes and all hunched over their ice-cream sundaes outside a place called Florean Fortescue's. A witch was pulling her bemused husband – probably a muggle Charlie thought - down the street after their blonde son who had gone rushing through the crowd towards Quality Quidditch Supplies. A young witch with ginger hair, oh wait maybe it was blonde, or pink, was standing awestruck at the huge building at the end of the street before her father called her into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Charlie tugged at his father's elbow and pointed at the building the witch had been looking at. "Is that it Dad, is that the bank where the goblins are? Please can we go inside Dad?"
"Not right now Charlie, I already collected our money the other day and we've got lots to do and don't want the shops to close before we have got round them all. Maybe later if we have the time son," said Mr Weasley kindly.
"But dad, I er… I heard there was a dragon in there. Please, we wouldn't have to get close to it. Just see it from afar and then we could do our shopping," Charlie pleaded but his dad only took him by the hand and lightly pulled him towards Ollivanders. Most thoughts of dragons immediately left Charlie's head as he saw which shop they were starting towards.
The bell tinkled as the Weasleys huddled inside. There were two boys who looked very much alike, presumably twins, who were testing wands. One was waving his about causing the flames of the candles to grow and roar loudly, the other was much more precise with his handling but ultimately ended up setting fire to a bit of draping hanging down from the upper layer of the small room. "Be with you in a minute Arthur, please take a seat" came the soft voice of the man who had taken both wands off the boys. The Weasleys sat down on the remaining chairs available to them, next to the boys' father who was dressed in a corduroy suit with a plain pink shirt underneath.
"Hello sir, don't worry about your boys, mine here took fifteen minutes to finally settle on the right wand for him," Arthur said reassuringly, rubbing Bill on the shoulder as he told his sons to take a seat.
"Thank you I guess. I'm assuming this is normal to you then, because I've seen it all today I swear. It's been very exciting, but I thought goblins would be the biggest surprise of my day. Now I've got my two boys sending flames and whatever else out of these sticks. I've lived in London all my life, how on earth could I not have noticed this huge wizarding borough."
"Ah you're a muggle! How brilliant! I have a question for you as well sir, what is the function of a rubber duck? I saw one a couple of years ago and no one has been able to supply me with an answer," asked Mr. Weasley, leaning in closer to the muggle and giving him his full attention.
"That's something else that has baffled me all day. Every shop I go into all the owners are soon calling me a muggle. Is it an offensive word? What does it mean? Rubber ducks aren't important don't worry yourself about them."
Disappointed with the man's answer to his rubber-duck inquiry, Mr Weasley nonetheless was happy to explain the wizarding world to the man as best he could. For ten minutes the two of them spoke about muggles and wizards, only reluctantly stopping when the twin boys had finally chosen their wands and were urging their father to come and pay for them. "Well, thank you for making a few things clearer for me. The missus at home won't believe what I have found out today. I'm Brian Dreki, these are my sons Hassan and Olyvar, hope to see you again," he said as he held out a hand to Mr. Weasley. Mr Weasley took it quickly and shook it. Mr. Dreki then paid and left and finally it was Charlie's turn to get his wand.
"Good afternoon Weasleys. I see you have brought me another son today Arthur, how many more can I be expecting over the next few years?" Mr. Ollivander asked with a smile.
"This is Charlie, and of course you remember Bill and all the smashed vases we left in here last time we visited. You've got a break for a few years, Percy my next eldest won't be attending Hogwarts for another three years. Both I and Molly will be here with you for when the twins come, and then little Ron and our daughter Ginny a couple years after them." Mr. Ollivander seemed rather content at the prospect of equipping future Weasleys with their wands and let out a small chuckle at the memory of his flower vase smashing three times as Bill had tested out wands two years ago.
"Very good, very good. Ten and a half inches long, pliable, made of blackthorn with a unicorn tail hair I remember. How has it been treating you William?" Bill nodded to indicate it was working for him. Mr. Ollivander smiled and then turned to Charlie, piercing him with his silvery eyes. "Charlie, shall we begin? Remember, the wand chooses the wizard." He picked up the tape measure he had left on the counter. "Which is your wand hand?" Charlie held out his left arm and the tape measure began to measure him whilst Mr. Ollivander started bringing wand boxes down from their shelves.
Charlie was handed a variety of wands, each a different wood type, length or core. His heart skipped a beat every time he was given a wand with a dragon heartstring core, but was left disappointed when Mr. Ollivander swooped it back out of his hand after the first had ripped up a part of the floorboards and the other simply did nothing. Charlie was handed his fifth wand when tingles went up his arm all the way to his shoulder. He raised the wand directly at the sky and a small, controlled burst of flame shot out of the end and warmed him as it spiralled round his body and disappeared as it got to the floor. Bill and Mr. Weasley were on their feet clapping and Mr. Ollivander let out a little hoot, "Oh, well done Mr. Weasley. A unicorn tail hair just like your brother. Ash wood, twelve inches long, supple. Oh, well done!" Mr. Weasley soon paid for his son and they were back out into the street. Charlie was beaming, though perhaps a little crestfallen that a dragon heartstring wand had not chosen him. Mr. Weasley suggested ice cream and soon Charlie's disappointment was replaced with ecstasy at having a wand in his pocket. A wand that was his.
The rest of the afternoon was a blur. They had to go into Madam Malkin's to buy robes, a hat and a pair of dragon skinned gloves; at least he'd go home with something that once belonged to a dragon. A couple hours later the trio had purchased a cauldron, phials, a telescope and a set of brass scales for Charlie. All were second-hand and a little battered but Charlie didn't mind. It was approaching 4:30 in the afternoon and the Alley was starting to empty of children with their parents and fill with adults finishing work and heading towards the Leaky Cauldron for a drink or to head home. Charlie had asked again about visiting Gringotts but his father had told him that their vault wasn't near any dragon he knew off. Thinking about that dragon for the majority of the day, when the three Weasleys stepped out of the fireplace into their kitchen Charlie had decided that it was cruel to keep a dragon so far underground. A dragon wasn't a guard dog and he couldn't imagine the goblins were very nice to it.
The evening was spent showing his younger siblings and his mother everything they had brought. His dad that afternoon had rehashed his mum's speech on the issue of under-aged wizardry, so Charlie only allowed the twins and Ron to look at the wand in his hand. Later that night when most Weasleys were tucked up in bed, Percy joined Bill and Charlie in their room and the three of them chatted long into the night about Hogwarts, wands and the end of summer.