Disclaimer: nothing belongs to me.
Note: the first of a series of abandoned ficlets, up for adoption, can be read as a one-shot. Has not be beta-ed and english isn't my mother tongue.
Also, the time line was modified to suit the story.
The first time Remus Lupin meets Charlie Weasley, he has the distinct feeling that he is missing something important.
In the dark kitchen of number 12 grimmaulds place, surrounded by the dozen Order Members as they are, there is no time to speak, no time to ask, no time for that feeling to become something more, a hint of the whole picture.
And yet…
That evening, after the salad and the soup, before the second helping of potatoes, Lupin's eyes are inexorably drawn to the young man once again.
It is only their second meeting, this one in a much quieter and more familiar atmosphere, a sea of red heads sits around the table, with only the occasional light brown, frizzy, dark or messy mop of hair disturbing the picture…
And his eyes trail back and forth, Harry, Charlie, Charlie, Harry…Ronald and Arthur…a quick inquisitive look towards Sirius…nothing, nothing in his friend's facial expression betrays even the hint of a doubt…
And he can't seem to stop. Detail after detail he takes in the young wizard's appearance.
Charlie is broad shouldered, thick boned, where Ronald and Bill are tall and lanky. Charlie has neither Ronald's long nose, nor Bill's lightly crooked one, has neither Ginevra's chocolate brown eyes, nor Arthur's blue ones.
Instead he has hazel eyes with specks of gold in them, big bright and laughing eyes, and a straight nose that is nothing if not ordinary. He has a strong jaw that may have come from Molly's side, and a dimple in either cheek whenever he smiles. He has a broad smile, mischievous like the twins, a body language that mirrors Bill to perfection…
Harry, Charlie, Charlie, Harry
There is something there...
"How old are you?" Remus blurts when he can hold his curiosity no longer. It is quite out of character for him to ask such direct questions, but he couldn't care less, really. His gaze burns into the hazel eyes, and Charlie lifts one amused eyebrow.
"22" a nod.
"1974?" Remus wonders. Charlie smiles, shakes his head. "73 actually. I'll be 23 this year."
"Like Nympha-" a dark look thrown his way and Remus falters "Tonks" he corrects. The witch grins.
"Why do…why d-does it matter?"
It is rare to see Molly stuttering. And it is only now that Remus becomes aware of the utter silence surrounding them.
Is he not allowed to ask a single question?
Pale bloodless cheeks, nervous hands fiddling with her apron, eyes darting towards Arthur...Arthur, who, like a deer caught in the headlight, sits so very straight in his seat. He too looks uncertainly around the room…from Molly to Charlie to Remus and back.
And the silence suddenly becomes expectant, heavy, tense.
"I…it was a simple question Molly."
"It wasn't…you..you kno-"
"Molly, dear, perhaps…" eyes darting towards the children, Harry, Ronald, Hermione, Ginevra, Fred and George and Bill… sad and apologetic they settle on Charlie. Remus's brow furrows.
"What is it?" the young man wonders, curiously he turns towards his mother. She sits heavily, looks towards her lap.
"Nothing to concern yourself about son." Arthurs tries and fails, spectacularly, to reassure the wizard. The emphasis on son is certainly not intentional, but it makes Remus's hair rise. Suddenly he's not the only one looking at Charlie in a strange new light.
"It's obviously important…why else would…mum, what's-" Molly sniffs, turns her eyes away, her shoulders slum downwards.
"This is a family matter." Arthur says, leaving no room for discussion, Charlie deflates, the twins look on curiously, Ron and Ginny's brow furrow…and Harry does his best to disappear. Remus meets Arthur's eyes and nods.
"It is indeed…thus I see no reason to keep it from Harry" his words are cold, chilling, harsh…and he regrets them as soon as he sees the surprise etch itself on Arthur's face. A gasp spills from Molly's lips, and her eyes dart back and forth between the boys.
Harry, Charlie, Charlie, Harry…
"oh my…Merlin…this…oh." She stutters, her cheeks turn red, eyes wide and startled.
"you…didn't know?" Remus wonders. Arthur shakes his head.
"Of course not" he starts outraged and then he lowers his head, his voice so low that even Remus has to strain to hear it.
"it was anonymous."
"What are you talking about?" Sirius wonders intrigued, voicing the very question that is on everyone's mind. Again Arthur's eyes dart around the table.
"I'm not sure this is the pl-" it is Charlie who interrupts him again.
"as far as I'm concerned…we are amongst family dad…just…what is it?" the Wealsey patriarch swallows heavily, his eyes find Molly and they converse silently… finally, he speaks.
"When Bill was just a year old Molly and I signed up for a…foster program at the Ministry." He sips on his water, eyes on Charlie.
"it was war and many families had, ah, trouble…children were being send to safety, to the country side..some others were orphaned and…we…we just wanted to help, we weren't part of the order at the time, you understand…it was meant for only a year or two, till things settled down…take care of another child, raise him as our own…" he stops, pinches the bridge of his nose, lowers his glasses…
"Some of these children came from, ah, death eater families…" as soon as the words leave his mouth, Arthur lifts both hands in reassurance. "just hear us out. Yes?" Charlie nods, and Arthur continues…
"right…right…because the safety of all children was primordial…the Ministry decided to protect the identity of those involved…that is to say, the whole foster program went on anonymously and we didn't know…" he swallows thickly. "we didn't know whose child we…we t-took in" he finishes heavily voice cracking and eyes filled with sorrow. Charlie blanches.
"W-what are you sa-saying…dad?" Molly pats his hand lightly.
"When the war was over we expected…" she sighs. "we expected your parents to make inquiries at the ministry…to claim you back…as…as it happened the ministry was such a chaos their file…your file…got lost in the mess…there was records though, and it seems, your parents tried to find you in 76, had filed for guardianship to be returned to them but…Charlie, dear, we are so sorry…we never knew who they were, only…only that they'd d-died and…and we loved you, like our own." She wipes a stray tear away from her cheek, and Charlie swallows heavily, blinking back tears of his own.
"I'm…n-no…I'm not your son?" he asks for confirmation. Molly nods and Charlie falls back into his seat, limps heavy.
"I don't understand." Harry says after a moment, his eyes on Remus, then on Charlie, brow furrowed in confusion. "Are you…what's…what's it got to do with you o-or…me for that matter?!" he wonders, though in all honestly, by the way his eyes have widened Lupin thinks that Harry has already connected the dots…
"I believe that…You and Charlie are related." Remus states carefully.
"WHAT?" He has almost forgotten all the other inhabitants of number twelve, but Ronald's outburst takes care of that. He looks at the red head with placating eyes and turns again towards Harry. He sighs.
"Lily's parents died in early December 1972…" in the corner of his eyes, he sees Sirius lean towards them a look of intense curiosity on his face.
So he didn't know, either.
Remus sighs, again. Perhaps the direct approach was best. "In her grief she and James got very, ah close…" he furrows his brow "Lily…got pregnant in the middle of her seventh year at Hogwarts… as you can imagine neither Lily nor James was quite ready for such a…commitment." Harry nods sharply.
"Charlus and Dorea, your grandparents, offered to take care of the child until your parents…" his eyes dart between Harry and Charlie. "sorted themselves out, got a house and financial means to sustain a family…" Lupin clears his throat.
"your Grandparents hoped to make Lily their daughter in law, but of course, they had no wish to pressure either of them into marriage…be it as it may…and though the situation was far from ideal, Lily and James grew only closer, to get married, eventually, some years later…" he smiles in remembrance and falters just as suddenly.
"their plans were crushed when Charlus and Dorea died, murdered by Voldemort's followers…Lily's babe…a little boy" pointedly he looks at Charlie. "Was just a little over a month old then…" he stops and frowns
"You were born in august, yes?" he wonders. Charlie nods. "The fifth."
"yes...quite right…" though Arthur's admissions has servered most doubts, Remus still needs to be sure…of course there is an air of familiarity between Harry and Charlie, the first little clue Remus has gathered, and of course there is the name…
"I do not recall exactly when Charles Archibald" his lips quirk a bit at the startled looks and sniggers from the twins "Potter was born…though it seems to me it was in early august…"
"either way…come september James was to start Auror classes and Lily was to go to Saint Mungus to train as a healer…" he looks at Charlie again, willing him to understand.
"You must remember that it was war…full out war, not this underground war like we know today…Lily was a muggleborn, James the heir of a prestigious pureblood family…and both their parents had already been targeted. There was no safe place for them, not truly, and no safe way to raise a child..." he meets eyes with Harry from across the table.
"I remember the day Lily found out she was pregnant again" he says
"She told me, giving up her first born was the hardest decision she'd ever made in her life…and she wished she hadn't. They should have tried harder, she said, but really…considering the situation back then and…what we know now…it was probably the best decision they could have made… Lily hoped that wherever her son, ah" his eyes settled on Charlie "you were, that you were safe and loved…" he stops for just a moment, aware of the stares on himself and Charlie, aware of Harry's green piercing eyes and Molly's sorrow.
"Two years after graduation, your parents got married. They tried, then, to get you back…of course, nothing had changed really…James had a job, but besides that…there was still war and fear and despair everywhere you looked…but mayhap…" he sighs.
"I think, they realized how unlikely it was for the war to finish in the next few years…and, of course…fostering you had never been a permanent arrangement…it was just for a few years, three at most…they wanted a chance to know you even when nothing around them was right." He sighs again.
"As you can imagine, they were both entirely crushed when the ministry failed in its promise and no information on the foster family could be found…" his eyes are on Charlie when he finishes, and distractedly he hears a sniffle and wonders which ones of the females in the room is the cause of such a noise.
Charlie nods silently.
"I…I think I need some air." he says after a while excusing himself from the table.
"Charlie, dear…" Molly reaches out towards him, and Remus holds her back, shaking his head silently. She falters.
"I'll…" unsettled Harry stands as well and motions towards the door. Before anyone can convince him otherwise, he walks out of the kitchen, too.
"well…" started Sirius, scratching his head lightly. "That was…enlightening…"
Remus Lupin tilts his head to the side, eyebrows crunched up together while he looks at his friend.
"You knew nothing of this?" Sirius shakes his head. "73 wasn't a very good year…" he offers, simply.
Remus nods, he had almost forgotten. 1973 was the year Regulus Black took the Dark Mark, the year of a foolhardy and dangerous prank played on one Severus Snape. 1973 marked the end of the marauders era, and the beginning of seven long months of estrangement between the once best friends, Sirius Black and James Potter.