Author's Note: Hello everyone! So this is my second story and, as you will realize, it is AU. I've created my own character, Leena Lightle (LEE-na Lite-ly), and added her to the wonderful world of Harry Potter. For anyone who has read my other story, The Giggling, I know the name is the same as the OC in that drabble but the characters themselves are different. I just liked the name, so I used it again in this story. For those of you who have not read my other story, please feel free to do so! I would love your feedback on both :)

This is not a Draco/Ginny fic like my other story, though they are a minor pairing. It is actually a Charlie Weasley/OC fic, the other character being the aforementioned Leena Lightle. I've always loved the character of Charlie Weasley even thought we don't know all that much about him (perhaps because we don't know much about him) and I'm exploring what kind of character I think he would have been like.

I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I am working on the second chapter right now, so please review and let me know if you all like it and if I should keep going. Thank you so much in advance! Well, cheers!

Disclaimer: I do not own any character, place, or event of the Harry Potter series. Only Leena Lightle and the plot belong to me. The rest are creations of the wonderful mind of J.K. Rowling, to whom I owe my childhood and will always be indebted.

Love Comes Softly

Chapter One

Charlie Weasley sighed into the cold night air. He watched the puff of white breath dissipate into the brisk December darkness before turning away and ambling down the road. The street was lit with decorations and the Christmas season permeated the atmosphere of the small village. Lights flooded out of the windows of the shops and music sounded in the air every time a door was opened.

Charlie had always been fond of the small, sleepy town that made its home under the protective shadow of the school he had attended for seven years. Being of a laid back and relaxed nature himself, Hogsmeade fit well with the redhead's personality and he preferred the cobblestone streets and friendly townspeople to the chaos of Diagon Alley any day. Walking down the familiar road Charlie let his thoughts wander.

Christmas was a time for family and friends and Charlie Weasley made it a point to spend the holiday with his family every year. Romania was a long way from home and his job as a dragon handler didn't allow for too much time off. He didn't get to see his family as often as he would have liked; hence, the three week vacation he requested each year to go home and celebrate with his family.

Charlie had arrived home via portkey amid a flurry of smoke (from the dragons he left behind) and snow (that had accumulated in the Burrow's front yard) on the tenth of the month and wasn't due back to the reserve until the third of January. Christmas was only a few days away—six, to be exact—and Charlie had just finished buying his last gifts. Glancing down at the shrunken bags in his pockets the second eldest Weasley once again hoped his choices would be well received.

His first stop had been to pick up Ginny's gift. Anyone who knew Charlie even the slightest knew the enormous soft spot the stocky man held for his only and favorite little sister. When she was little, Charlie had been Ginny's best friend. A few years after successfully delivering the first Weasley girl in seven generations, Molly Weasley had fallen sick and Arthur Weasley refused to leave his wife's side for even a minute. The responsibility of the younger kids had then fallen to a then fourteen year old Bill and thirteen year old Charlie. Ginny had been three at the time and, since Bill was busy keeping Fred and George from burning the house down and Ron from getting bitten by a gnome, taking care of her had been Charlie's job (Percy just sat in his room, reading his books). He had been apprehensive at first; for all his talents, Charlie was still a boy and hadn't the slightest clue as to what Ginny would be like to actually take care of instead of the occasional playing that he had always indulged her with before. As he found out, it wasn't all that hard. All the youngest Weasley wanted or needed was to be included. Taking care of Ginny had turned out to be a breeze—much easier than Bill's load—and the relationship that blossomed was one that Charlie treasured.

After that summer, Ginny and Charlie had a connection that never faded with time or distance. It was Charlie who had wound Ginny's long, scarlet hair into braid and ponytails; Charlie who lifted Ginny up and gave her a view of the world from his shoulders; Charlie who taught her to swim in the pond behind the house; Charlie who had broken laws and risked his life by apparating internationally when he heard that she was in the hospital wing after her first year; Charlie who had wiped away her tears of guilt and pain; Charlie who had slept on the floor of her room every night the summer after, and Charlie who had promised her that nothing would ever, ever, hurt her again.

He remembered her now, wide eyed and scared about going back to Hogwarts in September. It was then that he had gone to the small shop down the street from the Three Broomsticks and gotten the bracelet that had graced Ginny's wrist for nearly eleven years. A Wingham original, the charm bracelet had been a way to allay the small redhead's fear and to let her know that he would always be there for her. He recalled the relief in her eyes when he explained to her that the silver trinket would grow warm whenever he was thinking of her. As the years had passed, Charlie had added new charms to the bracelet on every birthday and Christmas. The charm that he had just picked up was a small heart with the words "My Little Dragonfire" inscribed on it, which was the nickname he had used for her since she had been little. He loved Ginny as only an older brother could and he hoped that her future would be bright and filled with happiness.

Charlie chuckled at the thought that her future would most likely also include Malfoys.

His second stop had been to pick up the quidditch kit he had special ordered for Ginny's long-time boyfriend, Draco Malfoy. The grin on his face grew wider as he thought of the first time the family had seen Ginny and Draco together. As he was engrossed in thought, he didn't notice the group of girls walking past him that giggled and hid smiles behind their hands as they gazed upon his rugged good looks that were only enhanced by his far off grin.

Draco and Ginny had apparently become friends through a mutual detention they had had together with Snape in Ginny's fifth year. By friends, they meant that they had a grudging respect for each other and the verbal spars in the hall went from being tear-the-other's-reputation-apart time to playful banter between two acquaintances. It was because of Ginny and her friendship that Draco did not comply with the Death Eaters plot to enter the school and kill the headmaster. He turned to Dumbledore himself and asked to help protect his fellow classmates. The next year when Voldemort truly rose to power, the Golden Trio—Harry, Hermione, and Ron—left the school in search of the horcruxes and the means to destroy the Dark Lord. Ginny was left behind and it was during this time when their relationship passed the line marked platonic.

When Charlie himself had first heard about the relationship, he was skeptical. A Malfoy? Malfoys didn't change, they were what they were born and raised to be. It was only the first time he saw them together that the protective older brother had started to believe that maybe Draco Malfoy was worthy enough for his sister, though that thought itself could not be attributed to him in any way. No, that thought came from a reliable and constant source of all good information in his life, Ginny's best friend, Leena Lightle. Unbidden, a rueful smile spread across Charlie's face.

Leena.

There was absolutely no way to describe the girl—no woman—other than that she was a godsend. Leena Lightle and Ginevra Weasley had been the best of friends since they were twelve. The year after the Chamber incident, Leena had been the first person to talk to Ginny outside of her family. It was by seeing Leena interacting with Ginny that all the other students were able to get past the fact that Ginny had been possessed by the worst Dark Lord in history.

Ginny and Leena, Charlie mused, somehow managed to be complete and total opposites while being exactly alike at the same time. Where Ginny had vibrant red hair and a smattering of freckles, Leena had long, midnight black locks that tumbled down around her unblemished pale face. Ginny darted around like a flame, quick and spritely, whereas Leena was graceful and sure in her actions, never making a movement that didn't seem intentional. Both girls were of the same height and build, though Leena was more slender than her best friend, which had made them one of the most formidable pair of chasers that the Hogwarts quidditch pitch had ever seen. Their eyes were both brown but Ginny's were a soft hazel that seemed warm and kind; Leena's were dark brown orbs that, though not unkind, seemed to be able to look into your very soul and recognize who you truly were. Her rosy lips were always ready to smile or laugh, though more often than not she was smirking (something Draco highly approved of).

Both girls were hidden Slytherins in the noble house of Gryffindor and renowned for being untamable pranksters, the protégées of Fred and George Weasley. But above all, Leena and Ginny were arguably the two most important women in Charlie Weasley's life (well, besides his mother).

The first time he had seen her, Leena had been a small thirteen year old girl who had proudly declared herself his little sister's best friend when asked who she was. After that, the black haired girl had always been in and out of the Weasley household, a welcome addition to the family. Throughout their years at Hogwarts, and even after, Leena had been a staple guest for Christmas, Easter, and summer, dropping in for Molly Weasley's famous food or looking for a place to crash for a few days while her Uncle was out of town.

Jonathan Lightle was a world famous wizarding photographer and Leena's only living relative. Being from an upstanding pureblood family, the Lightles had been very well off and her parents, who had died when she was very young, had left everything entrusted to her Uncle until Leena either turned twenty-six or married. So Leena had been raised by her father's brother, but as she grew older he was away more often for work and Leena had turned to her best friends' family who she knew would take her in with open arms.

All the Weasleys thought of Leena as family; Molly and Arthur considered her a second daughter and all the Weasley boys played and teased her like a second sister. But even though Charlie had always known Leena the best out of all the Weasleys, excepting Ginny, he had never come to think of her as a sister, per say. She was family, of that there was no doubt, but she wasn't like Ginny was to Charlie. The feelings were…different. Shaking his head Charlie put that thought out of his mind. He had already pondered over it for years after he had realized it was there during Leena's sixteenth birthday party, but to no avail. After a while he took to ignoring it, thinking it would make sense to him whenever it was meant to.

Thinking back, Charlie remembered the night of the Final Battle when Harry had finally defeated Voldemort. Charlie had been frantically searching the Great Hall for either Ginny or Leena and, unable to find them, had begun to scour the halls. It was then that he had come upon his little sister in the dungeons wrapped in the embrace of one Draco Malfoy. They had been down the hall and before Charlie had been able to make his presence known, a hand had shot out of an alcove and pulled him in. Turning around with his wand ready Charlie had been shocked to see a dirty and tired Leena standing before him. She spoke before he could even blink.

"Please let them be Charlie," her voice was pleading and soft as to not alert the couple down the hall to their existence, "she needs him."

Charlie hadn't been able to say anything. He only saw the pain that was in Leena's eyes at that moment and, without thinking, took a step closer to her and wrapped her in his own embrace. Leena had immediately melted into him and let out a long suffering sigh that bespoke of horrors only one who had made it through that night could understand. Slowly her arms had come up around his neck and then she was clinging to him like he was a life raft in the middle of a vast ocean. Charlie had tightened his arms in response and held her, not saying anything, until she gradually released the pressure of her arms. Looking down at her face, Charlie had realized that he had never seen Leena that dirty and carefully began to remove the soot from her face with his sleeve. She bore his ministrations with grace and once he was done, he spoke.

"Are you alright?" His voice too had been soft and comforting. She had shuddered and then replied in a small voice.

"I will be."

It hurt Charlie to see someone he cared for so much in such a state, but especially because it was Leena. She had always been the strong one, the one who held everyone else up. Now she just seemed fragile and lost, like one breath would shatter her into pieces. As he watched her, he realized that she was still watching her best friend and the blonde boy she was with. Charlie too looked at them and saw something that he couldn't quite explain between them.

"He loves her." Leena has said. She had wrapped her arms around her as if to ward off a chill as she glanced at Charlie.

"He loves her and she loves him. I know they do. You can see it in their eyes."

She was right, of course. As Charlie had looked at the two students standing in the hall he could see in their eyes that they were in love. His little sister was in love.

"He doesn't deserve her, no one ever could. But, maybe one day, soon…he'll be worthy enough to keep her. I hope he is."

After she had whispered this she had closed her eyes and leaned her head against Charlie's chest. Instinctively, he had once again wrapped his arms around her and they had stood there frozen for a long time. When Charlie's legs had begun to fall asleep, he had bent down and slid one arm behind her knees and one behind her back, picking her up as if she weighed no more than a doll. Leena did nothing to fight him and laid her head on his chest, eyes still closed. She had whispered one last thing before she had fallen asleep in his arms as he carried her back to the Great Hall.

"Do you think that everyone gets that kind of love?"

Charlie had not been able to respond then, or since. As he thought on her question, the present he had bought for Leena popped into his head. The necklace that he had bought for her was simple yet elegant, not unlike the person it was bought for. The chain was made up of silver links so small it seemed like a seamless piece from afar. The pendent, also silver, was a small circular locket with flower designs along the edges. Inside, the pendent had the words "J'aime et J'espere" inscribed. "I love and I hope". He didn't know what made him pick that inscription when commissioning the exquisite piece of jewelry; it had felt right, so he had done it. Now he only hoped that she liked it as much as he thought she would like it.

Eyes finally focusing back on where exactly it was he was walking, Charlie saw the Three Broomsticks looming ahead of him. Contemplating a warm butterbeer at the raucous establishment before heading home, the redhead angled himself towards Honeydukes which was three stores down and across the street from Madame Rosmerta's bright smile.

As he turned to cross the street, two small boys, no more than seven, ran up from behind him chasing one another. The first one darted around Charlie screaming "You can't catch me!" to his friend behind him. The second boy was not as lucky as the first and bumped into Charlie's side on his way past, making him drop his wand which rolled away. A pang of annoyance went through Charlie before he remembered himself and his brothers doing the same when they were little. The annoyance left him at that thought. Besides, he thought, it's Christmas. Turning back towards the Three Broomsticks, Charlie saw his wand had come to a stop near the side of the building.

Moving towards it, he bent to pick it up when something concealed in the shadow of the side of the building moved not two feet from him. More than a little alarmed, he quickly scooped up his wand and held it out in front of him. He heard a small whimper at his movement.

Apparently it was not something, but someone.

"Lumos." Light spilled out from his wand and he held it closer to the person cowering near the side wall.

"Excuse me, but are you alright?" The person, whoever it was, was half concealed in the shadow of the pub and Charlie couldn't see their face.

"Do you need help?" Charlie took a step closer and then crouched down in front of the person. When he did so he was able to discern the reason he could not see the stranger's face. They, she, had long black hair that tumbled down around her, effectively covering anything that could have identified her. She let out another small whimper and lifted her head a few inches above her lap.

Much later Charlie would fervently thank all the gods there were that those kids had run into him and made him drop his wand. For as her face lifted, Charlie froze; for he knew the girl. He would recognize those eyes, that face, anywhere. Eyes that looked broken, hurt, and shattered; eyes that had never looked like that before. Through his incredulous surprise and immense worry, Charlie was able to breathe one word. A name.

"Leena?"

AN: So? What do you all think? Go on down to that amazing little "Review" button and let me know all your thoughts! Thanks for reading!