An owl flew in the cabin window. It was a small tawny owl that landed gently on the table in front of Charlie and his uneaten lunch. He drummed his fingers on the table top and looked from the plate to the owl to Oliver sitting across from him.
"Well, this is it," Charlie said and his voice trembled. He tried to untie the letter from the owl's leg but his large, stubby fingers couldn't unto the string. He threw his hands up in frustration and told Oliver, "Here, you do it."
Oliver reached over and untied the string. Holding the letter, Hogwarts crest side facing Charlie, he asked coyly, "And do you want to read it or shall I?" A grin filled his face.
Charlie picked up a fork and began fiddling with the potatoes. "Oh just read it," He sighed.
This was the letter he'd been waiting weeks for, ever since it had become known that Hagrid was retiring and the position of Care of Magical Creatures professor would be available. Teaching wasn't exactly what Charlie had in mind, but after getting seriously burned by an angry Norwegian Ridgeback, a change would probably be best. He'd miss Romania horribly, but the Forbidden Forest and lake at Hogwarts would have to do.
Oliver broke the seal and unfolded the letter. He looked from Charlie to the letter and back to Charlie before saying, "Here goes nothing." Then he read, "'Dear Mr. Weasley, I would first like to thank you for your application to teach at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in this coming year. Your qualifications are exemplary. Secondly, I am pleased to inform you-'"
Charlie cut him off with a loud, "Yes!" as he threw his head back, face towards the roof, "Give it here." He reached out a hand to continue reading for himself.
Oliver passed him the paper and Charlie picked up the reading, "-pleased to inform you that your position will begin with the start of the term and upon receiving your return owl. Signed, Frey Tremlett-Claverdon, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Grand Sorcerer, Order of Merlin Second Class." He finished reading in a rush and threw the paper onto the table so forcefully that it startled the owl.
Oliver smiled, "Knew you'd make it." He stood up, walked over to the counter, picked something out of a tin, and returned to the table, giving the owl a treat. As soon as it ate it, the owl took off once again, disappearing out the window and into the sky.
Charlie couldn't stop grinning. Finally he had something to do again. For the past few years, since returning indefinitely from Romania, his life consisted of cheering on Oliver in matches and watching his hoard of nieces and nephews grow up.
But then Oliver had a run-in with a rather aggressive bludger. It ended his professional career since his shoulder would never be the same despite the best healers at St. Mungo's. The one upside to that incident had been that the two of them had more time to spend together, without running all over the country.
So there they were, a pair of injured, middle-aged guys in search of something to do with the rest of their lives. And then the news reached them of Hagrid's retirement. Charlie immediately sent his application, which had launched the waiting that had just ended.
Unfortunately, now they were thrown into another problematic situation. Charlie realized this before, and had tried to talk about it, but each time Oliver changed the topic, brushing his questions aside. Now, Charlie knew it couldn't wait any longer. He asked, "So what's next? We knew this could be coming. And it's here. I'm going to have to live somewhere much closer to Hogwarts."
Neither of them ever expected to find love, so now that they had, it was something they didn't want to lose. Somehow, they had to make it work.
When they were at Hogwarts, Charlie, a few years older than Oliver, hadn't really known the younger student off the quidditch pitch. And both of them, especially Oliver, had been the quiet, studious type. But then they ran into each other at the Moldova World Cup.
Afterwards, neither of them could pick out what exactly it was that drew them to each other. Maybe it was their similar personalities. Maybe it was their admiration of each other's quidditch skills. Whatever it was, it worked, and had been working for about a decade, despite the distance at times.
Sitting at the table, Oliver sighed. He didn't want to admit it, even to himself, that he'd secretly wished at times that Charlie wouldn't get the job. Since his accident, Oliver didn't have a clue what he was going to do; it wasn't something he thought he'd have to prepare for. When the opportunity came along for Charlie, he tried to ignore his sporadic jealousy the best he could.
Finally Oliver replied, running his hand through his hair, "I- I haven't a good idea."
Charlie had given this some thought, "What about Hogsmeade? Maybe not in the village, but near it?"
Oliver shrugged. Yes, Hogsmeade was nice, but a little too quaint unless one actually had something to do there. He ran his hand through his hair a few more times and avoided looking at Charlie. At long last, he looked up and said, "I need to be blunt."
Charlie's eyes grew wide and he stretched his arm out across the table, subtly offering Oliver his hand, "Sure… What's wrong?"
"I don't want us to end up separated again."
Charlie smiled slightly, and furrowed his eyebrows in slight confusion, "But we won't. Of course you'd come too."
Oliver didn't get angry very often, but the frustrations that he'd held in since Charlie first applied for the job conglomerated and spilled out, "It's all very well for you, but what about me? What will I do? We both know you're not content doing nothing, and why on earth should I be?"
Pulling his hand back, Charlie crossed his arms on the table in front of himself and started at them. Deep down, he knew Oliver was right. It wouldn't be fair asking him to move as well. Currently, although he still wasn't doing anything, at least they were doing nothing together.
After a long silence and a deep sigh, Charlie replied as he looked up slightly, "Know what? You're right…" He shook his head slightly, "I won't accept right away. I'll think about it for a couple days, see if we can't come up with some solution. Okay?" He stretched his hand back across the table.
Oliver looked at it for a moment without speaking. His face was expressionless and Charlie couldn't tell what was going on behind his eyes. At last, Oliver took Charlie's hand and met his gaze, saying, "Right, then."
The pair sat their for a moment, tanned, rough hand in tanned, scarred hand before getting on with their afternoon of babysitting Lily and Hugo. Besides taking the youngest kids out of their parents' hair for a few hours, the pair enjoyed the excitement and energy that came with it. Charlie knew he had to find a way to make everything work out...
Later that evening after the kids had left, Oliver decided to take his broom out and try to clear his head in the night air. Charlie sat in the house, intently thinking, determined to come up with some sort of solution. After sitting and thinking, he tried pacing and thinking. His pacing led him over to the table where his letter still lay.
He picked it up and reread it. In the midst of reading, something finally clicked and Charlie exclaimed, "Hagrid!" Throwing the letter back on the table, he raced to the next room in search of a quill and paper. Racing back to the table, he sat down and hastily wrote a letter:
Dear Hagrid, I suppose you probably know I've been hired to teach Care of Magical Creatures. As excited as I am, I can't help but worry about Oliver. Our lives have become so interconnected that I don't know how any of this will work out. I don't know what you can do, if anything, but I need some advice right now. Charlie Weasley
Then he coaxed the owl over, sending the letter off to Hagrid. And then the waiting resumed.
The following evening, shortly before dinner, the owl returned. Charlie was relieved to see it carried a reply. Oliver looked up from that morning's Daily Prophet which he was reading. "Anything interesting?" He asked.
Charlie answered quickly, "Just a note from Hagrid. I needed to ask him a few things yesterday."
When Oliver realized the letter was related to Charlie's job offer, he only said, "Oh..." before returning his attention to the paper.
Charlie, on the other hand, quickly broke the seal and read Hagrid's reply:
"Charlie, Knew you'd get it! Talked to Professor Tremlett-Claverdon. Put in a good word for Oliver. Won't say no more here but Oliver should get an owl soon. All the best, Hagrid."
As he finished reading, Charlie tried to hide the grin that was quickly spreading across his face. Trust Hagrid to come up with something. As to what that something could be, Charlie could only guess, and he felt his guesses weren't all that good.
While he cooked dinner, Charlie's mind was elsewhere. He tried not to get his hopes up too high, partially so Oliver wouldn't pick up on anything going on. But at the same time, he knew Hagrid well enough to know that if Hagrid didn't have answers he would have just said so.
The two ate in silence. Oliver was usually quiet, but since the arrival of the letter the previous afternoon, he'd been unusually uncommunicative. The silence was only broken when he volunteered to do the dishes.
Charlie didn't know what to do with himself. He just wanted this owl Hagrid wrote of to come as soon as possible. They spent the remainder of the evening in silence, reading. Charlie had the latest issue of the monthly magazine Dragon Drools, and Oliver a book on the history of broomsticks.
Both of them were almost ready to turn in for the night when something thudded against a window. Oliver stated, "What the-?" Charlie raised the magazine in an attempt to hide his face as he began to smile in anticipation, hoping the noise had come from a Hogwarts owl.
Charlie hesitated behind his magazine just long enough for Oliver to move to look out the window. Upon seeing an owl perched precariously on the ledge outside, Oliver opened it, allowing the owl to hop in and onto his arm. Removing the letter and turning it over to read who it was addressed to, he was slightly startled to see it was for him. He certainly hadn't been expecting anything and didn't recognize the owl.
Oliver untied the letter and broke the seal, confusion creeping onto his face, as Charlie leaned forward and watched in anticipation. As Oliver read, his eyebrows knit themselves closer and closer together until suddenly his eyes sprang wide. He turned to Charlie and asked, "Do you know anything about this?" He waved the letter in the air.
"Not exactly," Charlie replied, which was the truth. He was as anxious to know the content of the letter as Oliver was to know it's origin.
"You're not a good liar, you know that?" Oliver said.
Charlie was practically falling off the edge of his chair, "Really. I don't know what it says!"
Crossing the room, Oliver handed Charlie the letter and told him, "Read this, and then explain. I can't believe this is a coincidence!"
Charlie put down the magazine and quickly read:
Dear Mr. Wood, I would like to offer you the position of Flying instructor and Coach and Referee for quidditch. As you may or may not have been aware, Madam Rolanda Hooch has wanted an excuse to fully retire for several years now. Your response is highly anticipated, Frey Tremlett-Claverdon, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Grand Sorcerer, Order of Merlin Second Class
As he finished reading, Charlie looked up at Oliver and grinned, "Problem solved?"
Oliver shrugged, "I guess so…"
"Something still wrong? This sounds like something you'd be a tad more excited about."
"Well, I don't understand how this came about. I don't believe Tremlett-Claverdon came up with this on his own."
Charlie gestured at a chair opposite him and Oliver sat down. Oliver watched him closely, looking for any hint as to what had gone on. After a moment staring at each other, Charlie explained, "I wrote to Hagrid about the situation. The letter last night was his reply. I didn't know what he had done, he didn't say."
Slowly Oliver's expression of puzzlement turned into a small smile, "Thank you." He reached out a hand and Charlie took it. They looked into each other's eyes, losing track of time. Finally Charlie stirred and broke the silence.
"Looks like we're going back to Hogwarts."
The next morning, both Charlie and Oliver wrote hastey letters and sent them off to Professor Tremlett-Claverdon, accepting the offered positions.
2 Months Later
Charlie and Oliver had forgone the typical accommodations given to professors in lieu of living in a small house on the edge of Hogsmeade. It meant waking up to Hogwarts every day, but it didn't matter to them.
The first day after they got all moved in and settled in their new house, Charlie walked up to visit Hagrid first thing in the morning. After knocking on the door and hearing the clunking footsteps inside, Hagrid threw open the door, saying in his gruff way, "Who's needin' summat so bleedin' early?" Then looking out, he realized who stood on the step, "Why if it isn't Charlie!"
"Hey Hagrid," Charlie replied as Hagrid enveloped him in one of his giant hugs and ushered him inside.
Hagrid began rambling, "When I got yer owl, I knew I had ter do summat. Yer the only person I could see takin' me job an' I told that ter Professor Tremlett-Claverdon . You an' Oliver came along just at the right time. I don't think anyone could be happier than meself…"
Eventually Hagrid began to talk in circles and Charlie couldn't help but interrupt, "And we have you to thank for it, Hagrid. I going to have some big shoes to fill." He looked up at Hagrid and grinned.
A/N I'm thinking about making this into a series of snippets of their relationship, mostly fleshing out some of the backstory bits in this. So if that happens someday, this will be rewritten leaving out all those bits and developing the rest a bit more. But for now, I just wanted to write something about these two. I generally don't ship, but I kind of like Charlie/Oliver. So this is the result and I'm throwing it out here to see what happens...
