He loves his family, but sometimes he cannot help but feel that he's the proverbial black sheep – Adrian would say he was the black weasel, but it all amounted to the same thing, really.
For all that his siblings are among the more colourful and interesting members of the wizarding world, they are also more than happy to settle down and raise families. Even Bill, who has always been the most like him, has left his time as an adventuring cursebreaker behind, content in his new job in London. But for him, the thought of leaving Romania and the dragons he has slowly come to regard as his is impossible – he doesn't have biological children, but the dragons at the reserve fill that hole well enough that he knows that one day, he will die and be buried right among them.
But for all that he's content in the life he has built for himself, he's also painfully aware of the fact that it's not something that his family can understand. They cannot see how he can be happy so very far away from home, without a conventional family. And while they have no problem with the fact that he will never be attracted to women, they definitely do not understand how he can happy with someone he was raised to hate – with someone who was raised to hate him.
He loves his family more than anything in world – but sometimes in the middle of the life and the colour, he cannot help but feel like the loneliest person in the world.
It's only worse when he visits them without Adrian – but, in many ways, when the ex-Slytherin is around, it's just as bad, and sometimes he feels like his life is nothing more than a balancing act between a rock and a hard place.
He cannot help but wonder why he does this to himself.
He loves returning to England to visit his family, but looking over their laughter and happiness, he feels a desperate longing for Romania and Adrian, for the dragons and everyone at the reserve – for the world in which he is understood.
"Uncle Charlie?"
It's the sound of Albus' voice that pulls him out of his borderline melancholy thoughts. His nieces and nephews enjoy the times when the whole family meets up more than anyone else, and the fact that one of them has decided to pull away from the rest for even a moment is surprising. The fact that it's Albus is even more surprising, considering the fact that not only is Rose present, but this time, so is Scorpius Malfoy.
For all that he's a Slytherin, Albus Potter is painfully similar to his father, and one of the traits he shares most prominently with the Boy Who Lived is the fact that he's rarely seen away from his best friends.
But Albus is standing there looking painfully nervous, and he knows that it isn't the time to reflect on odd happenings.
"Yes Albus?"
For a moment, the boy in front of him doesn't say anything, instead shifting nervously from one foot to the other. And then – then he gets a steely look on his face that it makes it extraordinarily clear why Albus was the only hatstall in recorded history where the Sorting Hat was torn between Gryffindor and Slytherin.
The words that come out from his mouth aren't ones that Charlie ever expected from a member of his family.
"How did you tell Grandma and Grandpa that you were dating a Slytherin?"
The worry on his face is enough to make Charlie flash back to the way he had felt when he walked through the door of the Burrow, determined to tell his parents about Adrian, and it that moment, he feels an overwhelming rush of affection for his nephew. He's never had a favourite from his numerous nephews and nieces, but looking at Albus, he thinks that he might have suddenly stumbled across one.
For all that Albus looks like he's waiting for an answer, however, Charlie waits and doesn't say anything. He knows his nephew, and more than that, he knows both his parents. Like Harry, Albus takes his time speaking his mind – but when he's decided to do so, it's better to wait for him to let it all out before saying anything.
"It's just-" Albus says after a few moments, words finally bursting out, "I don't- Mum and Dad know I'm attracted to blokes as well as girls, and they don't have a problem with it obviously. And they like Scorpius, I know that – but that's just as a friend, and it took them so long to get over the fact that Scor's a Malfoy. Telling them that he's not just my best friend – that I'm dating him – I just don't know how they're going to deal with it."
There's not really much he can say to Albus right now, experience has taught him that much at least. No matter what he says or how much he reassures him, Albus wont believe anything that doesn't come from Harry or Ginny. But at the same time, he can't say nothing.
"They love you," he says instead. "They'll accept it – they'll accept you." Because that's really Albus' main worry, and they both know it.
Albus doesn't look too confident in his words – the two of them know better than anyone that sometimes love isn't enough – but he does look less filled with tension, so Charlie counts it as a win. It's a feeling that's confirmed even more when Albus reaches out and hugs him tight, and whispers a simple, "Thank you."
And in a blink of an eye, he runs off to join the rest of his cousins, and Charlie is left staring at him. For the first time, he notices the way that Albus always seems to stay close to the youngest Malfoy, never wandering too far away.
It's only now that he realizes that perhaps he's not the only one who sometimes feels out of place in the Weasley family. For all that he's chosen a vastly different life to the rest of them, in many ways he's still the model of a Weasley – Gryffindor, dreadfully loyal, and bordering on stupidly brave. Albus is different – his nephew is not only the only Slytherin the family, but in many ways, he's more of an odd duck than Charlie is. After all, he only truly began to speak to his "enemies" after Hogwarts, whereas Albus somehow managed to bridge both the Malfoy-Weasley and Malfoy-Potter rivalries within the span of a Hogwarts year.
It's only now that he realises that he's spent too much time being melancholy over the ways he doesn't fit in to see what has always been right in front of him, and he can't help but wonder if he could have helped Albus more if he had only opened his eyes earlier. More than that, he cannot help but wonder if his life would have been different had he been more like Albus – more willing to take true risks than to be content by following the norm of bravery.
He cannot help but wonder how different his life would have been had he truly known Adrian in school – had his parents been used to the idea of a Slytherin sticking around before the idea of a romantic relationship had ever formed.
He's supposed to be a role model for his siblings' children, but his nephew has just managed to teach him more than he will ever be able to impart.
He returned home with every belief that he was going to be just as lonely this time as he always was – but as he notices Albus and Scorpius' hands lightly touching, he realises that he doesn't feel so distant and out of place any more.
AN: I hope you guys liked it! As always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)
Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Forum, Round 1. Chudley Cannons, Beater 2, using the prompts 'colourful' and 'Love and Beauty' by Moody Blues, specifically inspired by the lines "(Love) Love and beauty (Love) / Should be everybody's duty / To welcome every man as a friend"