There's an old house that has sat empty next to the Weasley's since before Molly and Arthur first bought it. When it eventually finds a new family, it leads to the Weasley's gaining life long friends, and the elder boys find something a little more. A story in three parts, watching as both Bill and Charlie eventually find their soul mates in the two young children of Michael Draige, and the progression of their lives in a world filled with danger, war and deceit.
Pairings: Bill/?, Charlie/Heather, Charlie/Alex, Ron/Hermione (minor), Harry/Ginny (minor), Michael/Tonks.
Information: this is NOT going to be a fan fiction containing underage sex/non consent sex - it starts when one of the main character's is Five (Alex) and walks through the relationship she and Charlie share - from friends to lovers, to more, and I wont intentionally be including any scenes that could lead to anything more (though as always everything is up to how the reader perceives a scene), or that may suggest anything more, such as hugs or kisses that may be questionable : )
This wont be overtly angst filled, however it may included and gay relationship/ gay character
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Weasel's, or the potty's or the granger girl, the only charecters that are mine are Alex, Danny and Michael :D (Against slavery in all other respects (; )
Delight
Michael Draige and his two children Alexandra and Daniel moved next door to the Weasley's three days before his son's tenth birthday. Michael knew that his son had had his heart set on a big birthday party, marking the monumental step of having two digits in his age. Danny and Alex, despite being opposite genders and having a five year age gap were as close as identical twins, and their indistinguishable looks only added to that. Danny was lithe, with long limbs and a slender, almost elegant body, his hair was an almost white gold blonde, shattering into gold when the sun hit it. He had a slim face with huge, bambi like grey eyes and a Cupid's bow mouth. Alex was the same, almost half her brother's height; she could have been a shrunken version of him, even down to her 'short back and sides' hair cut. She adored Danny. The two were inseparable, and could often be seen plotting tricks and adventures, identical heads bowed together in conspiracy, silver grey eyes gleaming in delight. Despite this, Danny was still very aware that the only person who he knew in their new town was his little sister, and though he loved her in return, she was still younger, slower and softer than a boy, and Danny had a tendency for playing a bit rough. This left their father with a dilemma that surprisingly enough was answered by their new neighbours.
*10
Molly Weasley watched fondly as the house next door was finally filled. It had been empty for as long as she and Arthur had lived there. She had always felt that an empty house was a sad thing, a thing without purpose. She'd caught a glimpse of the widower and his two boys, and had caught the names Danny and Alex. She had called her husband and pointed them out, claiming them to be the most attractive children she'd ever seen, and both were impeccably polite and obedient, unlike her own unruly lot, who even as she thought it, were busy digging up the garden and hiding various items of Percy's in the holes. She sighed before stomping out.
"Fred, George, Charlie and Ginny if you don't dig all that back up again you'll go to bed without your dinners!" Michael watched; laughter glittering in his eyes as all four rushed to the still fresh piles of earth, clawing it all back up again and hissing 'I told you so's at each other.
"I don't know how you manage, I struggle enough with two never mind four." Molly smiled back at him.
"Seven actually." His eyes widened.
"Ah, now I understand, insanity!" she laughed at the bad joke.
"So how old are your two?" he looked back at them, where the elder was showing his sibling a patch of grass and talking knowledgeably about it.
"Well Alex is five, six in August, and Danny's my eldest, ten in three day's time, he was so gutted that we couldn't wait to move until after his birthday. He had a whole party planned out and now I'm not to sure what to do with them." Molly's face brightened up.
"Why not bring them round here? I've got six boys who they can play with, and Ginny's tougher than she looks, I'm sure they'd love to have some new friends to play with." Michael grinned at the short woman.
"Really? Wow he'd really like that; I'll get them murdering a cake tonight." Molly smiled indulgently before both of them were distracted by a scream of delight. Alex thundered over, dirt smeared over her face and dungarees.
"Daddy I got a WORMY! Can I keephit? Please? I could keephit in a jar wiv ma other cwalies!" Michael hitched an eyebrow.
"Your other crawlies? I thought we said no more after you dumped the last lot in my bed." Her face dropped it's look of delight to one of frantic thinking. Molly noticed that her own children were watching the exchange curiously, while Danny cackled at his siblings slip up.
"I meant… I mean…" Molly could see the moment inspiration hit, her silver eyes widened dramatically and a grin split her face, revealing a gap between her teeth, missing her front two, "I mean the other one's I find's today!" Michael chuckled.
"Sure you did short stack."
"Please daddy, please please please please pleeeeeeeeeease!"
"No, Alex. I'll let you watch Denis the menace again but you aren't getting any more bugs. Now be a good girl and introduce yourself to Mrs. Weasley." Molly could hear Ginny giggling, and prayed she wasn't about to say what her mother knew she would.
"He's a boy dummy!" the blonde girl blushed scarlet and hid behind her dad's leg. Danny scrambled up, seeing his sisters distress.
"No, she's not; Alex is a girl, dummy!" Molly apologised profusely for her daughter.
"Don't worry about it; personally I'm rather glad that I've hidden her from boys this early, now I've only got to last another fifty years and I'll never have to worry about her." Molly opened her mouth to chuckle, but Charlie spoke first.
"I knew she was a girl. It's obvious." Alex gaped at him disbelieving, but Molly could tell her second eldest was being truthful, and she watched in delight as the little girl carefully disentangled herself from her fathers legs and watched tenderly as Charlie bent his head back to the ground and ripped a purple stuffed rabbit from the mud.
*10
Alex stared as her brother play fought with Fred and George, happily yanking the twin's hair and being shoved about in return. She couldn't work out if she was jealous or just being shy. Her daddy always called her that, shy. She hated it. He'd once told her mummy that that was why she dressed like Danny, so she could pretend to be him and be accepted more. She didn't really. She just thought that Barbie looked stupid, and that pink wasn't nearly as nice as orange. Alex loved orange, and she loved people with orange hair. She'd always wanted orange hair, rather than yellow, and here were positively hundreds of people with orange hair! Even if one of them was trying to get her to play with Barbie, and another two were stealing her brother away. She sighed, her tiny body slumping down in a huge exhale.
"You ok?" she screeched loudly, though it was lost in all of the other shouts from the other children.
"You scared me!" she pouted angrily at the boy, who grinned back, before hitching his trousers up at the knees and bending down next to her.
"Did I? Sorry, I couldn't tell over your scream." He grinned cheekily at her, and she giggled back, poking her tongue at him. She stuck her thumb in her mouth.
"Ooh are you?" Charlie frowned, looking confused.
"You know what." He whispered covertly.
"Wha?" her eye's widened again, getting ready for ground breaking news.
"I can't remember!" Charlie pulled his best frightened face, the same one he'd used to terrify Ron into believing that a vampire was behind him last Halloween. Alex wrinkled her nose.
"Don't be silly, course you can remember your name!" he bit down a laugh. She was smarter than she looked.
"I can't! I can't remember if it's Bill or George or Ron or Ginny or Percy or Charlie or Fred or Arthur of Molly or Aunt Mildred!" Alex giggled.
"Silly! You've got confused!" Charlie looked shocked again.
"I have?"
"Yeah! We gotta find you a name! We'll call you Arnold for now."
"Ooh, I like Arnold, maybe I'll keep it, even if we do find my name. But my mum would kill me if I lost it for good!" she nodded seriously, and pursed her lips and squinted her eyes before surveying all of the people around them.
"I don't think it's any of the girl's names, so it's not Ginny or Molly or Mil-Mildred or Charlie-."
"Charlie is a boy's name isn't it?" he suppressed another jaw splitting grin.
"Nope, it's little for Charlotte, it was my mummy's name and she was a girl."
"But isn't it short – little – for Charles as well? Like Alex is little for Alexandra and Alexander?" she gaped at him.
"Is it? Oh my god! My daddy gave me a boy's name!"
"It's a girls name too, Alex." She didn't look convinced, "Anyway, we know your name, what's mine?" Alex pouted and thought carefully.
"Well, if we're taking Charlie as a possible boy's name too, I think we need to do a bit of invest-investnigating, which means we have to find out everyone ewses names." He nodded, brow furrowed in concentration.
*10
Michael watched, bemused as his daughter lead one of the Weasley boys around the back garden, going to each person in turn and talking to them with a serious look on her little face, lips pouted carefully and eyebrows scrunched over her eyes, while she took notes with an imaginary pen on her palm and occasionally batting her fringe out of her eyes. Arthur joined him at the picnic table.
"You look about as clueless as I am about that." The younger man looked at his companion.
"They've been doing that for ages now. Your poor boy must be bored out of his mind." Arthur grinned.
"Nah, not Charlie, he loves playing with the little kids, he thinks they're hilarious." Michael smiled back.
"How old is he?" he enquired, as he caught a look Alex gave Charlie. She looked to be absolutely in love with the older boy
"Fourteen in November. Why?"
"I get the feeling my daughter's going to start planning her wedding to him tonight." They both fell into laughter over poor unsuspecting Charlie.
"I think Danny's got competition for top mud pie making partner."
"Aah, Charlie makes a good mud pie, always at it when he was Alex's age, made sure it was full to the brim of worms and that everyone got an equal portion. By the way if you need any tips on hiding places for pie, you know where I am." He winked before heading over to Ron who was being tormented by the twins, having been released from their new found best friend in exchange for the eldest Weasley, Bill.
*10
Danny scowled at Charlie and Alex as they went around the assembled party, moving onto Molly next, who tapped her lips before shrugging her shoulders.
"What're you glaring at?" Bill ruffled the blonde mop of hair.
"Alex. She's being an idiot." Bill rolled his eyes.
"She's just making friends, isn't that what you did with Fred and George?"
"But she's mine. I'm her big brother; I'm the only one who get's to play with her." Bill frowned.
"Why?" Danny sighed.
"Cause she's so little! Everyone else'll break her, like my mum broke. And when my mum broke she died." Bill pulled the smaller boy into a hug.
"Well, that's a lot of responsibility for one person isn't it? Don't worry, you can trust Charlie, he hasn't broken Ginny, and Ginny's almost as little as Alex." He contemplated that for a moment before shrugging, feigning indifference, "Fine. But if he break's it he buy's it."
Danny huffed a huge breath at the cake he'd made with Alex, managing to not only blow out all of the candles for the first time, but keep his spit off of the cake for the first time as well. He carefully cut a thick slab for his sister, making sure she got the end they'd eaten from and bumped up with cream and jam, knowing it was what she liked best, before cutting the rest haphazardly and slapping it into the mix of bowls plates and napkins. Bill chuckled as Alex nabbed a second slice and ran it over to Charlie, who was sitting next to him. "Here you go! And here." She thrust her own slice at Bill, who smiled kindly. "Tell you what sweetie, I'll go grab my own, and you can tell Charlie about how you and Danny made it, yeah?" he was confused when her mouth dropped open and Charlie choked on his mouthful.
"Your name is Charlie! We shoulda gone straight to you!" Bill lifted an eyebrow, questioning his brother. But surprisingly, Charlie was already engrossed in the long abandoned game.
"My god you're right! Who knew you were such a genius Bill! We'll have to go straight to him if I forget again!" the tiny blonde girl nodded enthusiastically, her head bobbing up and down furiously, obviously in awe of the eldest Weasley boy. Bill got up to fetch some cake and Charlie pouted at Alex as she took Bills seat "Is he your favourite now?" she pulled out her bambi look again, "No. You're more orange than he is." She stated, before shoving half her slice in her mouth and kicking her short legs erratically, leaving Charlie baffled.
*10
1 month later
Charlie watched nervously as Alex tipped another mug of cold water into the hole they'd dug together. She squatted next to it, reaching her small hands in and squeezing the thick clods of mud between her fingers, grinning at the squelching sound before it plopped back into the water.
"Stick in some more mud; we need to make enough for ev'y one!"
"Aye Captain!" He shoved the bright green beach spade into the excavated dirt and waited for go.
"Sp'inkle it in slowly and I'll mix it." She stuck her tongue out in concentration, stirring furiously and giggling when a wave hit Charlie's hand.
"You got me!" he shrieked, teasingly.
"Oops." Charlie had learnt only a few days after knowing Alex that the bambi look was her way of getting out of trouble, and she used it to full effect right then.
"Oh no, I'm not falling for that again!" she giggled in delight. She was silent for a while, her lips pursed in a now familiar gesture to the Weasley boy. She was thinking, and when Alex was concerned, thinking was generally an erratic affair.
"Charlie, is you coming to my birthday?" she eventually asked, silver eyes staring avidly at the thick brown muck in their hole.
"Of course I am; why wouldn't I?" she blinked up at him, obviously still concerned.
"Cause Danny told me that Fred and George said that you were going away soon." Charlie frowned confused.
"To school, you mean?" she shrugged.
"I guess. It's not true, is it? You'll stay here and play with me wont you? You won't go away." She bit her soft pink lips, huge eyes begging. He sighed and looked away.
"I've got to, not for a while yet, but I have to go to school, and my schools a long way away."
"But there's a school here! You can go to that one and we could still play!" he shook his head.
"I can't, the school I go to is a special one. I'll still send you loads of letters though, and lots of presents, I promise." A fat tear rolled down her cheek but she ignored it, picking up her own spade and stabbing at more lumps of mud.
"I'll still be here for your birthday though, I promise, and I'll get you a really good present." Her lips pursed again.
"What about… what about if you don't come to my party, and don't get me a present, could you stay then?" she cocked her head at him, squinting in the sun. Charlie sat up and pulled her into a hug, "I'm sorry Alli;" he used the pet name her dad used "it doesn't work like that. I'll still be your best friend though, and I'll come home at Christmas and Easter and half-term and we can play together again, I swear." Her short podgy arms wrapped around his neck, nearly strangling him.
"You promise you'll send me a letter everyday?" he chuckled.
"I swear, and I'll send you lots of cool stuff from my lessons. And so will Bill, he might even let you wear his prefect badge.
"His what badge?" Charlie laughed at the half disgusted half perplexed look on her face.
"It means he's been really good and gets to tell people what to do." She stuck her tongue out.
"Why would I want to wear that? I'd have to be good all the time!" Charlie laughed loudly before ruffling the cute mop of hair and turning back to their muddy mess of a pie, throwing in a few extra worms for luck.
*10
"Please daddy, I'll be really, really, really good for the rest of the year I swear, and I'll give you loads and loads of hugs and I'll be good and I won't ask for anything else ever!"
"Me either!" Danny added for luck. Michael frowned at his children, trying to work them out.
"Let me get this straight. You both want to spend the week camping with the Weasley kids, without any adults, without any tents-."
"Because they don't have any and we don't neither." Alex interrupted.
"And, without five of the Weasley's." They both nodded in tandem. Michael groaned. He'd been fine with Alex hanging out with Charlie, and Bill with Danny, it gave them someone else to go to and the older boys always took care of them, Charlie obviously adored Alex and Bill and Danny got on like a house on fire despite the age gap. But letting the two teenagers take his children out into the woods to hike and camp was a bit much.
It'd been Charlie's idea, a goodbye and birthday present for Alex rolled into one. The original idea had been for it to be just the two of them, but Molly and Arthur hadn't felt Charlie to be quite responsible enough yet, and had suggested Bill go as well, just in case, which had of course gotten Danny interested.
He knew that Alex had her heart set on some concentrated one on one time with Charlie, and that this was the only thing that had put a proper smile on her face since she'd had her dad work out how many seconds between then and Charlie leaving for school, and then between September the 1st and the Christmas holidays.
He looked down at the two, Danny with grass stains over his knees and elbows curtsy of the twins, and Alex with daisy chains wrapped around every limb after a day spent with Charlie in the meadow behind both houses. Both of them had their best bambi eyes on and he crumbled.
"Fine, but you have to come back every few days so we can make sure you're ok and so you can have a bath." They rushed at him, hugging his knees and waist respectively, both shrieking thank you a thousand times each in delight.
*10
"CHARLIE! Charlie, Charlie, Charlie we can GO." Charlie caught the ball of blonde and swung her around.
"Ha-ha! That's great sweetie!" he kissed her red cheek before dropping her back to the ground. She giggled ecstatically. Alex grabbed the offered hand and followed him in side the Weasley's house for lunch, babbling about how they should catch and train a bear.
*10
"Sharlie? Sharlie did you hear that?" he groaned. It was their first night of camping in the open, after a day of hiking at five o'clock in the morning, half of it spent carrying Alex on his back after she'd gotten tired, then tree climbing, swimming, hide and seek, tag, war (the stick guns were occasionally used to literally beat the enemy), fishing for dinner, a minor scare when Danny half choked on a small bone (swiftly beaten out of him by Bill), and then a three hour marathon story telling about cuddly toys, tom cats, elves, an amusing moment where Alex asked for Cinderella, leaving both Bill and Charlie baffled, before the request turned to a story about witches and wizards – "but make them goodies, cause all witch stories are about bad people." through which she constantly corrected them about facts, such as the correct way to fly a broomstick, and Danny and Alex arguing that 'stupefy' was a ridiculous name for a spell to knock people out, and that 'asleepio' was a far better alternative.
"No Alex, I didn't, go to sleep sweetie."
"But I'm cold and I forgot my fox, I can't sleep without him." His sleeping bag was tugged by a small hand.
"Fine, I'll be your fox tonight, and you sleep in here with me." Though his eyes were closed he could imagine the face she had pulled perfectly, lips pouted, finger pushed against them thoughtfully, and eyes on the sky.
"'Kay, deal." She yanked the zip down and he turned onto his back, head facing her, opening his arms for her to crawl in. she clambered onto his stomach, elbows and knees jabbing various area's until she was settled.
"Thank 'ooh Sharlie." She lisped sleepily, head pillowed adorably on his chest and asleep within moments. A low chuckle caught his attention and he looked over at his brother, whose back was to him, facing the other youngster with them.
"What?" he asked, already half knowing what the answer would include.
"If you're not careful she's going to fall in love with you." Charlie rolled his eyes.
"Don't be stupid." Bill faced him, bright eyes gleaming in the dark.
"She will, Charlie she already adores you and she's only known you a month. If nothing else your girlfriends are going to have one tough critic."
*10
"Charlie watch me dive watch me dive!" she clambered up onto a pile of boulders, arms stretched out and pot belly poked in front of her, occasionally ducking quickly to grab the rocks, sticking her bum into the air in an attempt to stay standing. She was wearing a pair of boys 'tweenies' swimming trunks, and a vest. It'd been hell trying to get her to let them put on sun cream earlier, and Charlie knew they'd have to go through it all again in an hour or so. It wasn't that she didn't like having it on, it was the fact that the water was "right there." Ready to be swam in. he'd managed to resist bambi long enough to put his foot down while she grumbled.
"I'm watching brat!" she squealed, before leaping from the rocky lip and into the cold water, her cannonball creating small waves as she disappeared under the glassy surface. She popped back up a second later, three feet over from the epicentre.
"Did you see? Ch-Sharlie?" she paused and swam fitfully back to the rocks, obviously too tired to hold herself above the water at the moment. "Charlie?"
"Yeah I saw! That was awesome!" he joined her on her perch, pulling her into a cuddle "You tired sweetie?" she shook her head rigorously.
"No! I wanna keep on swimmin'" she shivered suddenly.
"Here, why don't you get on my back and I'll take you over to the towels, get you warmed up a bit, and then we'll come back in." she pouted again in thought, before nodding slowly.
"We'll come straight back in though, right?"
"Of course."
Once they reached the shore and Alex was securely swaddled in a blue's clue's towel, Charlie laid back and soaked in the sun, noting the slow and even breathing coming from the now sleeping toddler next to him. He watched her for a while, memorizing every inch of her face curiously. He could tell straight away that she was going to be a beautiful young woman, her features were soft and subtle, a pretty mouth, and he knew from experience that she had the most innocent and vulnerable eyes, eyes that you'd do anything for.
*10
"Mum?"
"Yes dear?" Molly answered distracted.
"If I met a muggle, and was really good friends with them, would I be able to tell them about being a wizard?" his mother hitched an eyebrow at him.
"You can't tell Alex, Charlie."
"But mum! She's so upset about me leaving, and you know they'll work it out eventually, they're living right next door, and we can't hide it for long! Alex wouldn't ever understand otherwise, and I don't want to upset her. I can hardly make up stories about classes I know nothing about for the entire year." Molly sighed and rubbed her eyes, knowing her son was right. The Draige family had become very close to them, and ate round their house most nights, and with the exceedingly close relationships between Charlie, Alex, Bill and Danny, it would be almost impossible to keep their magic hidden. Heck even as she thought it she was peeling potatoes with her wand.
"I'll talk to your father about it tonight. But I'm not making any promises, if we decide that it's to risky you leave it at that, understood?" they both knew that if they his parents decided on no then he'd argue the case, but they ignored that in favour of having a nice evening.
*10
"So… you're trying to tell me that you're… that you're… wizards?" Michael looked between the couple sitting opposite him, who both had near identical looks of worry on their faces.
"Yes, usually we're not allowed to tell mu-… non-magical people, but we thought considering how close Alex and Danny are to Bill and Charlie, that it would be easier to tell you now rather than later down the line." He nodded, still amazed.
"I… can you… I don't know, show me or something?" Arthur nodded, a grin splitting out on his face.
He whipped out his wand, swishing then flicking, silently saying the spell. A vase lifted from a side table, coming to a slow stop some two foot in the air.
"So that's where Charlie and Bill are going in September – to that… Hogwarts place?" they nodded. Michael sighed heavily, rubbing a hand through his black hair.
"I'll let you two tell my kids then. They'd never believe me." He grinned shakily at his neighbours.
*10
Charlie woke on September the first with a pang in his chest. Bill was still snoring in the opposite corner of the room, face first into the pillows and limbs everywhere. A glance at the alarm clock told him it was only half past five and he groaned, wondering why he'd woken up.
Something at the end of his bed shifted.
"Charlie?" the voice shifted into the sun light, and a crown of golden hair exploded.
"Alex? What're you doing here?" she grinned knowing that he was awake.
"I got a p'esen' for you. Wanna see?" he nodded, scrubbing at his eyes and sitting up carefully, scratching at his bare chest.
Alex quickly scrambled into his lap facing him and thrust a badly wrapped lump into his nose. He pulled the newspaper open and looked at the object. It was boxy and bigger than his hand, with a circle of pin prick holes at the top, a large black button jutting out of the side and long thin and flexible bit of plastic at the top, all covered in dark green, brown and grey paint.
"What is it?" she rolled her eyes at him the same way she had when she'd given him a torch for their midnight frog hunt.
"I'sa walkie talkie, dummy." she looked up at him expectantly, while his still asleep brain tried to work out what he was holding from the name. He gave up swiftly.
"What does it do, though?" she frowned, cute silver eyebrows scrunched up, before leaning back to the end of the bed and grabbing a matching box.
"You turn it on." She pushed at a stiff button, sliding it to the end of its track. A sharp crackle leapt out and she held down the side button, glancing at Bill you continued to snort. "And I turn on mine." Charlie replaced her finger with his while she turned her own on. "And you talk into yours when you hold down the button." She nodded for him to do it.
"Hello?" a crackly version of his voice came out of her device and he grinned.
"When you let go of your button I can talk to you see," she demonstrated, holding the box to close to her mouth and the message came out garbled.
"An' we c'n tawk to each o'er when you're at schoo'." He turned the box over, critically eyeing it.
"Alex it wont work in my school." He looked up at her apologetically.
"Oh." She looked dejectedly down at her own device. "Charlie?"
"Yeah, short stack?"
"Your school bloody sucks." He chuckled before she climbed under the sheets with him and fell asleep.
*10
A screech of delight rang through the house three days after Charlie and Bill left for Hogwarts, and the two males in the house knew it meant Charlie had written.
"Daddy help me read it? Please?" he chuckled at his daughter, who scrambled into his lap and shoved a roll of paper into his face.
"Fine, short stack, but quit waving it!"
*10
Hey Alli!
I'm sorry if it's taken a while to get this letter to you, I know I said every day but you'll have to allow for travelling time. I'll try and make sure I write down everything that happens between posting this and getting a letter back from you, so you don't miss anything.
You were right, my school does suck! It's only been a day for me and I miss everyone, you especially of course. Making mud pies would be so much more fun than potions. My teacher's such a pain in the butt, he terrifies the entire class into silence, no body feels like they can ask for help, despite the fact that it's one of the toughest lessons here. Even his own house is scared of him, and he always turns a blind eye to how awful they are. Favouritism. Though there is one good thing, I swear he thinks he's a bat! He wears black robes, covered head to toe, and he's got really greasy black hair, he's a joke. Potions master or not he's a useless teacher. Though I wouldn't mind so much if professor McGonagall favoured all the Gryffindor's, at least then we'd be on even footing. The only reason the Slytherin's win each year is because we have to make up all the points Snape takes off and gives to them.
I hope you like the plant I sent with this, it's called boomslang, once it's ready you take the skin off and use it for potions, I asked professor Sprout what it could be used in and she said something called Polyjuice potion. I got Bill to go into the restricted section of the library and find out what that was; he said it turns you into someone else for an hour! How cool is that? We might be able to sneak you in after all sweetie.
My house is holding tryouts for quidditch; you know that sport I told you about? The one on broomsticks and with the bludgers? I'm going to try out for seeker, though I haven't had much practice thanks to you guys moving in! Not that I'd swap it for the world of course.
Did I tell you I'm allowed to go into hogsmead this year? It's the village next to my school, they've got a joke shop there, and a sweat shop, I'll send you as much as I can get onto an owl – don't let Fred and George steal the jokes though! You know what those two are like for making trouble, though I expect your daddy will be on his toes for a while!
One of my friends got a camera for his birthday, so I'm going to send you loads of pictures of Hogwarts, the moving ones I showed you, and pictures of the try outs. I've been telling everyone all about you and they all want to meet you, I'll need to get a new family photo for my dresser, with you, Danny and your daddy in as well.
I found a ad in the back of my Quidditch magazine for a figurine you'd like, I'm trying to think of more ways to make some money so that I can get it for you, luckily there's not a closing date so I should have a while to save up, and Bill said he'd help me out.
Anyway, enough about me! What have you been up to? Are you in school yet? Get your dad to take a picture for me, I bet you look like a right geek ha-ha! Have you made any friends yet? I know you were nervous.
Hope to hear back from you soon! I want all the gossip (ask your daddy to tell you what that means) and send me another drawing! I've got the one you gave me on Sunday next to my bed and it looks lonely!
Love you loads and loads and loads, Charlie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
*10
Hello Charlie.
Dady is helping me to rite to you cus some of the words are to big for me to spel. Your mummy said it wood take a while for your letter to come but I missed you lots.
Does you teacher relly look lik a bat? I bet hes relly scary. I don't lik bats. Dady says there all hary and that they smell funny to. Do you make eny potons with mud? I bet you use lots and lots of worms. All witches do. I wish I was a witch. Dady wouldn't be able to tell me of for having them wood he? Why does your teacher have greese in his hair?
How many points do you have? I bet you get loads and loads of points. Yore relly smart. Dady says well have to ask your mummy how to plant the boomslang cus he thinks it looks dyfeecolt. I do rember you talking to me abot the broom stik game. I hop you get in. I dont no if yore any good but you shood get in any way cus yore nice.
Dady wants to no wat it is with wizerds and pigs. Wat does he mean Charlie? Plees send me lots of jokes. Danny hid my rabbit and wont give it back now. Why wil dady be on his toes? Wont that hurt him?
Plees send me lots of piktoors. The 1 you gave me is stil working but I cant find were the battrys go in case it stops. Whats an ad? And whats a figrine? Dady says it's lik the lady on our fire shelf but she dosnt look lik she plays quiditch so I think he got it rong. Mabe you cood macke lemonad for more monee.
Im in skool but the teacher dosnt lik me very much. I sed that word you sed by accedant and told me not to say in front of her and she got mad with me. I don't like my uneefrom. It's got a skirt and it's itchee and the soks fall down all the time. Wats a geek? I havn't made any frends yet. All the girls laff at me and the boys run away. I relly wish I cood go to hogworts with you insted. Dady says I have to smile at them and be friendly but they wont let me.
Plees come back xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
*10
Charlie frowned at the letter he'd received three days after he'd sent his, kicking himself for getting her into trouble. There were little drops of dried water all over the page – tears. The idea of the sweet little girl he adored more than his own sister being so upset nearly killed him. He showed Bill the letter, and he in turn seemed quite upset by it.
"I know it sucks Charlie but there's nothing we can do about it, she's got to learn to make friends on her own some way."
"Yeah but it's not even anything that she's doing! It's her bloody dad's fault! Cutting her hair so short and letting her act so much like her brother! She's got nothing but boys around her!"
"What about Ginny? Couldn't she hang around with her more often?" Charlie rolled his eyes.
"You know what she's like, the second she goes into our house she starts playing with Fred and George. Ginny's Barbie's terrify her." They both laughed at that.
"What are you to on about?" the group of Gryffindor's around them had cottoned on to their conversation and had gotten interested. Charlie explained the situation quickly.
"Maybe your mum could send Ginny to the same school? Give her someone to hang about." Bill grabbed a quill and scratched out a p.s onto the letter to their mother, suggesting it.
"She's still going to be lonely though." Bill's fellow prefect, Alice Fredric's spoke up.
"Well, maybe we could write to her. Give her some advice?" Charlie grinned at the thought of Alex getting a bunch of letters from strangers, could see her baffled and slightly panicked face before she flaunted her new found popularity to her brother.
"She'd love that. You wouldn't even have to carry it on for long. It'd definitely boost her confidence a bit. Bill ask mum to ask Alex's dad if he'd mind."
Alex was flummoxed. Completely flummoxed and she had no idea what flummoxed even meant. Along with the expected letter from Charlie there were twenty-three others, and she'd only known how to count up to twenty before that morning. Danny was gapping at the four owls for her, all having been laden down with each note, most coming with little parcels or paper clipping or interesting looking flowers and plants and old scrolls of homework for her to read, and even a pack of exploding snap cards.
She read the letter from Charlie as best she could, tripping over some of the bigger words while she shared her breakfast with the owls. He spoke about a few more incidents in class, including a student melting a cauldron, table and part of the floor in potions. And there, she saw it, tagged right on at the end;
*10
My friends all think that you're really cool and want to write to you to, I hope you don't mind, they've sent lots of things for you to. You don't have to write back to all of them though; I know there's quite a few letters ha-ha. Alice, she's a prefect like Bill, thought you'd like to get a few more things from every one, she's a muggle born, and when she was little she loved all things magic (muggle born means a witch without magical parents, remember?). So we've sent you anything we could find we thought you'd like, including a chocolate frog! Grab it before it runs off though. And it's not a real frog so don't worry about eating it, they're really nice. And there's a troll figurine in there to, your daddy was right, not all figurines are of quidditch players though; they're just ordinary toys or ornaments.
*10
"Alex sweetie, go put all those on your bed, I'll sort them out for you later while you're at school."
"Kay, can I find the figrine first? I wanna show it at show and tell."
*10
"Uhm… this is a toy my Charlie's friends sent me this mornin'. It's of a singer from a band called…" she quickly re-read the note the toy had come with while the toy itself continued to mime sing and play a double axe guitar "… called the Weird Sisters. Charlie really likes them, and he's got a CD of them, and Bill – his brother – is going to go see them play next summer. Charlie said he was really jealous. But it says she sings along to their version of… 'hot cauldron of love'. And it's really smart 'cause it doesn't need batteries. My daddy said to say that it was… powered by the sun, usin' somethin' called solar power, which uses … nenergy from the heat to make it go."
The teacher led the class into clapping before asking her a question.
"And who is Charlie?" Alex licked her lips quickly, already filtering what she could and couldn't say.
"He's my best friend. He goes to a school in Scotland – a boarding school, which is a school you sleep and live in away from home. It's a school for special people, with special talents, and his brother Bill goes there to – Bill's a prefect. Charlie started there when he was eleven, and he's in his third year now. He took me camping for my birthday." She grinned at that, "but Bill kept on snoring so I didn't get much sleep. That and Charlie's sleeping bag was too small and he kept on squishing me – it was really cold, and I'd forgotten my rabbit. We tried to catch a bear and train it but we couldn't find one, so Charlie taught me how to catch a badger which was fun cause it nearly bit his fingers off and we had to run away from it. Charlie thought it was really funny, even if he was screaming like a little girl. But he told me not to tell my daddy about that otherwise we might not be able to go next year, and he said that it was really irrespon-irresponsible of him to do that, which means it was silly cause he should'a known it was dangerous, and he should'a known it was dangerous because he was older. Charlie told me that. He has orange hair." The class giggled after her monologue, "Sorry, I talked to much." She bit her lip, worried that she'd get told off again.
"Don't worry dear, you did very well and we were all very interested. This Charlie boy sounds like a very good friend." Alex nodded.
"He's the best, even better than worms! And they're awesome. Did you know you can cut them in half and it'll just turn into two worms instead? Kinda like slow worms, only their tales drop off rather than them turning into two. It's a defence mechanism, cause then you don't have a hold of it." The teacher clapped while most of the girls looked grossed out, and the boy's fascinated. She grabbed the toy again and sat back down, making sure to sit in the middle of a carpet tile, only vaguely aware of the boys around her, asking more questions about bugs and the toy.
*10
Hey Charlie!
Thank you so so so so much for all of the leters. I showed the toy at show and tel and daddy told me to tell them the sun made it go rathr than magic so you woodnt get in truble. Al off my frends like you to! We got loads of worms at play time, and I'm going to send some of mine to you in a jar. Will the owl eat them? I hope not, they were reel dyficolt to find but I gess if hes relly hungry he can have some. Daddy said that word you said when one of the owls pooed on the sofa. He said they were going to do it evry were. I read that home work that you sent me, about the Beazer. I thought it was relly good, daddy had to read it to me and we got your mummy to explain some of the words, could you send more? And could you ask mister Snape if I could learn how to do potons even though I'm not magic? I know you don't like him much and don't like asking him questions but Id relly like to no. don't worry if you cant though.
I tired to rite to evry one but my hand started to hurt aftr a wile so I had to stop. Ill rite more when its beter again. I new I had to rite to you though. I got your letter first to. And thank you for the chocolate. I let him run around in a box next to the frog you cort me during camping. He was relly tasty and trid to swallow him all at once so he could swim in my tummy but it hurt so I had to choo him.
My teacher has been helping me with my speling. Daddy says its gotten better. What do you think?
I love you lots. I still want you to come home but I'm not so lonely any more. I'm going round to my frend tomass house at the weekend and daddy sed hed buy me a new outfit to wear but I don't know why.
Love you, Alex xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
*10
The letter was passed round the Gryffindor common room that night, even those who hadn't sent anything or heard of the little girl were interested, and Charlie was pleased to see others falling in love with the Alex, and hoped they'd send things. He hated the thought that she was unhappy.
He picked up the jar of worms she'd mentioned, all wriggling in the dirt and tapping blindly on the glass. He'd already planned a trip to the library in search of enlargement charms for the jar. There had to be at least thirty of the bugs crammed into the jam jar.
*10
Five weeks before the end of the first school term Charlie sent Alex a stack of pictures – all moving, as requested; she sorted through, putting them into piles labelled 'just Charlie', 'buildings' and 'Charlie's friends'. She happily doted over the moving pictures of him, giggling when he playfully shoved a friend or pulled rabbit ears, and imagined sitting with him in the Gryffindor common room, which she already adored and planned to make her own bedroom just like it.
She paused at one picture. It was in the 'Charlie's friends' pile and featured him and a girl. Charlie was stood behind her, arms around her waist and head on her shoulder in the library. The picture moved of course, and the girl turned to smile up at him, and he turned to her, smiling back. Alex watched confused as he squeezed her before they turned back. She was very pretty, with long brown hair; big brown eye's and deep pink lips, a curvy waist and a cute smile. Alex felt a foreign surge of jealousy at how close Charlie was holding the girl. She put it aside face down and carried on through the pile, looking at all of the compositions critically, as though they were going to make her feel bad as well. There were two other pictures of the girl, in both she was standing close to Charlie, and the picture self glanced to him occasionally. She put that on the new pile to, realising that there was writing on the back of all of the photos. She picked up the first discarded one and read fitfully.
*10
Sarah and me in the library, failing to do transfiguration homework x
*10
What did that mean?
"Hey there sweetie, what're you up to?" Michael asked lightly as he walked into the kitchen in search of crisps. Alex dropped the picture like a hot iron, staring avidly at a rather plain picture of the forest in the school grounds.
"Charlie sent me pictures." Michael picked up the one she'd dropped and watched as his daughter's best friend doted on another girl. He read the back and sat down.
"Are you okay? You know he still loves you right?"
"Uhuh. Can I have juice?" he sighed and grabbed her Sippy cup from the fridge.
"Thank you daddy. Can we play football later? I know you said it was to cold but can we?"
"Sure thing, short stack, Danny can play to right?"
"Course, I need someone to beat." She grinned, cute dimples popping out in her chubby cheeks.
*10
Alex bounced excitedly as they walked through the train station. She could see Mrs. Weasley ahead of them with Ron and Ginny, and she knew Danny was somewhere ahead of them, looking for platform 9¾ Alex still thought it was nuts having a train station inside a pillar. She hadn't been allowed to go with them when they'd dropped Charlie and Bill off, but Ron had told her about what you had to do to get there, and she knew she had to be brave to get through, otherwise it wouldn't work. Michael gripped her hand tightly before swinging her up to his hip, holding her securely through the crowds. She giggled as Mrs. Weasley disappeared suddenly, followed by Ron and Ginny, and then they were charging through.
Michael swore under his breath as Danny hurtled into the heaving mass of teenagers, and Alex squirmed down and after him, getting repeatedly knocked and bashed.
"Alex! Get your butt back here!" Molly laughed.
"Don't worry too much, Charlie will find her soon enough." He grimaced, wondering how Charlie would handle an excited five year old in front of his friends.
*10
Bill chuckled at the two gleaming heads of blonde he could see drawing in to them. He looked around quickly for Charlie, knowing his brother had been looking forward to seeing Alex. He could just make out a messy red head and freckles when Danny found him.
"Hey there you two!" he grabbed Danny into a hug which was returned enthusiastically. Alex was hopping from one foot to the other comically, hands clasped together in front of her chest and eyes searching frantically. He picked her up easily under the arms and held her over his head.
"Oi Charlie! I found something of yours!" he bellowed, shaking the tiny girl slightly. "SHARLIE!" Alex roared when he turned to them. She wiggled to be put down, but Charlie reached them first, snatching her from his brother and hugging her tightly.
"Missed 'ooh Charlie."
"Missed you to short stack. Come on I want you to meet some of my friends." He carried her back to the group he'd left, watching from the corner of his eye as she stared in wonder at the train.
"It's cool isn't it?" Her head bobbed rapidly, big grey eyes never leaving the red carriages and gleaming bronze pistons. "Okay, so guy's this is Alex, Alex… Alex?" he glanced to her, and noticed that her eyes were glued on Sarah. "Do you recognise her?" Alex nodded, little mouth twisting into a scowl.
"Is she your girlfriend?" his face turned beet red while the group laughed at her blunt question.
"No, she's not Alex." She glanced back to him, noticing his almost angry expression.
"So'y. She's real pretty though." Sarah beamed.
"Thank you Alex, not quite as pretty as you though."
"I look like a boy. You've got really big boobs." It was Sarah's turn to blush at the blunt toddler.
"I need to stop talking so bluntly around you don't I."
"Ac'shy I learned that one off'a Danny. He said his teacher had huge knocke's but I didn't know what 'at meant an' 'e sai' boobs. I knew wha' 'at mean'." Charlie laughed before introducing the rest of the group. They all wanted to take turns holding her, and were surprised when she remembered all of the little things each individual had sent her.
"She's smarter than you are Charlie!" Todd claimed, grinning at the pleased blush.
"Yeah yeah, give her back, she's mine!"
"I am?" she scrunched her nose; she'd always thought that he was hers, not the other way around.
*10
Charlie watched delightedly as Alex searched through various bits of shiny red gold and green wrapping paper for the present she was trying to wrap. It was a CD for her father, bought with Michaels own money. Charlie lifted the slim box and waggled it in front of her eyes. She took it grinning at him, and then placed the case neatly in the middle. Her tongue stuck out of the side of her mouth as she cut the paper using her safety zigzag scissors. She finished with a giggle.
"Now remember how I showed you?" she nodded and folded two opposite sides into the middle, taking the inch of tape Charlie passed and sticking one edge over the other, pressing it down firmly so all the bubbles and wrinkles flattened.
"Then I make the triangle's, right?" he nodded, proudly watching as she flattened the two remaining sides into perfect triangles, the outside corners both right angles. Another inch of tape later and the CD was a perfect red square.
"Can I do yours next Sharlie?" he always thought it was adorable when she lisped his name.
"Course you can short stack. You want me to go into the kitchen?"
"Yes please. You can't see what it is else Santa wont pick it up." He laughed at her reasoning, wondering how her dad had explained why Santa picked up all of the presents. He heard her scramble up the stairs to get his present as the kitchen door of her house closed behind him.
Alex wiggled underneath her bed, pushing shoeboxes out of the way gently and scrambling forward on her knees, ignoring the pain of carpet burn.
She found the box she was looking for right at the back, a light brown one with stars and aliens stuck on the lid. She pushed off the lid and hunted through the various objects; pretty stones, colourful wires, beads and string, laminated leafs and flowers, pictures of her mother that she couldn't fit into her scrap book, a happy meal toy of Cinderella. Eventually she found what she was looking for, a small packet of seeds in a brown paper envelope. She scrambled back out, hastily replacing the lid.
*10
Molly smiled as Alex pulled on her grey jumper, a huge 'A' knitted onto the chest in white.
"Thank 'ou aun'y Molly" she chuckled fondly.
"Okay, my turn." Charlie picked up a small green package. Along one side, written in lopsided letters was 'to Chalrie, from Alex x' he pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her messy head and thanking her
"You don't even know what it is yet!" he carefully unstuck the tape and fetched out the object. He frowned at the small package. Alex caught the look, disappointed that he didn't seem to like them.
"I can give you som'in else if you wan'…?"
"Of course not! I just don't know what it is!"
"OH! They're seeds for Anti-antir… Antirrhinum! That's snack dragon-."
"Snapdragon, sweetie." Michael interrupted.
"Yeah, and I know you like dragons, and, I don't fink they actually look like dragons but they're flowers so they'll be pretty, right?" Charlie smiled at her adoringly, wondering how Michael had raised such a thoughtful daughter in only five years.
"Thank you, I love them. Here, open this one next."
"'S'it from you?" he nodded, watching her grin briefly before a flurry of paper hid her.
"Oh my god! You got me a potions kit!"
*10
Charlie was more than glad that his mum hadn't let Alex say good bye to him at the station. The previous night had been difficult enough, when she'd burst into tears and begged him not to go. Only the promise from her father to let her try out some of the potions from her 'little one's guide to potions' book had stopped her from having a fit. Even then she'd hung onto his neck until she fell asleep, salty tear tracks on her pale skin.
He spotted Sarah about to get on the train, so kissed his mother good bye and hurried after her.
"Hey, how was your Christmas?" he asked, managing to suppress the automatic blush for once. She smiled warmly at him.
"Good, thank you, and yours? How's Alex?"
Charlie's stomach fluttered at her smile, and he wished that when Alex had asked if they were together, he was able to say yes.
*10
Hey Alex
I hope you're ok, I know how upset you were last night. I'm sorry I couldn't say good bye this morning, but if you ask my mum I'm sure she can find something to make up for it (if she doesn't know what you mean tell her the thing I left with the big 'FOR ALEX' sign in the cool cupboard. I know you'll like it – you like anything sweet ha-ha.
Sarah says to say hi, everyone you met at the end of term wanted to see you again and we're going to send more pictures of Hogwarts in the snow, I know how disappointed you were when it only rained at Christmas.
I'm going to ask professor Sprout to help me with my Snapdragon. I've already put the packet in my Herbology book. And I promise to remember to ask professor Snape about the Beazer. I'm sure he'll give you one if I beg and promise to worship him for the rest of my life! But to be honest I'm not sure if you'll be allowed to come here when you're old enough to learn potions. I know you don't need to use a wand to actually make the potions but we have to use wands to make the fires hotter or cooler, like the dial on your oven. I'll ask professor McGonagall about it on Tuesday when I have my class, I promise.
I've found my spare scarf, helpfully hidden behind my head board! So I'll send that along with this.
I've put the new picture of us all next to my bed, by the way. The look on your face when Fred farted is so funny, the guys in my dorm nearly peed their pants when they saw it, you're so cute.
I know you probably won't understand why, but I was planning on asking Sarah to go to the next Hogsmead visit. You have no idea how glad I was that you liked her. I'm really nervous though, I've never asked a girl out before, wish me luck!
You'll probably be back at school yourself when you get this, so I'll ask how everything's going now. You can wear the scarf when you get it; I hope it keeps you nice and warm at play time.
How's Danny doing at school too, I bet he's going to get into lots of trouble with those pranks that Bill gave him for Christmas! Your dad looked terrified when he saw the indoor fireworks!
Hope to hear back from you soon, if I don't you're in big trouble ha-ha!
Love you to the moon and back again, Charlie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Alex held the scarf to her nose and breathed in deeply. It smelt just like him and she drunk in the scent with delight before wrapping it around her throat mouth and nose. The owl in front of her stole the remainder of her toast before leaving through the open window and going to its own perch in the Weasley's kitchen, in wait of its usual pile of mail. Michael walked in with Danny and jangled the car keys in her direction.
"Hey there small fry, are you ready to go?" Alex nodded happily.
"Look what Charlie sent me!" she held up one tasselled end to her father, who grinned back down.
"Wow, isn't it pretty Alex."
"Can I do my room like this?" Michael blanched at the idea of a bright red and yellow room.
"Pleeeeeeeeeease daddy!" the Bambi eyes came out and as always he crumbled.
*10
The letters were sent consistently for the five remaining years that Charlie attended Hogwarts, with the mentions of girls becoming more frequent, and the confusing negative feelings they evoked in Alex growing, and by the time that he eventually finished school, she was head over heels for him in a way that bonded teenage infatuation with childish adoration.
Though only ten, Alex grew tall and lean, her hair grew a little longer, her eyes stayed huge and added to the natural charisma that spilled from her, and she developed close bonds with those she had been in school with for half her life, and Molly and Michael both agreed that she'd unwittingly break a few of their hearts in the years to come.
By the time Charlie came home at the end of his seventh year, having hit 6"2 and growing, with broad, muscular shoulders, light crinkles around his always smiling eyes, rough hands and a booming laugh, Alex had developed an enchanting personality that he was as enamoured with as everyone else, and he knew that he was one of - if not the most - important people in her world.
*10
The old garden gates creaked noisily in the most nostalgic way as Charlie pushed it open so his dad could drive their old blue ford into the back garden and onto the garage. He grinned as one of the garden gnomes dived sideways as the cars accelerator was mistaken for the brake.
Ginny cam crashing around the corner of the house in search of them, throwing herself at his legs first, as the twins scrambled out of the cars back seats, slamming them back on an equally terrified Percy.
Danny's lanky frame followed her around, grinning from under Bill's arm, thrown casually over his shoulder.
"Alex is at a mates house, but she asked me to say high for her." The younger boy called over Ginny's excited hello's. Charlie's grinning face instantly dropped, before noticing the hitch of the blondes lips, signalling the joke. "You had me worried for a second." a playful giggle pulled his attention to their neighbours front door, where a blonde halo, silver eyes and pink lips greeted him. Alex sprinted to the dividing fence, which she easily vaulted despite it being higher than her waist, and crashed back to the ground, clumsily running the last meter to reach him.
Alex grunted as his thick, strong arms crushed her to his chest, her back bending over as he pulled her inward, Charlie's nose pressed into her hair and his smooth mouth on her neck. She returned the hug enthusiastically, pushing her lithe body into his.
"God I've missed you honey." Alex pushed her face into his neck by way of an answer.