StarblazeAndSolaris SAS SolStar
Sol: Ok, ok, I'm an idiot. Live with it. I came home from taekwando, started reading fanfiction, and the idea for this popped into my head. Yes, I was writing it at 10 past midnight in the middle of the half term. Don't ask.
Star: I've beta-ed it for you, so it's not too bad, but please put in the summary that this is what you get when you add chocolate, sleep-deprivation and an hour and a half of adrenelin-fueled extreme physical exercise to an already fanfiction-obsessed, hormonal teenage blond.
Sol: I'm not that bad! Am I? And you can hardly talk about being blonde, your hair's the same colour as mine!
Rating: K
Genre: Errmm… humour? General, we think.
Disclaimer: Christmas day has just been by, but the rights to Harry Potter were not one of our gifts. For the simpletons out there, that means we don't own anything, unfortunately.
Charlie's Apparation Test.
"Apparated straight on top of some poor old dear doing her shopping." (GoF)
Charlie sat in the corridor staring moodily at his hands, which were clasped on his lap. Slowly, deliberately, he lifted one free of the other's sweaty palm, raised his index finger to his mouth, and began chewing on the nail. Charlie Weasley was trying very hard not to panic, because this was a Big Day. He was 17. He was legally an adult. He had a job, working at Eeylops Owl Emporium. He was going to Romania to work with dragons. If he passed his test.
"Charles Weasley, enter!" He removed the splintered nail from his mouth, absently wiped the spittle on his robes, stood up and walked through the door. A tall, thin wizard in blue robes and grey, wispy hair looked him up and down with a disdainful expression before he sniffed and turned away. Beside him was a woman who could only be described as his opposite. She was short, almost dumpy, with curly, vibrant auburn locks that clashed terribly with her robes of patterned red and yellow. She beamed as Charlie plodded over to them, and seemed to speak in exclamation marks.
"Hello dear! I know you will do just fine! I've examined your older brother, too, you know! He did wonderfully, and I'm sure you will too! Now, Dumbledore has been kind enough to remove the charm on this room, so you can apparate out of Hogwarts for now! But once you've gone, you can't get back, so don't try it!" The thin man shot her a dirty look. "Oh! Of course! I'm Examiner Merryweather, and this is Examiner Prince! Here is your destination for your apparation! Now, make sure you remember the three Ds, and good luck!"
Charlie nodded his gratefulness with a small smile and strode to centre of the room in an attempt to appear calm. Here goes nothing. Taking a moment to memorise the scene and address of his arrival, he closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and turned on the spot into the suffocating darkness.
He let out his breath in a slow hiss, counting. At eight seconds, the crushing pressure stopped, and he sighed. Then gasped. Instead of feeling solid tarmac beneath his feet, wind was rushing through his hair, and his stomach lurched upwards as gravity took over and he fell. Looking down, his eyes widened as he realised where he was going to land. Instead of an empty country lane, he was falling from a good twenty feet into the middle of a busy town square. Directly beneath him, an ancient, kindly-looking woman was discussing the price of a large, ribbon-wrapped turkey. As he opened his mouth to yell, his arms and legs flailing wildly, he landed on the lady with a loud crunching noise. His ankle caught on her scarf, and as she fell back, his head collided with the pavement with a sharp crack, and darkness swarmed his vision. Ashamed beyond belief, he surrendered thankfully to the oblivion of unconsciousness.
"Charlie? Charlie! Wake up! Wake up, now! Enervate!" Warmth spread through his body, and he felt himself jerked back into the world of the wakeful as heavy footsteps left the room.
"Wha'?" He mumbled, blinking rapidly to clear the sleep from his eyes. Memories of the apparation test flooded into the forefront of his mind, making him groan with embarrassment. "Wha' day izit?" He mumbled, hoping against hope that the apparation test had just been a bad dream.
"Thursday. You fractured your skull, moron! Didn't mum tell you never to interrupt a lady while she was shopping?" Charlie ignored the diagnosis and reprimands whilst concentrating on the day. Oh no! Thursday! It was real! He raised his left arm in front of his face, eyes blurring as they focused on his freckled forearm before the watch face came into view. Damnit. Only a couple of hours ago. I wonder if I can resit today? Then another thought popped into his head. Hang on. If this... guy? is talking about Madam Pomfrey, I must be in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. Who is he then? Charlie tried to turn his head, but found his way obstructed by a large, slightly scratchy block.
"Don't try to move your head, idiot, didn't he tell you you'd fractured your skull?" Ah. Not just one person. Two people, same voice. The twins. Damnit.
"Honestly Charlie-boy, you should've known better than to try and fly, instead of apparating like a normal person."
"Yeah, I see no wings, big brother, just a stupid sibling who wrecked some poor old biddy's Christmas shop." Charlie could hear the grins in their voices as he examined the ceiling in minute detail. A pair of identical red heads appeared in his vision, one on either side so that their fiery tangles merged over his nose.
"Are you ignoring us, Charlie boy?"
"We thought mum taught you better than that."
"Mind you, mum taught you better than to fall out of the sky onto old Muggle women, too." Evil grins appeared on their freckled faces. Charlie glared at them.
"If you even think about mentioning this to anyone when you come to Hogwarts next year, I will personally murder you both," he informed them. The evil grins remained, but Fred and George both nodded fervently.
"Yessir, nosir, threebagsfullsir."
An idea arrived in Charlie's head, and he reached up with both arms to grab the back of their necks. Wearing a grin almost as evil as his little brothers', he smacked their heads together with a resounding crack before releasing them.
"Good," he muttered, smiling innocently as Madam Pomfrey and Mrs Weasley entered the ward.
Finis