Author's Note: Much thanks to my team for the continued help and support. :)
Written for...
Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. Team/Position: Montrose Magpies, Chaser 1. Task: Write about Hoddie's OTP (Charlie/Tonks) and use two writing devices (metaphor and foreshadowing). Prompts: "Not Today" by Imagine Dragons, a sparkly suit, mulberry.
Dragons and Dumplings
Charlie started a list of things he would miss about Hogwarts when his seventh year started. He kept the list with him at all times, always ready to jot down another item when it came to mind. It was about two pages long now and had been revised more than half of his essays. Always at the top of his list was: the quiet of the grounds after dusk.
There was something about the way the castle looked in the moonlight, and how he could hear every howl and hoot from the forest without the constant chatter of children. He loved being on the grounds at night, but even more so when Tonks was with him.
There hadn't been many opportunities for the two to meet of late, both had been too busy readying themselves for NEWTs and Quidditch finals, but Charlie was determined to give them one last night together before they were completely consumed by exams, even if it meant missing game night with the twins. They always cheated anyway even if he could never prove it.
"You're sure about this?" she checked with him as he escorted her to her common room. "We really should be studying…"
"Not today," he said. "I'll meet you on the pitch at seven. I have something I want to talk to you about."
There was an excited spring in his step as he headed back up to the Gryffindor tower, nearly bowling over Professor Trelawney as he jogged up the stairs. She grasped his arm tightly as she steadied herself.
"I foresee greatness in your future, but also heartbreak... yes, a great deal of heartbreak," she told him hoarsely. He pried her hand from his arm and climbed a few steps out of her reach.
"Alright, Professor. Thanks for that," he said calmly. He waited until she continued down the stairs before shaking his head and pulling out a second, much shorter list from his pocket.
'Things I won't miss about Hogwarts' it read at the top. Charlie found one of the Muggle pencils Tonks had given him and scribbled at the bottom of the page, 'Trelawney's so-called prophecies.'
:-:
Everything had to be perfect Charlie had decided. He had a big question for Tonks and it was sure to be the biggest night of both of their lives.
The pitch was set with the twins' help. Charlie managed to bribe them with sweets and promises of Zonko's products to carry a table and chairs out from a storage room. Candles were lit and floated beautifully throughout the pitch, and yellow flower petals created a path to the table.
Charlie charmed his hair into place and his best dress robes to sparkle and shine for some extra flair. He even gave away all of his chocolate frog cards to a teammate in order to get them to sneak out to London and get takeout from Tonks' favorite Chinese restaurant. He felt a pang of regret thinking about the cards he had painstakingly collected for years, but he found comfort in the fact that pretty soon he'd need to decrease his clutter anyway.
With cardboard containers of noodles and rice under a warming charm, and the pitch suitably romantic for the date Charlie took to the sky in his sparkly suit, doing a few laps to burn off his anxious energy. He hadn't allowed himself to think of how important and life-changing the night was going to be until he was moments away from popping the question.
Charlie could spot Tonks with her shimmery pink dress and matching hair a mile away in the waning light of the sun. Grinning, he descended onto the pitch in time to walk her down the yellow path.
"You look lovely," he told her, kissing her hand. Tonks blushed and her hair faded to mulberry.
"You look very… shiny," she replied, linking their arms and allowing Charlie to lead her to their table. "You've really outdone yourself this time."
"Tonight is a very special night. I want everything to be perfect." He pulled out her chair and removed the warming charm from their dinner.
"Every night I spend with you is perfect, Charlie," she told him shyly. "But Mrs. Chan's dumplings definitely make everything better."
Tonks lasted exactly ten minutes before bringing up the exams again. Charlie had timed her.
"Some of us are skipping lunch tomorrow to study in the library. You're welcome to join us. I know Ellen could really use some help with her Care of Magical Creatures essay, and you're the best person I know at animal wrangling, next to Professor Kettleburn, I mean."
Charlie waited patiently for her to finish her rambling. "That sounds good, but let's not discuss the NEWTs tonight. This is probably the last chance we'll have together before they start."
"You're right, I'm sorry." She smiled at him. "What was it you wanted to tell me, anyhow?"
"Oh, it can wait until later," he said dismissively, piling more rice onto her plate. Now that the time had come to finally ask her, Charlie couldn't stop his stomach from twisting. All of a sudden, the food wasn't the least bit appetizing.
"You're not getting out of it that easily," Tonks said and set down her chopsticks. "You've been acting strangely for days. What's going on?"
Charlie pushed away from the table and took a deep breath. "You know that one day I'd like to become a dragonologist, right?"
"Of course. You've loved dragons since you were four."
"Right. Well, it looks like my dream might be coming true a bit sooner than we thought." He smiled brightly at her.
Tonks stared at him in confusion. "But, I thought you were going to work for Professor Kettleburn's friend on that horklump ranch after we finish school."
"I was, but I was doing some research and it turns out the Cântare Sigure Dragon Preservation is looking for new handlers and trainees. Why waste a few years on horklumps and bowtruckles when I can start work on the real thing right now?"
"Cântare Sigure?" Tonks echoed. "I've never heard of it."
"It's in Romania. I can show you the brochure later, if you want. It looks amazing, and I'll only need an O in my Defence and Magical Creatures NEWTs. I could manage that in my sleep."
Charlie watched his girlfriend expectantly, practically giddy at the thought of being near a real dragon, but Tonks didn't seem nearly as pleased.
"What's wrong?"
"You're going away. We'll never see each other."
Charlie plucked a fortune cookie from the top of the pile and fiddled with it. "That doesn't have to be true."
Tonks scoffed. "I know you're a fast flyer, honey, but coming home every weekend sounds like a huge ordeal, and it'll be almost impossible for me to visit you."
"So come with me," he blurted out.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Come with me!" Now that his plan was out in the open, Charlie was feeling a lot more confident about it. "There's plenty of job opportunities in Bucharest. We can get a place there and I'll apparate to work and it'll be great."
He relaxed in his chair, his nerves finally at ease, and continued rotating the cookie in his hands.
"Oh, Charlie," Tonks sighed. All the color seemed to be draining from her hair, turning it grey. It was only then that Charlie considered that she might not want to go with him. "I'm starting Auror training in the fall. That is, if I do well enough with my NEWTs."
"That's fine. There's a ministry in Romania, too. You can just train there."
"I can't just pick up and go. I'd have to learn a whole new language first, and I don't want to wait for that." She shook her head frustratedly. "We'd have to spend our whole summer looking for a place to live, and taking Romanian lessons, and trying to fit in. It's too much."
The cookie cracked and broke apart in his hands, split right in two. Charlie looked down at it sadly. "This is probably the only chance I'm going to get to work with dragons for years, Tonks. I can't let it go."
"And I'm not asking you to. I know how badly you want to be a dragonologist, but I want to be an Auror. Neither of us should have to give up what we want."
"So what are we supposed to do?"
"I can't go and you can't stay. I think there's only one option left."
"I don't want to break up. I love you!"
"I love you, too. But maybe it's for the best." Charlie rolled his eyes. "We probably wouldn't see each other anyway. Auror training is grueling, and I can't imagine dragon training is any better."
Charlie looked back down at the broken fortune cookie. Just moments before it had been whole and now it sat in two pieces. His relationship was the same way, it seemed. Somehow, they'd fallen apart and broken each others' hearts, just to get want they wanted.
"I'll always be here, Charlie," Tonks said. She got up from the table and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Maybe one day we can be together."
He buried his face in her shoulder and sighed. "But not today."