DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. Duh.

Chapter 3

Something that not many people knew about Charlie Weasley was the fact that he was a pacer. He paced when he was bored, he paced when he was upset, and most of all, he paced when he was nervous. It was something he had developed working on the Reserve over the past several years. Growing up in a big family, he used to just talk to Bill or Percy, sometimes Fred or George, but then he moved away from home and he was alone. He hadn't been gone but a week when the habit began. Whenever he came home though, the habit would disappear. Needless to say, it surprised him when he found himself up in his old room, an hour after getting "The Letter", pacing.

He had excused himself from the kitchen after an hour of his family discussing his pending nuptials, stating he had a headache and needed to lie down. He was sure no one in the family bought the excuse, but at least this way he'd be able to think without his sister, mother and sister-in-laws squealing. Since all the girls (except Audrey, because she's a Muggle) went to school or have known Alicia for years, they couldn't wait to get the wedding planning started.

But Charlie could. The last time he saw her, she was a short, stubborn, little second year at Hogwarts. Sure, she was probably at the battle and most likely at Fred's funeral, but he wasn't paying attention to who was there. He was trying to fix his family at the time. When he first realized he was going to be forced into the Marriage Law, he was terrified that he wouldn't know the witch he got paired with, but now he's terrified because he does know her.

Charlie may have looked at Angelina for help earlier, but truthfully, he remembers her perfectly from school. He remembers watching her get sorted. She was tiny, as most first years are, but she was confident. He knew she would be a Gryffindor the moment he saw her sit on that stool. She was very calm and collected as she sat there, waiting for the hat to make it's decision. And then she smiled, a big, wide, toothy smile that seemed to light up the room, just before the hat shouted Gryffindor. After that, she seemed to bounce every where she went.

Charlie shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. It didn't matter what his first impression of her was, because their last encounter was not favorable for him. He was the Quidditch captain from his fifth to seventh year, and she apparently loved Quidditch. She tried out her first year, and while she was quite good on a broom, Charlie just didn't have the room for her. She really needed to work on her technique, but he told her if she worked hard, maybe her second year she'd make the team.

Unfortunately, he had told that to Angelina, too. That year, Angelina and Alicia, along with Fred and George (who had missed try-outs because of detention with Snape), worked hard all year and come Charlie's second year, all four had vastly improved. Unlucky for Alicia, he only had one spot open for the Chasers, and Angelina out flew Alicia just by a hair, and he had to pick based on skill. He was pretty sure the only reason why Alicia didn't murder him on the spot was because Oliver Wood had saved him by suggesting a reserve team. Since Charlie knew Oliver would be the captain the next year, Charlie let him coach the reserve team. He also knew that Oliver would ask all of the Chasers to practice without the entire team just to help train the reserves.

That was the last conversation he had with her. Too many years to count and him denying her a spot on his Quidditch team. He had no idea what to expect when he came face to face with her again. Do women hold grudges over years? He hadn't dated since the end of the war just because he didn't have time for it. When he did date, it was typically someone who was interning at the Reserve so they wouldn't be there long, but they would always get angry when he'd say he was going home for his vacation. They always wanted him to sweep them away to some romantic island. He couldn't stand that so he stopped dating, especially after Fred died. His family needed him. He didn't think he'd ever find a witch who would understand, and now he's going to be forced into a marriage with someone he didn't really know. What if she ends up being like all the others?

Charlie finally stopped his pacing, sighed, and laid down on his bed. He knew he wasn't going to be able to close his eyes and sleep, there were too many thoughts racing through his mind, but at least he could be comfortable. He was just contemplating taking his jeans off when a knock on his door startled him. Sighing again, he got up from his bed to answer the door, presuming it would be his mother asking if he needed anything.

"Mum, really, I've just got-" he said, swinging the door open, only to stop because it wasn't his mother standing there.

"Hi, Charlie." Alicia said, smiling. Charlie opened and closed his mouth a couple times, not knowing what to say. He wasn't expecting to see her the day he found out he was supposed to marry her. He thought he'd have a day or two to come up with some kind of plan. Alicia laughed and walked around him and shut the door for him.

"Really, Charlie, no need to be so surprised to see me. I got the letter, too. How's the Reserve?"

This question seemed to knock Charlie out of his stupor. A perfect question for him to answer, because he could answer it without thinking. While telling her about the babies he had been caring for and how they're having trouble keeping a herbologist on staff, he watched her closely. She was still confident and calm, but she was no longer that little second year. She had definitely grown into a beautiful witch. She had the perfect amount of curves and she was thin without being sickly thin. He never realize how pretty her face was, either. Her brown complexion was light and smooth, with perfect lips, a button nose and sparkling brown eyes. She had to have been around at the past weddings, why hadn't he noticed her before? Realizing he was nearing the end of description of the Reserve, he brought his full attention back to the conversation before asking how she was doing.

"Oh, I'm doing well. Just finished my last season with the Harpies. Ginny is going to talk to her boss at the Prophet to see if I can start covering matches with her. Three seasons is enough for me, I've had too many injuries. In the mean time I've been helping George and Angie at the shop."

"I didn't realize you went on to play for the Harpies. How come I never saw you play when I watched Gin?" Charlie asked.

"I was a reserve for Ginny, actually. But the stubborn witch never sat out of a game, even with broken ribs, so I never played at the matches your family was at." she responded.

And there was that smile again, thought Charlie. A silence stretched for a few minutes, both of them not knowing what to say to each other. Charlie cleared his throat, deciding to take the conversation away from the superficial and lead it toward the inevitable.

"You've changed a lot. You're no longer that little second year I remember. I don't think I've seen you since then."

"I do hope that's a good thing, Charlie.. Though we danced together at George and Angie's wedding. You don't remember that?" Alicia asked, scrunching her eye brows together as though trying to figure out if he was teasing her. Time to try to woo her, otherwise he knew he'd be starting this quick courtship in the doghouse.

"I don't remember drinking that much, but I must have if I don't remember dancing with a beautiful witch like you." Charlie responded, giving her his most winning smile, hoping it would work.

She just looked at him and the silence seemed to stretch on for hours, before she smiled, threw her head back and laughed.

"Oh, this is going to be interesting. Now I know where Fred and George learned it from." she said, looking at her watch. "I've got to go, Charlie. I told Verity I'd be back 10 minutes ago, but we need to plan a time to sit down and talk about our … situation. How long are you going to be in England?"

"I just got in this morning and I'm here for three weeks. Would you like to go to dinner tomorrow night?" Charlie asked, deciding to take the lead.

"I'd love it. Owl me with details. See you tomorrow, Charlie." With a quick kiss on his cheek, she seemed to glide out of the room and down the stairs before Charlie even realized what she had done. Lifting his hand to his cheek he realized she was right, this was going to be interesting. And he could now say he was actually looking forward to the time he was going to be spending with her.

AN: I am SO sorry this is so late. I promise, I won't be giving up on this story as I think it's quite different then most Charlie stories out there. But, things have been awful here at home. My son is almost 13 months old, so I don't have much time to sit down and write, but on top of that my mother was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer a month ago. Needless to say, I've been a bit busy taking care of her after her surgery and what not. Hopefully I'll be able to write during her chemo treatments, but I can't be positive about that. Just bare with me, please. And reviews help a ton! Thank you so much for all the support so far! :)