Nerves of a Schoolboy

Despite the great time they had had since deciding to officially start dating, Charlie was nervous to take Tonks out. They had planned to make a short trip to Diagon Alley to get a few last minute gifts and then have lunch there. Tonks was raring to go, pleased as per usual, when she got to go out and goof off with her friends…it was all a bit unnerving for the Weasley boy.

Bill pulled him aside before the departure and Charlie found himself chatting with his brother in the closet containing everyone's winter cloaks. "What are we doing here?" Charlie asked, surveying his surroundings.

"Having a chat, Charlie boy…you really are skittish."

"What? I'm not…" he started, but with a lazy flick of his brother's wand, Charlie was unable to speak. He glared over at his brother, still in the dark about what was going on.

"You're way too nervous about this trip. It's Tonks, not a dragon that'll be eating your spleen in the city." Bill chuckled. "'Course you would probably prefer the dragon…Anyway, you just need to relax. This is just another trip to Diagon Alley with your best mate. No pressure." Bill loosened his brother's tongue and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You're lucky that you're my favorite," Charlie threatened, pulling out his own wand. "But thanks for the advice. It's just not that easy!"

"What do you mean, it's not that easy?" Bill questioned, one eyebrow quirked.

"Well for one, we're dating now."

"Yeah…and?"

"Well…what if it's weird."

"You're going out with Tonks," Bill pointed out. "It's likely to be weird."

Charlie thumped him in the chest. "Don't be a git…I need help here."

"Just act like you normally would when you guys are out together. Only this time if you stare at her arse when she bends over to pick something up, you won't get a slap in return."

Charlie rolled his eyes as his brother laughed. "If I muck this up, you're going to have to give me lessons!"

"Then don't muck it up," Bill replied, escorting Charlie out into the living room.

Half of the family and Tonks were staring as they emerged and Charlie flushed a bit. "What were you two doing in there?" Tonks asked with a grin. "I don't have to drag Bill away from my man, do I?"

Charlie flushed a bit more and swatted Bill's hand off of his shoulder. "Just giving him a boot in the arse for commenting on your breasts," he replied. Tonks snorted, her hair going bright green as his mother cuffed his ear.

"You'd better behave yourself, Charlie or I'll end up keeping you in the backyard with the gnomes for the rest of your holiday!" she said. "Learn how to treat a lady."

"You know we heard everything you were saying," George said, going toward the kitchen.

"And it was pretty funny!" Fred finished.

Charlie's heart dropped for a moment and he looked at the twins with a threat in his eyes. "You should really have that looked at," Fred told him matter-of-factly.

"Yeah. Don't want that kind of reputation, do you?" George asked, causing Bill and Tonks to snicker.

"You're setting a bad example for your brothers!" Mrs. Weasley told her two oldest sons as Charlie joined the laughter.

"They're the bad example," Bill replied. "Damned clever little buggers!"

"Alright, alright. Have fun now…and don't do anything to get yourselves thrown in Azkaban!" the Weasley matriarch said, shooing Tonks and Charlie toward the door.

"Those two are going to be a handful," Tonks commented as she and Charlie stepped out into the frosty air. Bits of snow were starting to fall and she stuck out her tongue to catch some. Charlie followed suit and they walked for a bit with their heads tilted back, tongues stuck out. "Wanna try apparation?" she asked as they made it to the end of the warded area around the Burrow.

"Yeah…we've got to practice sometime," Charlie replied. He didn't turn seventeen until the next week and Tonks until May, but he figured some rules were meant to be broken. They had taken classes, after all.

"Think about it, then go there!" she said, scrunching her face up. She turned on the spot and with a loud 'pop' she was gone. Charlie sorely hoped that she had managed to get to Diagon Alley without splinching herself. He tried to concentrate, then felt a glimmer in his chest, indicating his readiness, and turned.

When Charlie opened his eyes he found himself in a dark place, not like the one where he had hoped to go. He walked toward one of the buildings and found himself reading the warning for a shop called 'Bourgin and Burkes.' He'd heard about the place from his father and realized that he was in Knockturn Alley. He cursed under his breath, happy that he was at least near hid intended destination, but displeased that he had been off target. He began walking toward a small bit of light near the end of a road and suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned around to find a dirty and scantily clad witch of nearly forty exposing her breasts to him. "Fancy a rough shag?" she asked with a cackle. Her teeth were in ill repair and she smelled of sweat and old cheese and the last thing Charlie wanted to do was shag her, but he held his tongue. He broke out of her grip and started jogging toward what he was sure was the exit. Sinister faces blurred by as they reached out to stop him, but he sped up, thankful for his quidditch training and emerged from the place in a burst of light.

He was in Diagon Alley, he realized, when he spotted one of the shops. He tried to force his heart to return to its normal rhythm as he scanned the crowd for brightly colored hair. "Hello, sexy," said a voice behind him and he spun around quickly, wand at the ready to find his girlfriend doubled over laughing.

"Tonks…it's you."

"Yeah. Who else calls you sexy?" she wanted to know, wiping tears of mirth off of her cheeks. He mumbled something indecipherable and she grabbed his hand, leading him toward the quidditch shop.

Charlie and Tonks visited several shops, stopping to look at the new creatures featured in the menagerie as they gathered gifts for both Charlie's family and Tonks's. Heavily laden with packages, they entered a small tea shop and found a booth in the corner. "What are you having?"

"Just tea and biscuits," he replied. "Mum'll kill me if I don't have seconds at dinner."

Tonks laughed. "Alright. I'll get the same. Can't have her worried about our health…"

They didn't mention their points of apparition, much to Charlie's relief, but when offered some help with their packages, they gladly accepted side along apparition from Remus Lupin, a friend of Charlie's parents. "Have any trouble, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked from the kitchen as they entered the house with Lupin and their things in tow.

"No, Mum. Lupin's here!" Charlie called. His mother appeared seconds later to greet the guest and usher him into the kitchen for tea before dinner. Charlie and Tonks took their shopping upstairs and tucked the gifts into their respective rooms before returning to the living area to hear Remus Lupin tell the twins about his adventure in Romania.

"They're starting up a dragon reserve there," he told the delighted pranksters. This tidbit caught Charlie's interest and he focused more on what the man was saying. "Someday the two of you might like to visit," he continued. "Maybe even work there."

"Wicked!" the twins exclaimed together.

"I heard he's a werewolf," Tonks told Charlie after they broke up to get ready for dinner.

"What? Who?" he wanted to know.

"Lupin. The word is, he transforms every month. That's why he can't work for the ministry as an auror. His mates were applying to be aurors before…well you know what happened."

Charlie wondered how Tonks knew so much about Remus Lupin, as he had never heard such rumors, but he let it go. Of course he knew about the tragedy of Lupin's friends. Harry Potter, the boy who lived, was the son of Remus' best mate James. James and his family had been betrayed by another good friend Sirius Black, who later took out the third of the supposed werewolf's good friends, Peter Pettigrew.

Dinner was interesting that evening, with all the children wanting to ask Remus questions about his trips and Mr. Weasley attempting to talk business. "Well chat later," the older Weasley told his friend as the twins questioned Remus about werewolves. Charlie was too distracted by Tonks's tight fitting shirt to pay much attention to what the older man was saying.