The Road to Recovery Chapter 4

A/N Just to warn you, this is where there would start being warnings about slash etc...however, I'm not going to write any of that - I read it but I feel kind of awkard writing it so I'm just going to tell you where there would be a slash scene and leave the rest to your imaginations! :p and also, towards the end of the story (if I ever get that far) there will be mpreg...just thought I'd warn you in advance! Anyway...enjoy and as always feedback is appreciated!

Disclaimer; I don't own Harry Potter - if I did you would know!

Harry's POV

That night, we just sat and chatted, Charlie and I. Nothing special, but I enjoyed it. It didn't feel awkward or forced, and although Charlie was still acting a bit strangely I still think he had a good time as well. Just before I made my way to bed, when I turned to face him just before I left to say good night, our eyes met and felt as if I couldn't move. His eyes...cerulean blue, with flecks of green, held me there, locking our gazes together. We stayed there for what could be hours but was probably only seconds. And then he broke eye contact and looked away. In the light of the smouldering fire I couldn't exactly tell, but I thought he was blushing. Awkwardly, I left the room without saying anything, unwilling to have to admit how much just looking into his eyes to affected me. Weird, because I'd never had that reaction to Charlie, or any other guy for that matter, before. But it didn't feel weird, it felt right, like I was supposed to be there, making awkward eye contact with a guy whose siblings I though of as family.

Collapsing on my bed, I put my face in my hands. I had to work this out. Charlie spends the day acting weird and awkward - blushing, not meeting my eyes and avoiding contact. And then he looks at me and I feel like I'm on fire, and all coherent thought is lost, and from the looks of it Charlie had felt the same way. I'm not stupid, I knew the signs of a crush, but I hadn't paid any attention to it because after all...I thought of his brothers as brothers, and he was ten years older than me! Although, Bill was nearly twelve years Draco's senior, and they were undeniably cute together, and good for eachother. But I there was not reason, really, for Charlie not to have a crush on me, I figured, besides the way I looked. Charlie was...tall and broad shouldered, tanned, his slightly long hair a gourgeous shade of auburn (gourgeous...where had that come from?!) and his eyes. Oh, his eyes. And then him, short, skinny and scarred. I seemed to have conveniently forgotten Charlie's multitude of burn scars in my self wallowing but oh well...anyway the point is - why would someone like him want to date someone like me? Not that you would be adverse to the idea...a part of my brain supplied, and I couldn't bring myself to disagree - I wouldn't be...which meant...Oh God...Ginny was right.

This could not be happening. Not now. Having broken up with Ginny a while ago, I hadn't really dated anyone else. I'd convinced myself that the reason for our breakup was the war - it was far too dangerous to bring her further into than she already would be. But she had other ideas...convinced I was in the closet for ages (apparently) she wasn't shocked or upset, she actually seemed happy in her delusion that I was gay. I, of course, denied it vehemently, but now all her 'proof' came rushing back. Apparently, I was far too interested in Malfoy to be completley straight (I still maintain that it was always because we were arch-enemies...), and I also supposedly never reciprocated any girls advances with enough enthusiasm. I didn't believe her...but now I was wondering. Ok, not wondering. Pretty damn convinced. Convinced that I was gay. And also pretty sure I had a teeny, tiny, minute crush on Charlie Weasley. Well, I thought (semi sarcastically), drifting into sleep, things can only go up from here...

Charlie's POV

Oh Christ. When our eyes met I thought I was going to melt into a pool of hormonal goo. I hadn't felt like this since I was a teenager! Dragon keeping didn't really leave much time for relationships and my string of one night stands were fuelled by alcohol on my nights off...this was something else. His green eyes reflected the firelight and were lit within with something I wasn't sure I recognised. My brain was stuck, running over the same thoughts again...again. He's beautiful...No! I can't kiss him - it'd scare him off...but he's so beautiful...I forced myself to look away, sure that otherwise, I wouldn't be able to stop myself snogging him senseless. I felt myself blush at the thought. Harry shuffled awkwardly before leaving without a word. I was convinced that Harry had worked out my feelings, he was probably packing now. I dropped my head into my hands. God, this was a nightmare. Dragging myself to bed, I lay, staring at the ceiling, thinking about Harry. The age gap was ludicrous! What was I thinking...a ten year age gap was not good. Not at all. But what about Bill and Draco? My brain supplied. That was a bigger gap - almost twelve years between the two of them and yet they were in a happy, (mostly) stable relationship, and had been for quite a while. Ok, maybe it's not so strange, I thought. My biggest fear alleviated, I drifted quickly into sleep. That night my dreams were filled with emerald green eyes and raven black hair.

Harry's POV

The next morning I forced myself to be nonchalant, despite my revelation. It was difficult, it seemed all I could think about was Charlie. He hair, mussed with sleep, and his bleary blue eyes. Oh...he wasn't wearing a shirt. Although, I realised, neither was I. Oops, I blushed. Looking back up my breath caught in my throat...he was beautiful, and I didn't know how to act. I found myself staring at him with alarming regularity, and forced myself to stop - I couldn't have him working me out! I mean, maybe I was wrong about him liking me, and that could only end badly. No, I had decided last night...I would observe for a while longer, and try to ascertain Charlie's feelings towards me before even thinking about doing anything else. It could only end badly otherwise.

That day, Charlie gave me a tour of the reserve. I saw so many breeds of dragons - some I was familiar with, like the Hungarian Horntails - and others I wasn't, such as the Romanian Longhorn. The scenery was lush and green, and the area so vast even the largest of dragons were dwarfed by the expanse of land surrounding them. I was so in awe of what I was seeing, I didn't have much time to stare at Charlie. Not much, but some. The landscape didn't seem to affect him in the way it did me, although I supposed living there for so long would do that. His eyes did light up however when he looked at the dragons. It was obvious how much he cared for them - his eyes shone with a sapphire warmth which I could almost feel. Sometimes, when I was admiring the landscape, I was sure I could feel Charlie's eyes on me, burning a hole in my shirt, but I couldn't look around and alert him to my knowledge. During the course of the day I became more and more sure Charlie felt the same way as me, the frequency of stares was increasing and becoming hard to ignore. Walking back to the cottage our casual banter turned to my relationship with Ginny. When he asked me why we broke up I gave my usual response of "it was too dangerous". For some reason, this made Charlie laugh. When I looked confused he said, still laughing,

"That's not what Ginny said..." I sighed angrily. Charlie's expression softened,

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything...I was just wondering, how long have you known...you know?" He sounded so genuinly upset at the idea of me being angry at him that those feelings immediatly evaporated.

"No, I was being stupid...It's just it's a kind of touchy subject recently. But not that long at all really..." I replied, murmering under my breath, "Since last night to be exact". I thought only I had been able to hear it but it turned out I was wrong. His eyes met mine and I felt the same electric jolt as the night before. He grinned at me, his eyes filled with warmth, and I automatically smiled in response. For a second, I thought Charlie was going to kiss me, he began to lean forward ever so slightly before turning and entering his home looking almost apologetic.

Charlie's POV

Walking into the kitchen the next and was met by a truly gorgeous sight. Harry was sitting at the table, shirtless, eating breakfast. This is something I could get used to, I thought. I walked in and Harry looked up at me, down at his chest and blushed. I stifled a laugh - his face was comical yet adorable. When he looked back up I grinned slightly before sitting down. Throughout the meal I felt him staring at me. I never met his eyes, knowing it would make him awkward. The issue I had was that those stares could be prompted by two things. Either, he had figured me out, and was staring because he thought it was weird. Or, he fancied me as well. However, I had no way of knowing which option it was, probably the former, the most pessimistic part of my brain thought, and acting as if it was the latter when it wasn't could be disasterous. No, I concluded, I would have to watch him for a while to work out what he was feeling before acting on my feelings.

We took a walk around the reserve for the majority of the day. As the landscape didn't interest me, I turned my eyes to something that did. At points my stare became so intense I was sure that Harry should be able to feel it, but he never looked around. Every now and again we spotted some dragons and I think they were the only times I looked away from Harry the entire time. I love dragons, I always have, and despite my brothers' jokes that the reason I've never had a proper relationship is that the dragons fill that spot, as of late I'd been feeling that perhaps dragons weren't everything. However much I loved my job there were so many disadvantages and the presense of the reptiles didn't alleviate the need for human contact, and my collegues weren't always the best company. When I was watching them fly, my eyes, as always, filled with awe, I sometimes thought I felt Harry's eyes on me, but I was never sure. He always looked slightly abashed when I turned around again though, so maybe I was right. By the end of our tour, I was no more sure than that morning in relation to Harry's feelings. In a last desperate push to gain more information, I managed to steer the conversation towards his breakup with Ginny. Maybe he'd admit that her ideas were right...

"So...why'd you break up with Ginny? I never really understood..." I asked, trying to sound casual. His responsed genuinly made me laugh. He sounded so much like he was trying to convinced himself it was true I was certain he was lying. His look of confusion set me off even more but I managed to splutter out that that wasn't what Ginny said inbetween peals of laughter. At his angry huff I immediatly stopped however. I hadn't meant to offend him, and the idea of him being upset made me need to comfort him.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything...I was just wondering, how long have you known...you know?" I knew it sounded stupid but I needed to find out! His reply was nothing too shocking - I knew firsthand how difficult it was to accept such a change in your life, but the muttered comment, presumably only meant for his ears, made me want to dance right there. If he had only accepted his sexuality last night then that meant...I was so happy! Finally, my prying had paid off and I knew that Harry felt the same way as me! I met his eyes, and there was that same feeling of being unable to move, and again, I lost all coherent thought. I wanted to kiss him so badly, but my desire not to scare him off won out and I turned and entered my - our - home.