Another update so soon? It's because I loves you.
And because I got very encouraging reviews on the last part, but there is one I want to reply to here (it was unsigned). To 'Ool': Thank you for your review, I appreciate you taking the time to send me one. I think you're right, I should have put some more Hermione background into this, but its just my style to automatically have Charlie as a central point. It's also going to become clearer as to why Charlie is falling for Hermione now. I hope to got that doesn't class as a spoiler for the rest of this fic…
This chapter and the last were written pretty much one right after the other, and as I lost someone close to me once and coped with it the same way as Charlie is (ignoring it for years), emotions were getting the better of me so I had to break out the Kleenex more than once. It's slightly awkward when you're sat in your University's union writing with a tissue in hand!
Sidenote: All places mentioned are real and I have visited them more than once. Camden really does have the best food in London.


The wind was strong, a gale blowing on the beach in St Anne's. Bill and Charlie had apperated to this spot so Charlie could say goodbye. Something he had been avoiding for years. It's not that he didn't want to say goodbye, just that finally doing so would end a chapter in his life he would never revisit. The closure was the scariest part of this for a man who usually ran away from his problems.

This place also held memories for him. It was here where Carley had grown up, on the sea front with her mother and grandparents. She and Charlie were planning a long holiday here for after the war had ended, where they could begin raising their child but fate had it's evil ways an cruelly denied them the chance. Carley had always said she had a happy childhood there and Charlie could easily see why. All along the beachfront were summerhouses, shops, ice cream stands and stalls selling buckets and spades. Bill placed his arm across Charlie's shoulders and led his numb form to where the waves broke on the sand almost half a mile out. Feeling Charlie take a shaky breath Bill removed his arm; the last steps must be taken alone.

Charlie walked. He walked until his boots were getting wet in the surf and then carried on. Once he was away from Bill, and truly alone did he begin his goodbyes.

"I- I know I'm not v- very good with feelings but you always said you loved it here" Charlie started, he voice faltering slightly. "Whenever we were in the Mess Hall talking about our childhoods, you always said you loved the sea and I'm so- sorry that I never got to come here with you. I'm knee deep in the bloody freezing ocean and can see why you loved it so much." The first tear rolled down his cheek as he looked out to the horizon. "I was always confused by you, a girl who grew up on the water but worked with dragons. The first thing I ever did was tease you, asking if mermaids were too dull. You punched me in the arm and told me to sod off and take my arrogance with me." Charlie let slip a wet chuckle at the memory of nearly a decade ago.

"I've beaten myself up every day since you were taken from me. Both of you. I know you'd only found out a week before, and we were so excited, I'd already bought the kid a toy dragon. I remember when I brought it back to the hut you said I'd disown our child if they didn't like dragons. I told you it was true but I would never. We made something special, Carley and it was cruel for us to not live it. You would have made a fantastic mother, better than any one else I know.

"I know you didn't want it, and we had never spoken about it or anything, but I was going to ask you to marry me. I was carrying the ring around for weeks, trying to find the right time. Seems harsh that I didn't find it in time." Charlie reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a ring. A small pewter coloured metal band with a black diamond set into the top. "I always hated that Black Diamond song you listened to, but when I saw this I knew it was you. Nothing said Carley Spinx like a black diamond on a homemade ring. It took me weeks to engrave it." Charlie's was running his thumbnail over the slightly textured surface of the ring, removing the dirt from two entwined 'C's on back.

"I want you to know, I will always love you. And our child, unconditionally, I swear it my love. I also want you to have this, save it for me?" he asked as he raised the ring to his lips. After pressing a kiss into the diamond, Charlie brought his arm back and threw the ring with every ounce of strength he could muster into the sea. His anger, guilt and love he had collected over the last few years helped the ring to move further from the shore. With a small splash so far out that Charlie could barely see it, the ring made contact with the water.

"Goodbye, my darling Carley."

Charlie's head fell to his chest, and the tears started falling. Slow at first but grew stronger as the ocean drew out his sorrow. A large gust of wind blew from behind him, covering his face with his hair. Taking the shakiest of breaths, he pushed his hair back and turned to Bill who was standing back on the beach.

'Oh, Carley' Charlie thought. As he moved his hair, a fish jumped from the water were the ring had landed. "I'll see you again one day.'

It took Charlie an age to reach the edge of the water where Bill was waiting for him, the water dragging at his sodden denims and waterlogged boots. Spying the tears, Bill embraced Charlie and didn't say a word as Charlie's emotional barriers caved in. He wept into Bill's leather jacket until his knees gave way and he landed in an ungraceful heap on the shore. Being the eldest of seven, Bill learned from an early age that everyone needed to do things for the long run. Charlie would thank him for this, but now Bill kept an arm around him until everything he felt was out. Holding Charlie's head to his chest like he had done when they were children and Charlie had done something reckless, Bill just held him tight.

Together, the two brothers stayed until there were no more tears left to cry. The tears had all dried up and the heaving sobbing turned into shaky breaths. Only then did Bill loosen his hold on Charlie so they could sit back on the sand and watch the sea. Taking their time, Charlie's erratic breathing calmed down and Bill dried off his jeans with some quick wand work. When the clouds had parted and feeble rays of sun were hitting the beach did Bill stand and offer his hand to Charlie.

"I'm hungry" Bill said with a smile. Charlie wasn't one for talking about feelings, but as a Weasley he was always one for food. Especially the greasy, heart-attack-inducing kind. Charlie took his proffered arm and stood only stopping to brush the sand off his quilted farming jacket. They walked in silence to a quiet place and apperated back to London. Neither Bill or Charlie spent much time in parts of London that didn't have the Ministry or Diagon Alley in them. They walked on, speaking only briefly until they came across a bustling high street. This was no normal high street as there were giant boots, and gothic fairies on the outside of brightly painted shop fronts.

"Camden has the best food in London" Bill said plainly. "Or so I hear, at least"

And with that they walked down towards a bridge with "Camden Lock" painted on the side of it. It was a place like no other, where people were tattooed, pierced and dressed in ways Charlie had rarely seen before.

"Are they Muggles?" Charlie asked Bill as they walked past the opening of Camden Market.

"Believe it or not, they are" Bill replied, amused at what he saw. "The food market is just past that orange juice stand. If we walk past any of them they'll give out free food, I reckon" Charlie followed the line were Bill's finger pointed and saw a canal, lined with more eccentric muggles and enough food stalls to keep even the Weasley family occupied for months.

"What are we waiting for then?" Charlie asked, his smile reaching his eyes for the first time since leaving Hermione at the Burrow. He had only said his goodbyes a couple of hours before, but he could see his life carrying on more clearly than before.

All afternoon, the two men explored Camden and it's food market. With food from all over the world being passed to them as they walked, they enjoyed it all. They watched the muggles, some dressed conventionally and some more extravagantly but no one questioned them. After taking a shortcut through an old stable house, Charlie found more food stalls. These were in a horseshoe, surrounding tables and benches where the smells were swirling in the air, making Charlie salivate.

"Bill. We're eating here." He stated as Bill found his way around a giant horse statue in the stable building. They bought dishes from crazy Spanish women, quiet Asian men and a raucous family from Argentina who all took their custom, promising the best food. Together, Bill and Charlie spread their takeaway feat before them and dined like kings.


For now.
What do you think? I know it seems rushed, but sadly I speak from experiences very close to Charlie's and after years of avoiding something, I felt like a monumental ass-hat for acting on it sooner.
Also, if anyone is in/is coming to London, Camden really does have a giant boot on the side of a shop. It's next to the giant fairy and the giant red Doc Marten (Google it, it's amazing). The market is also next to an orange juice stand and is my favourite place in the whole world.
Please review to let me know your thoughts and thank you for reading. X