Disclaimer: The characters and universe of Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling I have no rights and/or claim to any of it. This is just my thoughts on what would have happened next – pure speculation and daydreams!

Chapter 9 – A Cabin in the Woods

The next two weeks passed without anything eventful happening. Harry's days were spent at the ministry, he hadn't been on any more missions since going to Privet Drive. After expressing his frustration, Ena explained that the next time they went out it would be a lot more dangerous and he needed to make sure Harry was fully prepared, it was the same for Ron, Hermione and Neville. Ena was convinced that Harry had a good grasp of defensive spell work, it was disguise and concealment where he needed work, and so they spent days in the training room practicing and preparing.

Hermione was somewhat withdrawn and both Harry and Ron were concerned about her. Ever since the news had arrived from Australia she hadn't been herself. It was a Sunday afternoon and they were all helping to set the table for the roast dinner Mrs Weasley was cooking, all except Hermione, who sat on the garden wall fussing Crookshanks. Harry could see the worry etched on Ron's face and understood that he felt helpless to know how to ease the grief she endured.

"I'll go mate," said Harry patting Ron on the shoulder. He walked through the kitchen door and sat down next to Hermione, scratching Crookshanks behind the ears. "Do you want to talk about it?"

For what felt like an age she remained silent and didn't look at him, but continued to give her attention to Crookshanks, and then eventually she spoke, "How do you do it Harry?"

"Do what?" he asked confused by her question.

"Get through each day without your parents? When they were here I took them for granted. I would stay at Hogwarts for holidays, and in the summer I would come here. I just assumed I had more time with them so the time that I did have didn't seem precious. But now that I don't have them I realise just how precious that time was," she replied as tears fell silently along her cheeks.

"Come here," said Harry putting his arm around her, she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Our situations are different, I can't understand what you are going through, but I can sympathise. I never knew my parents, never knew life with them. You did, you had many happy years with them. It must be so painful to have had all that time with them and now they are gone, but in time those memories will be what you cherish. It sounds like a cop out, but it just takes time. I will be honest Hermione it doesn't get any easier, but you do learn to live with it."

"Oh, Harry when did you get so wise," she wailed, and he hugged her tightly. After several minutes Ron joined them, and Harry left the two of them alone so that Ron could comfort her.

Whilst everyone else had been starting new and exciting careers, George was gearing himself up to go back to the shop on Diagon Alley. He hadn't set foot in the place since he lost Fred and the thought of going back without his twin made him feel sick and anxious and a little bit guilty. He worried that he wouldn't be as successful on his own and he worried that being in the shop, living out their shared dream, would be too overwhelming. He worried that it would fail and if it failed he felt he would be dishonouring Fred's memory. But in one thing he was certain, and that was that he must try, Fred would want him too, Fred would give him no end of grief if he knew he had let the shop go without even trying to make it work. In memory of his beloved twin he must go on.

He took the floo network to the Leaky Cauldron, not wanting to apparate straight to the shop. With a deep breath he stepped onto the cobbles of Diagon Alley and walked towards Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The windows were boarded up and the door sealed with a locking charm, just as they had left it when they went into hiding. Waving his wand, George unlocked the door and stepped inside. Everything was intact and covered in a thick layer of dust. Cobwebs glistened in the rays of light seeping in from the open doorway. It was eerie. He walked through the shop in silence, barely breathing as he took it all in. In the backroom two mugs sat on a shelf, one with a large purple G and one with a large purple F and hanging across the back of a chair two sets of magenta work robes with their names embroidered on the front in gold stitch. George picked up the work robe that belonged to Fred and held it close to his chest, he could smell the aftershave Fred loved soaked into the strands of fabric, collapsing on the armchair George broke into grief-stricken sobs cradling the robes of his twin.

Over the next two weeks he worked tirelessly from dawn to dusk cleaning every nook and cranny of the store. He took stock inventory and made a list of what was needed to re-stock the shelves and what was needed by means of supplies in the stock room. George contacted the pygmy puff breeder to place an order ready for opening day and created new posters to re-launch the store. It was tiring but fulfilling work.

Charlie and Jeremiah were settling into a comfortable rhythm as they got used to being with each other as more than work colleagues and friends. Jeremiah, who had had boyfriends before, adjusted quickly to being in a relationship and living with Weasleys. He was open and honest with his affection and didn't concern himself with what anyone else thought as he held Charlie's hand, ran his fingers through his hair, hugged him and kissed him. Charlie on the other hand was a lot more awkward, this was all very new to him and a lot of the time he felt very self-conscious. No one in his family had mentioned anything to concern him, in fact his family were nothing but supportive, but it felt alien to be with Jeremiah so openly in front of them.

Six days a week, only having Sundays off, they worked with Constantine Jones, apparating every morning at 7.30am from the Burrow to the Brecon Beacons, and returning every evening at 6pm. Some people would complain at the long hours and only having one day off a week, but Charlie and Jeremiah loved their work and even more so that they were able to do it together.

The headquarters for the dark creatures' task force was located inside a large grey-brick farmhouse in a very remote area of the Brecon Beacons. Constantine Jones was a tall thin man, with a thick Cockney accent, dark hair tied back in a ponytail, small hazel eyes and a goatee. He was easy to get along with and commanded a lot of respect from those who worked with him for his vast knowledge of creatures.

In addition to Charlie, Jeremiah and Constantine, there were five others that made up the task force; Yui Tanaka – a small woman of only 5 foot 1 inches from Newcastle, who originated from Tokyo Japan, and had long thick black hair to her waist, a rose gold nose ring and many tattoos of magical creatures; Zenith Woods – a feisty woman with a strong Liverpool accent who had a fascination with muggle boybands, she had shoulder length brown curls and a dusting of freckles across her nose and cheekbones; Amy-Beth Richardson – an athletic woman from Yorkshire, with short brown hair, large green eyes, and a passion for drinking gin and making cupcakes in her spare time; Thea Jinks – a tall and willowy woman from Cardiff, with chocolate brown hair, almond shaped eyes and an infectious laugh; Adley Wright – a short bald man from Aberdeen, with grand ambitions for changing wizarding perception of creatures they deemed dangerous and a love of sailing.

The first couple of weeks had been very busy taking reports of dark and dangerous creatures from around the country, tracking and then capturing those creatures, and releasing them somewhere safe and suitable. So far the team had dealt with an infestation of Hinkypunks leading many muggles to danger in Northumberland, a manticore that had been cunningly placed at Chester Zoo, Grindylows overrunning the Windermere in the Lake District, and a horned serpent which was imported from the USA and let loose to terrify the inhabitants and visitors to the Isle of Wight.

One big problem was trying to work out an effective plan for dealing with dementors. Azkaban was now being guarded by wizards, and Minister Shacklebolt was very keen on keeping it this way, the dementors had so quickly turned to follow Voldemort that many agreed they should not be re-instated at the island prison. The issue was what to do with them now, they couldn't be left to roam the country feeding off wizards and muggles at will, but where do you keep hundreds of dementors? This question was yet to be answered and now the problem had been given to the dark creature task force to resolve.

"Can we not use one of the uninhabited Scottish islands, put the dementors there, almost like Azkaban, just without the prisoners," suggested Adley at the end of week team meeting.

"They wouldn't stay, nothing to feed on," replied Yui.

"How would we keep them in one place? If there's no food they'll leave. The reason they stayed at Azkaban was the constant food supply," said Thea rubbing her temples as she tried to think of a solution.

"It's not going to be easy and I don't believe we will find a non-flawed plan everyone will agree on, but we must come up with something, go home everyone and have a think, we will discuss Monday," instructed Constantine yawning as he rose from the table.

As they walked to the apparition spot, Jeremiah took hold of Charlie's hand and whispered softly in his ear, "let me lead we're not going home, your mom knows, I have a surprise."

Charlie felt a flutter of butterflies in his stomach and allowed Jeremiah to pull him close in an embrace to apparate them both to the surprise destination. Opening his eyes Charlie saw they were stood outside a solitary log cabin in a dense wooded area. It was beautiful and peaceful. "Where are we?"

"Kielder Forrest and don't worry I have every possible charm on this place to keep us hidden. Don't get me wrong I love your family, but I am a selfish man Charlie and I want you to myself, uninterrupted," replied Jeremiah squeezing Charlie's hand and leading him inside the cabin.

Under instruction Charlie set a fire in the large log fireplace whilst Jeremiah busied himself in the kitchen. Thirty minutes later they were sitting in front of a roaring fire, drinking red wine, and eating a meal of steak and salad. It was like their own little slice of heaven to be alone and enjoy each other's company without fear of being disturbed. For hours they talked about all that had happened since Charlie left Romania, and shared with each other their hopes, dreams and fears for the future.

It was after midnight when they finished talking, and Charlie rested his head on Jeremiah's shoulder as they sat in comfortable silence, simply enjoying being together without a need for more words.

Suddenly, Jeremiah turned to face Charlie pulling him close and bending his head to lean in and kiss. Charlie melted into Jeremiah, running his hands along the muscles of Jeremiah's back. Their lips fixed on each other's, tongues meeting to explore. Within minutes shirts lay discarded on the sofa, and the two men tumbled in a passionate embrace to the floor.

Charlie felt overwhelming breathless and dizzy as Jeremiah's kisses moved down his neck and along his torso. As the kisses reach his navel, Charlie groaned with pleasure and slipped his hands around Jeremiah's waist to work at undoing his belt.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes"

"Sure?"

"Yes"

"I don't want to rush you"

"Jeremiah shut up and keep kissing me"

Jeremiah smiled and playfully nipped the tender flesh below Charlie's navel, before resuming kissing every inch of torso he could and removing the rest of Charlie's clothing. Charlie marvelled at the remarkable grace of the man that made him feel things he had never felt before. They made love until the early hours and Charlie was grateful for the forward planning of a remote log cabin away from his family. It was undoubtedly the best night of his life and he couldn't quite believe how lucky he was to have a man who loved him so passionately, honestly and freely.

A/N: I know I promised the Malfoy's trial would be included but the chapter was getting far too long so I have given the Malfoy's their own chapter, and this will posted later tonight! As always if you are enjoying please review and leave me some kind words of encouragement! xxx