The Daemon Diaries
Little Miss English Nerd
Chapter 9
"Clara! You have a visitor!"
I raised an eyebrow at my uncle's exclamation.
Alright, I know what you're thinking..."what uncle?"
Well, I'd been 'home schooled' for the last month by my new found Uncle Tommy, who happened to be a great teacher. Yes, yes, my mother was fine with it, thank you very much! And sure, it was a little awkward at first...but after a few weeks, I could definitely say that he was the best uncle of all time, to put it lightly...
"Coming, Uncle Tommy!"
Running down the long staircase in my uncle's large, British estate, I looked in a mirror to make sure that I looked alright. I'd gotten a hair cut since I had left Hogwarts; my thick, curly hair suddenly went from elbow length to a little above shoulder length, and I'd gotten tons of styling tips from Witch Weekly. I half-smiled at my reflection...I was happy in Wiltshire, yeah, but I felt pretty empty. Whenever I styled my hair, did my makeup, looked in the mirror, or did just about anything, I thought about what Charlie would think about my appearance and mannerisms, and it suddenly hit me how much I missed him and how often I thought about him.
I finally reached the door, and Uncle Tommy disappeared with a smile.
Draco stood in the doorway, looking pleased to see me.
"Draco!" I exclaimed after a pregnant pause, ushering him inside. "What brings you here? How'd you find out where I was?"
"I had enough sense to owl your mother about your whereabouts, and she gladly told me. I'm here to tell you that you've put one of my closest friends into utter turmoil, and he looks like a zombie half of the time without you around! Will you please come back for him?" This was all said in a hard-to-follow rush, as if he had somewhere else to be.
I shook my head at his obviousness. Of course, I'd figured that was the reason he was here, but I thought he would've at least used more tact.
"Fulton, I've half a mind to tell him exactly where you are so that he can plague you until you return unless you come as soon as possible!"
Something about his controlling tone annoyed me, so I decided to act snobby.
"Well, I wouldn't care if you did. He can do anything he wants, but he won't be able to convince me..." I lied through my teeth, hoping he wouldn't notice.
He smirked. "Fine, then. He'll probably be at your window by nightfall."
I glared challengingly. "Fine."
"Fine."
"Awesome."
"Good."
"Great!"
"Fantastic!"
"Super!"
With that, he opened the door, gave me one last friendly-ish sneer, and left.
What have I done?
That night, I sat at my desk in my room; the blue curtains were drawn, shades closed, and latches locked. Everything had been very organized in my stressful state, and I was sewing buttons on a bracelet to occupy my down time.
Will he come? What will he do? What will I do? What will I say? Will I be able to face him? I'm such a wimp! Oh, this is going to be so awkward...if he ends up coming! Wait...I miss him...no, I don't know if I do! Ugh!
The large clock on my wall indicated that it was 11:42 and a half minutes, to be precise. I fiddled with the sleeve of my t-shirt, smoothed my hair, and straightened my printed, pajama pants nervously. Just as I was pulling a strand of thread through the needle, a barely noticeable knock sounded at my window. My stomach dropped to my toes and I pricked my finger, mouth dry.
I walked to the afore-knocked-on window, sliding open the shades and curtains with shaking hands. I saw no one, though I knew he was there. The glass went up, then, and so did the screen. The chilly air began to spread through the room, and I shivered, sucking on my wounded finger and feeling his presence.
"Ch-Charlie?" My garbled whisper sounded feeble and pathetic in the still, night air.
"Hey, Clara," a tired sounding voice made its presence known. "Can I come in?"
I backed away from the window, holding the curtain aside for the dark figure.
His face was pale, and it seemed that all of the color had been drained out of his body, leaving him as some kind of corpse. The green-blue eyes that I'd come to know and love looked dull and lifeless, and his once-gorgeous locks appeared limp and completely uncared for. He wore dark clothes, and his wings were hidden from sight. All in all, he looked just as zombiesque and depressed as Draco had described. A wave of guilt washed over me, and I gulped.
"Clara..."
His voice cracked as he said my name, and he looked like he was about to fall over.
Guiltily, I led him over to the couch, sitting next to him as he took in my features and appearance, an awkward gap in between us.
"Clara, I'm...I'm so sorry..."
His voice sounded broken and dull, and I averted my gaze.
My throat was dry, but I did my best. "I...should be the one to apologize. Why do you look like this?"
He said nothing. I sat, waiting, until I felt a finger lift my chin up. His face was so close that I could feel his breath blowing across my cheekbones as he exhaled through his mouth. My muscles froze, and he stayed perfectly still for what felt like forever. He slowly closed and opened his eyes, something in them hardening. He began to speak.
"Because of you, Clara Anne Fulton; always because of you."
Resisting the urge to look away, I held his gaze. "Why me?"
"Because you're the only one I'll ever truly love, and I can't stand to know that you've rejected me...it's the worst feeling in the world." His complexion paled, and he finally dropped his eyes to his hands, which were clenched together so tightly that it probably hurt. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that...I didn't mean to upset you."
Because of the shameful irony, I laughed, shutting my eyes and shaking my head at my own foolishness. I cleared my throat and once again peered at him.
"Blaise," I placed my hand on his clenched ones. "Charlie...please don't apologize. I should be the one that feels guilty. You did nothing out of the ordinary for you, and I overreacted. If I accepted your apology, I'd sound like the most hypocritical person in the world...so I hope you'll forgive me instead."
Rather impressed with myself, I met his green-blue gaze again, seeing a form of flickering hope behind his irises.
"I'll forgive you if you'll forgive me," he stated.
Letting out a shaky breath, I nodded, opening my arms and longing for his loving touch.
He desperately pulled me to him, like a starving man would grab for food. His strong, warm arms felt familiar and well-missed, and I wanted that moment to last forever. My eyes were tearing up as I smelled his intriguing aroma and basked in the heat radiating off of him. He whispered my name over and over again, rocking me side to side and petting my short hair. A crack went through my facade and I began to openly sob, but he just held me closer.
"Charlie, I'm so s-sorry!" I gasped into his broad shoulder.
"It's okay, Clara. You were right to do what you did, and I forgive y-"
"No, I wasn't! I didn't know that it would a-affect you this way, and it was completely self-fish and wrong..."
"But you didn't do it on purpose, and that's what it all boils down to at the end of the day, okay? I entirely forgive you for whatever you feel like you did wrong, and I hope you'll extend the same courtesy to me."
I nodded and once again laid my head on his shoulder. His hand went back to my hair, but he paused for a second.
"When did you get your hair cut?"
"Right after I, er, left...do you not like it?"
He shook his head and played with my curled locks a bit more. "No, I like it, it's really pretty. It just feels like I'm meeting you for the first time all over again..."
"Same here, but I'm not pleased with what I'm seeing. Draco was right; you do look like a zombie...when was the last time you ate something? You look sick..."
He shifted into a more comfortable position, laying his cheek against mine. I hoped he couldn't feel my sudden blush.
"Well, I kind of was sick, but I'll get better now...that is, if you come back with me soon."
I bit my lip and buried my face into the crook of his neck, feeling his heart beat a little faster with the contact. He laid his head on top of mine and breathed deeply, inhaling my scent. I remembered what had happened last time we'd been in such a situation, and decided to take advantage of it.
"Charlie?"
I wiggled ever closer to him, looking up into his eyes.
"Yes?" He gulped, edging just a tiny bit away and looking like he was holding himself back.
I said the words that I knew would get to him;
"I missed you."
He went from looking completely and utterly hesitant to looking like the grinning, Cheshire Cat. My eyes fluttered shut as I took in the moment of whole perfection and contentment as he softly kissed my forehead. I felt like I was in a fairytale; warm and tingly all over, a nest of hyper butterflies in my stomach.
"I missed you, too, Clara...more than you could ever know..."
We sat together in happy silence for a few minutes before something popped to mind.
"I didn't kiss Draco, you know...I had my hand between our mouths."
He laughed and shook his head, his hair rubbing against my neck. "I should've known...honestly, you would've made a great Slytherin, you devious little girl."
We were both grinning like total dweebs until I shivered from the air blowing through the forgotten, open window. Charlie followed my gaze and chivalrously closed the offending object, drawing the shades shut once more. I sat up, biting my lip and studying him.
"Would you like some tea? I'll go down and make some..."
"You're obviously a psychic angel!" He proclaimed, sliding off his shoes and hopping onto my bed. "Tea would be terrific."
"What kind would you like? We have everything from herbal to English breakfast..."
"Said like a true Brit! I'll have whatever you're having, thanks."
I nodded, blushing, and opened my door, thankful to see the lights in my uncle's room off. Humming my way down to the kitchen, I took out two large mugs and set to work, boiling the water in the kettle and taking out some tea bags. I decided that he'd like whatever I liked...probably, so I used lemon, herbal tea and put in lots of sugar and a bit of lemon juice. A midnight snack would probably do Charlie some good, so I took out a bag of milano cookies. When everything was said and done, I cautiously tiptoed up the stairs with the drinks and snackage. As I approached the door, Charlie opened it for me, taking one mug from my grasp and quietly closing the door. He loudly took a slurp of his beverage, smiling at the taste.
"Wanna sit down on the couch?" I questioned. He nodded, and, as we approached, I thought back to my acting days and softly added, "or should I call it a love seat?"
I giggled at my own sense of humor as he looked on, confused but happy. I explained that it was a line from a play I'd been in during my freshman year, and continued to tell him about the insane fun that it'd been.
"So, would you like to go into acting?" He asked, nomming on a cookie happily.
I shrugged and also took a milano. "I like acting, but it would be uber hard to actually go anywhere with it. It's more of a hobby, like singing and whatnot."
"You could totally be a singer, though!" He argued, nudging me in the side with his elbow.
"Nahh, not enough self-confidence...anyway, what's going on at Hogwarts?"
He told me that everything had been pretty normal in general, but the meals in the common room had definitely decreased in quality since I'd left, as well as the unity between the different houses that made up our dorm mates.
"You should've seen the nasty fight that broke out yesterday...Seamus and Theo got into quite a scrape, and, what with Seamus's extreme combustibility, I'm not sure if Theo will ever be able to look at Seamus the same way..."
I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, then got up and walked over to the large, walk-in closet, pulling out my trunk and diving in.
"Clara? What are you doing?"
"Packing my things, of course! What does it look like I'm doing?"
"Yeah, I can see that, but why?"
I secretly smiled, looking over my shoulder at him. "So I can come back to Hogwarts, silly."
His face looked like it might explode with happiness, and he let out a loud whooping noise, running over to me with another exuberant embrace. After we pulled back, our eyes widened simultaneously, and I heard my uncle stirring in the next room a moment later.
"Get outside! I'll tell you when it's safe! Go!" I hissed.
He didn't hesitate, and disappeared completely in the next instant. I righted everything and went back to packing, trying to calm my rushed breathing. Uncle Tommy's knock sounded, and I told him that he could come in. His sleepy face appeared around the corner, and I smiled at him.
"Hey, Uncle Tommy, what brings you here?"
"I-I thought I heard someone yell. Is anyone else here?" He yawned.
I shook my head. "Nope. I dropped a book on my toe, and I kind of yelped a bit. My bad. Why don't you go back to sleep?"
He began to walk away, but paused in the doorway. "So, are you going back to school?"
"Yeah, I was planning to go in the morning, if that's alright with you."
He nodded and smiled at me, walking over and hugging me lightly.
"Just know that it's been good getting to know you; I should probably get back to work more, though it's been great fun teaching you...you should be well prepared to get going back to school. I'll see you in the morning, kiddo."
He left after playfully ruffling my hair.
I sighed and opened the window up again, letting in a cold Charlie with a laugh. He gathered me into his arms and hugged me close to him, a huge grin on his exuberant face.
"You're really coming back?"
"Mhmm...now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go supervise the packing of my trunk."
He let me go, and the job was done ten minutes later (with a few, helpful spells, of course). I yawned hugely, leaning into him as we sat together on the couch. He was once again playing with the ends of my hair, but he smiled kindly at me.
"Looks like you should go to bed; you've got a big day of readjusting ahead of you."
I shook my head, cuddling into his side. "I don't wanna go to bed."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
He sighed and laid his head on top of mine, accepting defeat contentedly.
Though I felt perfectly fine at the moment, the lack of conversation allowed my thoughts to stray a bit.
So, if I'm his mate...does that mean that I have to...marry him and everything? Not that I don't want to, it's just...I don't wanna even consider marriage yet...I'm not even eighteen..and...everything changed so quickly...
Closing my eyes, I focused on his even breathing as he brushed through my hair again. I tucked my cold feet up, sticking them under his legs to keep them warm. He seemed to understand, and the blanket that usually found its home on the back of the couch was settled over me as Charlie draped his arm around me in a more comfortable manner, and I found myself slipping into dream land.
I groaned lightly as I felt myself being moved by a familiar set of arms, shifting restlessly. I recognized the feeling of my fluffy blankets and inviting mattress as the comforter was tucked around me.
"Thanks, Charlie," I mumbled, hardly understandable.
A kiss was placed on my forehead, and I just barely caught his words.
"G'night, luv..."
With a moan, I reached my hands up to rub the sleep from my exhausted eyes. I cracked open an eyelid and drowsily glared at my alarm clock. 7:35. I felt like I was missing something important as I went to the bathroom to care for my morning needs. After I felt slightly awake, I walked back into my bedroom, taking in the slightly rumpled couch with a raised eyebrow.
"Charlie!" I quietly exclaimed, remembering last night completely.
A piece of parchment rested on my bedside table, bearing my name in his handwriting.
Clairbear,
I'll see you at school; I figured that your uncle might not be pleased if he found me in your room... Anyway, just floo on over whenever you're ready. I'm so glad you're coming back; I missed you.
Love,
Charlie
I giggled and folded the note again, deciding to keep it with the other notes he'd sent me by owl. Singing my way into the shower, I took the time necessary to feel completely clean, scrubbing my hair and body with vigor.
I dressed slowly in a simple pair of skinny jeans, an over sized, button down shirt with a floral pattern, and a tank top that matched the blue base color of the blouse. I grabbed my pride and joy shoes (my Toms) and looked in the mirror, hoping that some of the Witch Weekly spells would sort out my demented hair. Half an hour later, I actually looked pretty good. My hair was curled and very dry, with the front pinned up. I wore just a bit of makeup, mostly eyeliner and mascara.
I rolled my trunk down the stairs with me, walking toward the library. Uncle T sat at his desk, giving me a smile as I approached.
After he made sure that I really wanted to go, he bent down to my height and looked me in the eyes.
"Don't you let anybody make you do anything you don't want to do; now that you have your powers, you're perfectly capable of showing everyone who is boss, alright? I'll miss having you here; you're great fun, little niece. Give me a hug and then go on out, kiddo! Good luck!"
After I'd said my goodbyes to him, the cat, and the tanked lizard, I grabbed a handful of floo powder and made my getaway. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
A/N: Thank you SO much for reading! Could you pretty, pretty please review? I'm kind of stalling on this story a bit, but some reviews would really boost general morale over here at L.M.E.N Studios! Hope you liked it a bunch! More Chara FLUFF and drama to come!
Hearts,
L.M.E.N