Hey guys! Sorry for the massive wait... here it is! If you likey, please review!
Charlie sat in his room, staring intently at Bill, who looked like he was trying not to laugh. They were both sitting on their beds in their shared room. A quiet undercurrent of conversation could be heard, as well as the occasional argument or a cry of frustration from Charlie.
"Hmm... okay. How about this – Hi? Do you –"
"Come on, Charlie, you can do better than that. Make her feel special."
"How the hell am I supposed to make her feel special when I can't even bloody say hi to her? How can it be so bloody hard?"
"Is that what you want her to say?" Bill raised his eyebrows suggestively.
"You git! You're supposed to be helping me here, not making fun of me!" Charlie cried in desperation, smacking him. "My life is ruined!" He hung his head in his hands, sobbing silently.
"Come now, Charlie, I had to. You're sounding like a second year Hufflepuff! Pull yourself together! Are you a Gryffindor or not?" He tried a pep talk, but Charlie didn't respond. He only sighed.
"There's no way she'll go out with me."
"Charlie, she loves you. Everyone knows it, mate!"
"No, she doesn't, she hates me. Hates me!"
"Charlie," Bill said softly, trying to get him to calm down. "She does not hate you. If she hated you, she wouldn't be sending you all these letters, would she?" Charlie shook his head sullenly. "No. Besides, she wants you to ask her out. I can just tell."
That seemed to cheer Charlie up.
"Now," said Bill, "this is what you have to do."
Tonks sat in her usual compartment, waiting for Charlie to show up. She doubted he would – the Hogwarts Express had left Kings Cross more than twenty minutes ago, and usually he was here first – but he had promised, and had never broken a promise yet.
Suddenly, Charlie burst through the door, smelling strongly of cherries.
"Hi Nym. How was your summer?" he asked nonchalantly, squinting his eyes weirdly, as if he was looking into a very bright light.
"Um... good?" She hesitated. "Charlie, why do you smell like my mother's dying cherry tree?"
"Er... no reason." He said suspiciously. She raised her eyebrows sceptically.
"Okay... what did you do this summer? Anything exciting?"
"Not really." He replied hastily.
"Charlie, what's gotten into you?" Tonks demanded.
And suddenly he couldn't help himself. Words poured out of his mouth like a water work bursting. He explained everything.
"– and the whole summer I've been thinking of ways to impress you and make you fall in love with me because I've fallen in love with you so completely and that's why I smell weird and I can't think properly when I'm not with you and I just need you to know that I –" He broken of suddenly, finally noticing Tonks gaping at him and the words spilling out of his mouth.
"I – what – Charlie?" she spluttered, dazed.
"Oh sweet Merlin! I didn't just say that out loud. I did not just say that out loud! I'm so sorry, Nym! I would – I would never –" Again he broke off, this time because of the glowing smile spreading across her face. Her whole complexion lit up and her hair shone like sunlight. Not the clichéd gold, but a more beautiful colour, in his opinion. Sunlight silver. He had never seen something so beautiful – he felt breathless.
Slowly, inch by inch, as if trying to test him, she closed the distance between her glowing face and his flaming red one. She stopped just half an inch away from him, smiling slightly. Finally Charlie could take it no longer. He abruptly, but very gently, brushed his lips against hers, one of his hands winding through her curly, silvery hair, the other creeping around her waist. Tonks whimpered, both of her hands crawling around his neck. They pressed against each other indecently, forgetting that they were in a crowded train full of people they knew. It was just that moment when Bill walked in.
"Oh, um, hi guys." He said awkwardly. They broke apart instantly, both very flushed in the face. "I see you're, um, getting to know each other again... Hi Tonks."
"Hi Bill." She whispered quietly, mortified, her dull red face now a brilliant scarlet.
"Well, you seem to have done fairly well without any further advice from –"
"Okay Bill, get out. Now." Charlie said, threateningly, with a malice in his tone neither Bill not Tonks had ever heard before. Bill needed no further convincing, dashing out of the compartment so fast he was just a reddish blur.
"Anyway, what were we doing again?" Charlie asked Tonks, smirking. Tonks grinned evilly at him. Then he seemed to remember. "Oh, uh, I didn't mean... we don't have to, if you don't want to –"
But she just smiled slightly, like she did before. "But... I think we should." And she kissed him again, right on the lips, with as much passion as she could muster. Nothing would ever be the same. She smiled at the thought.