The competition between Ginny and I grew fiercer as the game went on. She was an amazing Chaser, and she made it hard to hold my own against her. George rocketed the Bludger at his sister every opportunity he got and blocked Bill's attempts to unseat me when I stole the Quaffle, but every goal I scored was hard won. Outmaneuvering Ginny gave me a thrill, and getting the Quaffle past Percy, who was playing Keeper for Ginny's team, was extremely satisfying. Not because he presented a real challenge, but because I just didn't like him that much. I hadn't had this much fun in so long. Keeping my focus was an effort, though, with everyone yelling and laughing. Fleur cheered for Bill, Hermione cheered for Ron, and Molly cheered for everybody, including me.
The score was evenly tied for the last portion of the game, Ginny and I finally playing neck-and-neck, until Charlie took a dive off his broom to catch the Snitch from underneath Harry's nose.
Charlie laid in the grass, holding the Snitch up in the air, his chest shaking with laughter as George hit the ground running and leapt on top of him with a howl. Ron joined the pile, along with Bill and Ginny, who didn't seem at all bothered by their loss.
Smiling so wide my cheeks began to ache, I dismounted and wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. Aberforth clamped his hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
"Didn't know you could smile," he said. I brushed his hand off with a shrug, unable to help the chuckle that built in my throat.
"Don't get used to it," I countered.
Aberforth smiled thoughtfully, eyeing the Weasley pile-up with shrewd eyes. "Have fun celebrating, girl. You deserve to have a good time."
I watched him wander back indoors, my joy slowly dissipating into the gentle burn of good cheer. The gaggle of redheads got up, and I saw that Charlie still had the Snitch in his hand. With the game over, they all started to collect the balls to put them away. I picked up the Quaffle and fit it back into its spot in the box. Charlie grinned at me as he gently slipped the Snitch into its socket, locking it in.
"Feel like having a celebratory drink with me?" he asked. I glanced over at the others. Bill, George, and Ron were trying to catch the Bludger but it seemed to be enjoying its freedom. Ginny and Harry had their arms around each other and were wandering slowly inside. Fleur, Hermione, and Molly stayed sitting and watching the boys.
I looked back at Charlie and nodded. "I'd love to."
He held his hand out to me, though it took me a moment to accept it. When I did Charlie started loping inside, tugging me along with him. He led me into the dining room and started searching through a cabinet against the wall.
I sat down at the table and set to untangling my wind-tossed hair. Charlie brought out a bottle of firewhiskey and two glasses. "I bought this for my dad last year," he said as he sat down beside me. "Romania's finest, and it hasn't even been opened."
He popped the cork out with a flick of his wand and poured the deep, amber liquid into the glasses, passing one to me and picking up the other. "Za vas," I mumbled, holding my glass up. Charlie clinked his glass against mine.
"Cheers," he said, watching me carefully. We downed our glasses in a few gulps. The burn and taste of the firewhiskey was so strong that I coughed so hard I thought a lung was going to come out.
"Romania doesn't hold back," I gasped. Charlie laughed, loud and strong.
"It takes some getting used to," he admitted. "Want another?"
"Sure, why not?" I nudged my glass his way and he refilled them both, drinking his in another swift, practiced motion. I started to wonder about him, unwittingly comparing him to the rest of his family. He was handsome, like Bill, only more so considering the older brother's scars. He had the same sort of build as George and Ron, who were both tall and solid, but there was something more appealing about Charlie's musculature, like he used his body more strenuously and actively.
"You're staring," Charlie said, putting his glass down and leaning towards me with his elbows on the table.
"What?" I squawked, blushing at being caught out. "I wasn't." I scooted my chair back a little and looked away.
"I don't mind," Charlie was quick to say, diffusing my awkwardness. "We can stare at each other if you'd like. Consensual staring can be quite nice."
I rolled my eyes, glancing at him sidelong. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass."
We were interrupted by George and Ron bursting into the room with a clatter. "You found the booze!" George exclaimed, pointing at the bottle of firewhiskey. "Don't hog it all, for Merlin's sake." He sauntered over, snatched the bottle, and marched out of the room again.
"What're you doing?" Ron asked, giving us a quizzical look. I stood up from the table and cleared my throat.
"I'm going to shower," I said, scurrying off before Charlie could finish rising from his seat.
"What did you do to her?" I heard Ron ask as I was leaving the room. I didn't hear Charlie's response.
Since everyone was downstairs enjoying themselves, I had an entire upstairs floor to myself. I took a long, leisurely shower and pampered myself with the scented soaps and shampoos Fleur had brought for me. Getting clean had, for a long time, been something perfunctory and utilitarian to me. Smoothing lotions over my skin and in my hair was so unusual, but it felt nice to feel like feminine. Like a woman. Leaning forwards to look at myself in the mirror, I tried to remember what I used to look like, before my mother stole three years from me.
I made a few faces at myself, scrunching up my thick brows and blowing raspberries with my lips. I smiled, combing my wet hair with my fingers. I looked grown up now. I was twenty-two, so that shouldn't have surprised me so much, but I was getting used to the extra mileage and the subtle changes that age could bring.
I crept back downstairs after I got dressed, peeking into the lounge where most of the household was gathered. Their various conversations ranged from quiet and peaceful, to loud and boisterous, and the latter was mostly because of George's natural exuberance. Ron and Charlie were playing a game of Exploding Snap, sitting facing each other on the floor. Hermione sat beside Ron, holding her hand over her mouth as she laughed.
"I'm not going to snap it," Charlie said, smirking at Ron. I wandered over, crossing the room a little uncertainly. I still didn't quite feel like I fit, but the evening's fun had gone a long way to making a little room for me.
"Well, I'm not," Ron announced, folding his long arms across his chest, his wand in his hand. I looked down at the pile of playing cards and saw that they were beginning to smoke around the edges, two Bowtruckles cards lying on top. I smiled and lowered myself to the ground next to Charlie, folding my legs in front of me. Charlie looked over at me, and a pleasant feeling swept through me when I met his gaze.
"We're at a stalemate," Charlie said, leaning towards me slightly to speak quietly, conspiratorially. I saw Ron make a face out of the corner of my eye. I watched Charlie's pupils dilate slightly, darkening the bright blue of his irises. "You smell nice."
"It's just soap," I told him with an embarrassed chuckle. The cards suddenly exploded with a loud crack, and I jumped at the violence of the noise. Charlie touched my arm with a gentle hand, laughing at Ron, who'd tried to scramble back out of the blast range.
The air smelled like smoke and Hermione tried to waft the acrid smell away with her hand. "You should've snapped it," she scolded Ron, who stuck his tongue out childishly.
"I've lost my bloody eyebrows to this game before," Ron complained. He rubbed at the ginger stubble around his chin and jaw. "I could lose my scruff. You said you liked it." He smirked at Hermione, suddenly flirtatious and teasing. Hermione's cheeks reddened, but she laughed and let Ron lean over and kiss her on the cheek. The two of them got up, their hands twining together as they went and sat down with Harry and Ginny.
"He's tryin' to grow a beard," Charlie said with a snicker. "Been tryin' since he hit puberty, though."
"So is this the product of years of effort?" I asked slyly, gesturing at his own considerable scruff. Charlie's beard was thick, but still short and neat. It suited him well.
"And several hair growth tonics," Charlie responded. His eyes shone with amusement, and I laughed, completely uninhibited. I felt lighter in Charlie's company, in this room full of people who loved each other. When I thought about Kira, I thought about how much she'd like these people. For the first time I imagined a life with just the two of us, protected and cared for, and the future didn't seem quite so terrifying.
Charlie left the next morning to run errands for the dragon sanctuary in Romania and was gone all day. Without him around my good cheer dimmed a little. I hadn't realised just how much Charlie's conversation had improved my mood until he left in the morning. We'd talked for hours last night, about everything under the sun. I opened up about my family in a way I never had before. I refused to talk about what my mother did to me, but I shared things with him that had been quietly buried within me for many years.
With him gone, I moped around with no one to talk to. George was at work, and Bill and Fleur had left for France to visit Fleur's family. The house was quiet, with more empty spaces and rooms than I'd gotten used to. Surprisingly for me, I actually sought out company. I found Molly in the garden, pulling weeds from a flowerbed by the porch.
"Can I help?" I asked, dawdling awkwardly as I watched her.
Molly gave me a big smile. "Of course, dear. I'd love some help." She gave me a pair of gardening gloves to put on and I knelt down in the grass beside her, listening to her instructions on which plants to pull from the dirt. "Fleabane grows in my garden at home. Careful of the seedpods; if you lose track of them they'll just grow anew."
I'd never been very good at gardening. Herbology had been one of my worst subjects at school. Some people had a green thumb, but my touch seemed to wilt plants. I was a little cautious about getting my hands in the dirt, fumbling around for Fleabane roots, but Molly was patient and kind and was soon chatting happily about her garden.
"Will you be moving back home soon?" I asked, clapping my hands together to dislodge dirt from my gloves.
"Within the month, if we're lucky," she said. "I worry the house won't be the same, since we've had to rebuild so much of it. The two top floors were completely destroyed in the fire. We had a ghoul in our attic that only just made it out, a little singed but no worse for wear. Poor thing had nowhere to live so Arthur and I brought it here to stay in the basement."
I laughed, marveling at Molly's kindness. She even had space in her heart for a ghoul. "I wish my mother had been more like you," I said ruefully.
Molly looked at me for a long moment, and I was startled to see her eyes shining with tears. She gave me a wavering smile, plucked off her gloves, and wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry, dear. I don't mean to be so weepy. It's just... how could a mother treat her own daughter so badly? I simply don't understand it."
Swallowing past the lump in my throat was difficult. "Helena wasn't a kind person," I mumbled.
"Nina, I've been meaning to ask you..." Molly began, and the hesitance in her voice made me frown. "When your sister is found, is there anywhere you two can go? What I mean is, will you have a home? A safe home?"
I looked down at the patch of garden where we'd been ripping up weeds. The flowerbed looked more alive without the tangled roots of the Fleabane choking the other plants. "I honestly don't know," I said quietly. "I don't know what my sister might want. But I want her to be safe more than anything."
Molly reached over and put one arm around my shoulders, gently pulling me in for a hug. The angle was a little awkward, forcing me off balance until I was practically leaning on Molly with my head against her shoulder, but the embrace felt so warm and comfortable that I wanted to sob for all the times I could've used a hug like this.
"You're a good girl, Nina, who deserved more. Whatever happens, you and your sister are welcome with us."
"Thank you," I muttered against Molly's blouse. When I noticed the shuffling presence of Kreacher the house elf, I broke the embrace.
"There's a man here to see Ms. Dolohov," the elf croaked, blinking owl-like eyes before he turned and shambled back indoors like an old, crooked man.
"Off you go," Molly said, smiling. "I'll carry on out here."
I stood up and brushed soil off the legs of my jeans, dropping my gloves next to Molly before hurrying inside. I found Russell pacing in the dining room, his shiny shoes making solid clacking sounds on the wooden floors.
"Nina," he said, turning to face me when I entered the room. "Good news. We've found your sister."
A wave of relief so intense rolled through me that I had to clutch the back of a chair to keep myself standing. "Where is she?" I demanded, my voice unintentionally shrill.
Russell came around the table and clutched my arm, an empathetic smile touching his lips. "She's at the Ministry. I need you to come with me now."
"Of course," I said, nodding, trying to get my thoughts straight. "I need to tell Molly."
Molly offered to come along for moral support, but I told her to stay. I told her I'd be back soon, with my sister, and her offer ran through my head again, giving me hope that I could provide Kira with safety and security. Hurrying to get my shoes and coat on, I was ready to leave within minutes and Russell apparated the two of us across the city.
He took me through the Ministry's guest entrance and I bounced on the balls of my feet as he checked me in with reception. A serious looking wizard accompanied us to the holding cells where I'd been kept, and the thought of Kira down here, locked up, made me furious.
"She's down here?" I snapped, glaring at Russell. "How much trouble could she possibly cause?"
Russell didn't meet my eye, staring ahead instead as we walked down the cold corridors. "She was agitated when we brought her in," he said gently. "She's been alone for more than a week, surviving under difficult circumstances. We felt she needed to be safely contained."
I thought over his words carefully, attempting to imagine what Kira had been through. The possibilities made my chest ache. "Is that why you needed me to come here?" I asked. "Because you couldn't calm her down?"
A moment passed before Russell nodded. He finally looked at me, an apology in his eyes. "We feared that she'd try to run, if we moved her before she saw you."
"Did you tell her I was safe?" I demanded.
"Yes, of course, but she said she won't believe us until she sees you for herself," Russell said, sounding a little indignant about my interrogation. I quickened my pace, wanting to get to my sister as quickly as possible, now that I knew how much she needed me.
The other wizard with us unlocked a cell and pulled the door open. It was larger than mine had been, furnished more like a real bedroom. But there were no windows and it still had a claustrophobic feeling. I stepped inside, pushing Russell back when he tried to follow. Kira was lying curled up on the bed, on top of the comforter.
"Mola lyev," I mumbled, approaching her. She was up in a flash, like a spring uncoiling. Her long hair was matted and tied back in a ponytail with a rubber band, and she looked so tired. There was a thinness about her face that worried me. How had she taken care of herself for so long? By the looks of her, it hadn't been easy.
"Nina," Kira sobbed, throwing herself at me. I held her tightly, pressing my hand to the back of her head and smoothing her knotty hair.
"It's alright now," I said, keeping her tiny frame sheltered within my arms. "I've got you."