A/N: Hey guys, sorry it took so long to update. I was moving and such. Please enjoy. And thanks to those who are still reading. :)
Charlie held his cup of coffee between his hands, allowing the heat to fill him with warmth. Twenty one year olds, living on their own and studying dragons, couldn't normally afford heat, so Charlie made do with what he had. There was a knock on his door and Charlie stood to open it. Bill stood outside, rubbing his hands together to keep them from freezing off.
"Took you long enough brother." he said grinning.
"Bill, you literally just knocked." Charlie said hugging his brother.
Bill pushed past Charlie into the tiny flat. He took off his coat and went straight for the coffee, then took a seat at the table, where Charlie had repositioned himself.
"What brings you to Romania?" Charlie asked glancing up from his mug.
"Your letters." Bill said chucking a stack of parchment on the table, "You sounded like shit, so tell me, what's going on with you?"
Charlie heaved a long sigh and ran his hand through his hair.
"Well, I have a girlfriend." Charlie said with a half smile.
Bill gaped at his brother open mouth for a moment, then he cleared his throat. As he spoke he tried to hide his confusion as best he could.
"Does Chuck know?"
"Of course Chuck knows, but out of all questions that's the first you ask?" Charlie laughed bitterly.
"You're right. What's her name?" asked Bill.
"Dunno, I haven't thought of a name for her yet." Charlie replied.
"Come again?" Bill sputtered, spilling coffee down his front.
"She's not real, I made her up. I wrote to Chuck, telling her I have a girlfriend." Charlie explained looking miserable.
"I'm going to listen to your reasoning before calling you an idiot." Bill said folding his hands in front of him.
Charlie looked at him awkwardly. Bill grinned at his brother and smiled, waiting patiently.
"It was my idea to write to each other, I couldn't stand the thought of not keeping in touch. It didn't take me long to realize if we kept writing we wouldn't be able to distance ourselves. I want her to experience school without being tied down. So I made up a girlfriend." Charlie told Bill.
"She'll murder you if she ever finds out." Bill said shaking his head.
"I know." Charlie groaned.
"You're doing the right thing though." Bill patted his brother's arm.
"It doesn't feel like it." Charlie replied.
"Here's how I figure it, Chuck is young, she's got a bit of growing up to do. Maybe lying to her about an imaginary girlfriend isn't the best way to go about it. But she'd probably protest if she thought there was any chance for the two of you now." Bill explained.
"So you don't think there's a chance for us right now then?" Charlie asked his brother.
"No. You're focused on your dragons, Chuck's gotta do some growing, long distance never works, I mean the list goes on and on little brother." said Bill.
Charlie looked up at him glaringly and Bill gave an uneasy laugh.
"You asked." he said throwing his hands up in defense. "Look, if two people are meant to be together, they will be. It just isn't good timing right now. You did the right thing."
"I'll be at Hogwarts soon. I've got to deliver some dragons for the Triwizard Tournament." Charlie said staring back at his hands.
"Alright, well you can still be friends with her." Bill shrugged.
"What if she asks about the girlfriend?" asked Charlie.
Bill considered Charlie's question for a moment, staring at his brother thoughtfully. Then he grinned as the answer came to him.
"Well brother, I think we need to give her a name." Bill winked.
Charley walked down the stairs from the girls' dormitory into the common room. She scanned the room for her friends. It wasn't hard to spot Fred and George in a rather dark corner of the room, heads bent, muttering to each other. Charley crossed the room to the two and sat next to George. They stopped whispering abruptly and turned their attention to her.
"What are you two up to?" she asked, eyeing the parchment in front of George.
"Nothing." Fred said quickly.
George snatched the paper up and folded it, then tucked it away in his pocket.
"What was that?" Charley asked.
"Blimey, you're as nosey as Ronald." Fred sighed.
"Look Chuck, it doesn't actually concern you, so don't worry about it. Mmk?" said George.
"Well, I leave you to it then." Charley said stiffly.
She stood and began to walk off to sit with Lee and one of his friends, a fourth year boy called Dean Thomas.
"Oh Chuck, don't be so temperamental." Fred groaned from behind her.
"I am not temperamental!" she snapped.
Dean glanced at Charley warily as she thrust herself into one of the empty seats. Lee, who was used to Charley by now and knew very well that she was indeed temperamental, didn't even glance up from the book he was studying out of.
"What did Fred do this time?" Lee asked.
"Fred is, as always, a prat. This time, however I'm angry with the pair of them." Charley said crossing her arms in front of her.
"Chuck, you can't get mad at them." Lee sighed.
"Why the bloody hell not?" Charley asked shrilly.
Lee finally looked up at her, his eyes full of a wisdom that only being a friend to the twins for six years could bring.
"Fred and George are first and foremost twins. They are a team of two and only two. They love you, you're their best friend. Believe me Chuck, they love you. But Merlin's beard, if you get angry every time they keep something just between the to of them, you are always going to be angry." Lee explained to Chuck.
Charley glanced over at Fred and George who had gone back to whatever it was they had been doing. George looked up and caught her eye and grinned. She rolled her eyes but smiled back in spite of herself. Fred looked up and winked at her.
"Okay, but can I still be angry with Fred for being a prat?" Charley asked Lee.
"Only if you always want to be angry." Lee laughed.
"Thanks Lee." said Charley laughing with him.
"Anytime Chuck." Lee nodded, "Now, help me study as payment," he winked handing her his book.
Charley was in the middle of explaining to Lee the necessary ingredients for the antidote used for Peruvian Vipertooth dragon venom, when Fred and George had finally finished. They waltzed over to the table and took seats on either side of Charley.
"So Chuck, tell us, were you always this interested in dragons?" asked Fred.
"Or did our dear brother Charlie spark it?" George finished.
Charley glared at the two for a moment.
"Laugh it up you two. But we'll see who's doing the laughing Monday, when Snape has us concoct this exact antidote and neither of you are able to do it." Charley said raising her eyebrows at them.
"What are you talking about?" George asked looking confused.
"The homework over the weekend was to study this antidote. Snape is going to have us whip one up on Monday." Lee smirked.
Fred and George exchanged a worried glance, then Fred looked over to Charley with a wide smile. He scooted closer and rested his head on her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" she asked glancing down at him.
"Beautiful Chuck, you're so pretty." he said nuzzling his head against her shoulder.
"Please stop." said Charley.
"Only if you'll help me study for potions." Fred grinned.
"Fine, just get off." she said, shrugging his head off of her.
Explaining potions to Fred and George was infinitely more complicated than explaining it to Lee. The twins became bored quickly and kept interrupting her with pointless questions and cracking jokes.
"Alright, I'm done." Charley said slamming her book shut.
She had been explaining a highly crucial part of the potion to them, when Fred dropped his head onto his brother's shoulder and began snoring loudly. George had dropped his head onto Fred's head and copied his twin's snoring.
"Oi, c'mon Chuck, it was just a joke." George said sitting up quickly and nudging Fred's head.
"What happened?" Fred said shaking his head groggily.
Charley raised an eyebrow at George. George grinned apprehensively.
"Ok, so maybe Fred wasn't joking, but I certainly was." said George, "Please don't punish me for his wrong doings."
"Oi! Way to sell me out Georgie." Fred said looking at his brother in shock.
George opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by Charley lifting a hand.
"Don't you two start arguing," she said, "It won't solve anything, I'm done helping you both." Charley smiled at them.
"What why not?" Fred whined.
"Because, Darling, you two are impossible to teach." she replied.
"Wha-?" Fred sputtered.
"Impossible to teach?" George said indignantly.
"Yes, you two are constantly cracking jokes, interrupting me, and I don't believe either of you were actually listening to a word I said." Charley explained.
"C'mon Chuck, one more chance." Fred said flashing her the saddest eyes he could muster.
Charley was considering giving them a second chance, when Ginny, followed by a few other third years, walked in through the portrait hole. Ginny walked over to the table and took a seat.
"Hello sister." George said smiling at Ginny.
"Hey George." Ginny replied, then she turned to Charley, "Hey Chuck, I just ran into Hagrid, he gave me this note to give to you." she said handing Charley a small piece of paper.
"Thanks Gin." Charley said opening the note and scanning it.
"So, what's it say?" Fred asked peeking over her shoulder.
"He's just invited me down for some tea, says he wants to ask me what I've been feeding my skrewt, he says its doing better than the rest." Charley said somewhat smugly.
"It must be all the cakes we've been feeding it." George said to Fred.
"I told you sweets would work!" Fred replied excitedly.
"Excuse me?" asked Charley.
"Well after Fred's died we started feeding mine only cheese, but that obviously didn't work seeing as mine died real quick, so then we started feeing yours cakes and chocolate frogs and stuff when you weren't looking." George explained.
"Alright, I think I've been sufficiently annoyed for the evening. Thank you for the note Ginny." Charley said standing.
"Now, now Chuck, don't be bitter. We'll let you take the credit." Fred said leaning back on the hind legs of his chair.
Charley glared at him, then kicked a leg of his chair. Fred went tumbling backwards and landed in a heap on the floor. The room filled with laughter. He stood quickly, ready to tell of Charley, but by the time he was up, she had already disappeared out of the portrait hole.
Charley walked briskly down to Hagrid's. She was still a little confused as to why Hagrid had asked her down. She knew that Harry, Ron, and Hermione often visited their Care of Magical Creatures professor, and even Ginny went down from time to time, and although she was extremely fond of Hagrid, Charley had yet to make the trek down to his hut herself.
It was beginning to get dark by the time Hagrid's was in her sight. As she grew closer she noticed a figure pacing across the vast lawn in front of the hut. The person was much too small to be Hagrid, yet it felt familiar to Charley. The closer she got, the more recognizable the figure became. His broad shoulders, disheveled hair, and casual gait gradually came into focus and Charley felt her heart drop into her stomach.
"Charlie?" she asked in a shake voice.
The figure stopped dead and turned to face her.
"Hey Chuck." he replied, she could hear the smile in his voice.
As Charley moved closer, the light from Hagrid's illuminated Charlie's face. She hadn't been sure what to expect coming down to Hagrid's, but she sure as hell hadn't been expecting to see Charlie Weasley grinning at her. The fact of the matter was, Charlie Weasley was just about the last person Charley wanted to see. The letter he had sent telling her about his new girlfriend had been quite a shock. It had all happened so quickly.
"What are you doing here?" she asked sharply.
Charlie's smile vanished.
"Well, the part about me being a Hogwarts is actually a secret. But I'm at Hagrid's to see you. I asked him for a favor." Charlie explained apprehensively.
"Oh," was Charley's only reply.
"You seem angry." said Charlie.
"What were you expecting Charlie?" she snapped, "Did you think I'd be thrilled to see you? Did you expect me to fling myself into your arms?"
"No, I didn't expect that." Charlie mumbled.
"Then what?" Charley asked.
"I just wanted to talk." he sighed sounding defeated.
Charley raised her eyebrows and let out a bitter laugh.
"Oh, well by all means, talk Charlie Weasley, because I'd really like to hear all about your new girlfriend." Charley replied sarcastically.
Charlie was glaring at her as he moved closer.
"You know, you're the one who decided that this wasn't going to happen." he said gesturing between the two of them.
"I said it wouldn't work right now. I certainly never expected you to jump on the next girl you found." Charley said angrily.
"Did you honestly expect me to wait around for you?" Charlie scoffed.
His words stung. Her eyes filled with tears.
"I was." she said softly.
Charlie's expression softened. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head.
"That is the very last thing I wanted." he said gently.
"What?" Charley sniffled, pulling away from him.
"C'mon" Charlie said holding out his hand "Will you let me explain?" he asked.
Charley nodded and took his hand. They walked in silence. Charlie led her to a tree near the lake, where he took a seat. She sat beside him staring out at the water. It looked like a mirror in the dark, glossy and still. She waited patiently for Charlie to begin speaking, he had yet to let go of her hand.
"We made the right decision. I'm sure of it now, I was sure of it then. But at first I couldn't deal with it, that's why I suggested we kept writing. It quickly became clear to me that neither of us were moving on and growing, which is why we'd made the choice to wait in the first place." Charlie explained in a low voice.
"And what about her?" Charley asked.
He sighed and squeezed her hand.
"I promise you I wasn't actively seeking anyone out, and I didn't forget about us. But it isn't fair for either of us to just sit around and wait. You know that." he said looking at her, his eyes pleading with hers to understand.
"You're right." she nodded. "So where do we go from here?" she asked.
"We live our lives Chuck. You here and me in Romania. Maybe someday life will bring us back together when the timing is right." he replied with a sad smile. "I'm counting on that."
Charley smiled up at him through her tears. He wrapped his arm around her and she let her head drop to his shoulder.
"What's her name?" she asked after a moment.
"Does it really matter?" he replied.
"No, I guess not." she said.
"If you really want to know, it's Amy." he said finally.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Minutes later Charlie sat alone under the tree. He had offered to walk Chuck back up to the castle, but she had declined his company, requesting to be alone. He had hated every part of that conversation, but he knew it was all necessary. He needed Chuck to believe that it was okay for her to move on, see other people, live her life without him in it. Charlie had done a lot of lying that night, but one thing he said had been one hundred percent true, he was counting on the day when the timing would finally be right.