Charlie was standing in Greenhouse Two reading his Transfiguration text when Darcie slipped into the room with some cuttings of red and white roses she appeared to want him to plant for her. She handed them to him in silence and gazed around the greenhouse. The area where he planned to put the roses was full of tulips and the buds of a strange flower and he began to pluck them from the soil, handing them to the girl. Smiling a cheeky grin, she fled the building and they emerged onto the grounds bathed in sunlight; Charlie approached her, neither spoke a word, and leaned in to give her a kiss which she returned softly before everything went white.
He woke with a start in his own four-poster bed surrounded by his peers who were still asleep in their own beds. His mind was racing from what he had just dreamt. It was not the first dream Charlie had had of Darcie, but it was definitely the most disconcerting. Of course he loved her but he was not in love with her. Firstly, she was practically a child—she had only just turned thirteen—and he was seventeen. Secondly, she was his friend, his study companion. He opted to turn over and try to sleep for a little while longer before going to the Great Hall for breakfast. When he woke again River was pulling on his robes to go downstairs and he offered to wait while Charlie dressed.
The first months of school were packed with commitments demanding Charlie's attentions; practices were both more fun and more stressful with Fred and George on the team. They kept the other players' spirits bright even when they were flying in the rain because Oliver Wood wanted to train in any kind of weather, but they could be a little difficult to control and Charlie learned that he could yell at them if needed and they would forgive him before the hour was done. Their being Beaters and required to attend practices also drew Darcie which was never a bad thing in Charlie's opinion. Until he noticed that her attention was no longer concentrated on him.
Oliver was taking more and more of her time and focus on and off the pitch. It had been obvious since the previous year that Wood fancied Darcie, but it had only recently begun to seriously irritate Charlie. He knew at least one of his younger brothers was at least as frustrated with this turn of events as he was because now that Darcie was taking part in some of the Fourth Year classes, Oliver had pretext to talk to her, ask her questions. Fred, George, and Lee seemed to be irked by the fact someone else was tapping her resources, but George was by far the most upset. In all honesty, Charlie felt his fondness for George grow at this point. Percy, too, was affected by Darcie's new friendship with Oliver and Charlie assumed the reason behind it was someone else in his year being close to her.
"Charlie, you look a million miles away," Darcie broke the silence of one in the morning in the Gryffindor common room.
"I am," he confessed. "My body is in Hogwarts, but my mind is in Romania. And in November at our first Quidditch match. And, believe it or not, my bed where I wish I could sleep and have a good reason to ignore the rest of my Transfiguration assignment. Unless you could give me a good reason to not finish it?"
"You want me to take a look into the future for you and tell you whether or not McGonagall will collect your homework, is that it?" She raised an eyebrow.
"You're reading minds now," he laughed.
"Charlie, if I could I would, but I can't so I won't," she replied. "Professor Trelawney says Sight cannot be flicked on and off like a Muggle light bulb. I don't even have mine properly attuned."
"So it's like a radio aerial? You need to be on the right frequency to get good reception?" They both laughed at that concept. "Any idea of how we're going to do in our first match, then?"
"When was the last time I told you my policy on telling you if I know anything about Quidditch matches? I'm sure you'll do fine," she assured.
"Well, then, are you still having nightmares?" He inquired, a serious note creeping into his voice. "Anything you want to talk about?"
"Nightmares, yes. Talk about, no. You know, we could always do a reading about the match," she suggested lightly. "I've been working with the deck of Tarot cards you gave me for Christmas."
"Really?" He was eager to see her in action, and it was a good reason to put off his essay for another day. "That would be fascinating to see. If you take a break it won't put you too far behind in your studies, will it?"
"Charlie, we've been back for three weeks and I'm done up to Halloween in most of my courses so I don't think my performance will suffer," she shook her head.
"I should have known. Do you have to go up to your dormitory to get the cards?"
"No, keeping them close to your person is said to increase your bond with them and get more accurate responses."
She pulled the deck out of her school bag and Charlie was pleased to see they looked well-used. He received it and was instructed to shuffle while deliberating on the question he wanted answered (How will the match against Slytherin go?). It was decided they would do a three card spread which made little difference to Charlie, but he wanted to do everything right to make Darcie happy so he nodded while she explained everything to him.
"In a three card spread we use the cards to describe the Past, Present, and Future. The first card is the Past and we have the Five of Cups in the upright position. It's not a happy looking card and it means despair (probably in regards to losing the Quidditch Cup), you've suffered a loss. The second card is the Present and we have The Star also in the upright position which symbolizes hope, happiness, and tells us to rely on intuition. Finally, our Future card is the Nine of Cups, but it's reversed. It's not an extremely happy card even when it's reversed, but it does signify a new day as long as we embrace past disappointments rather than repressing them."
"You read all of that from those three cards?" He had to admit he was intrigued but a little sceptical of what he had just heard. "They say a picture's worth a thousand words. Does Trelawney know what you've been doing with these?"
"Sort of. I don't want to talk to her," she shrugged and began to put the cards back in order.
"Why not?" He gently tilted her face towards him to force her to make eye contact with him. "Is it because she's a phony? I know it's hard to take her seriously, but Dumbledore seems to think she's an acceptable teacher of Divination."
"I'm doing a self-study of the subject really," she explained. "The classes are just practical tutorials."
"You, my dear, are an education snob," he declared and put his arm around her shoulders. "If something—a class, a teacher—doesn't measure up to your expectations, you teach yourself."
"Guilty as charged. But at least I learn it," she reasoned.
"True."
"It's time for me to retire," she yawned and stood, making for her dormitory. "By the way, Charlie, I would do that homework, and well, if I were you."
"Good night, Darcie," he rolled his eyes at her retreating back.
~:+:~
George flew terribly in Gryffindor's last practice before their first Quidditch match of the year, but Charlie was in no position to criticize because he knew his flying was hardly better, and he knew why. Darcie was sitting next to Lee and they were both watching the training shivering slightly but looking happy; the problem was the captivated expression on Darcie's face as her eyes followed Oliver Wood around the pitch. Wood was noticing this attention and seemed to be motivated, River was being distracted by Arielle flirting with him from the stands, and Fred seemed frustrated with almost everyone else on the team except Angelina Johnson.
When the practice had finished, Darcie shot down to the field and, after giving Charlie a quick hug, straight to Wood's side, smiling up at him. He was aware of her admiration, but (as Charlie snidely pointed out to George) was too obsessed to put together a statement to impress her with anything but his knowledge of Quidditch. This turned out to be a great underestimation of Wood's abilities because she walked off with him and without Charlie, the twins, or Lee.
The common room was full of people and Charlie was unable to spot Wood and Darcie until well past eleven. She looked as if she could be no happier anywhere but there on the same couch as Oliver Wood, he looked as if he had never had a girl show him that much attention. After trying to come up with a good reason to separate the two of them, Charlie gave Wood a stern look and told him that he had best get to bed so he could attend all his classes the next day in a good mood because if he got a detention, Charlie would have to put Percy in as temporary Keeper.
"You and Oliver Wood are going out now?" Charlie asked, sidling over to his young friend.
"I don't see how that's any of your business," she replied somewhat coldly.
"Did I do something to upset you?" He wondered.
"I waited through the entire practice to talk to you and when it's over, you only want to talk to George," she explained.
"What are you talking about?" He demanded, stung. "You were the one who hung off of Oliver Wood's arm all night looking adoringly up at him."
"I thought I'd be friendly to someone whose last name wasn't Weasley," she retorted.
"You were being more than friendly towards him," he shot.
"He treats me like a girl someone can fancy. Not just one who can run around with and be seen as one of the boys."
"You are a girl someone can fancy—I know that. If you want me to treat you more like that, I would," he was caught off guard.
"Would you? I saw how you treated Arielle when you were dating her; would you treat me like that?" She posed a cryptic question.
"You and I aren't dating," that statement was not quite what he had intended.
"You sound relieved. Charlie," she began her sentence harshly. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Good night," he flopped down onto the nearest piece of furniture.
Why was he being so possessive of her? She wasn't his property—she definitely wasn't his girlfriend and at the moment he was unsure if she was even his girl friend. How could seeing her with another…a guy make him feel so jealous? He loved Darcie, she was like a sister to him, but ever since the summer something had been different. Their relationship was really messing with his head.
The next morning sent Charlie's mind into a tailspin. Breakfast was normal, Darcie ate with Lee and Fred and George, probably talking eagerly about the approaching match. When she looked down the table and met his eye, she smiled and waved at him, throwing him a little off guard. Wood, who was sitting right next to him, smiled too and she winked.
By the time Saturday, and the Quidditch match, rolled around, Charlie was confused to no end. Darcie's mood towards him were alternately warm or cold—he learned he wanted to know nothing about her feelings for Wood, so he ignored the situation. The twins seemed to keep her occupied, though, with their excitement about their first ever Hogwarts Quidditch match.
"Good luck, Charlie," Darcie passed him in the common room and smiled brightly at him.
"Thanks, Darcie," he grinned up at her. "I'll see you at the after-party, right?"
"Of course," she tossed her hair and joined Fred, Lee, who was holding her coat and hat, and George.
"Of course," she tossed her hair and joined Fred, Lee, who was holding her coat and hat, and George.
"What's going on with little Darcie, Charlie?" Oliver asked him while they were putting on their robes.
"Nothing. So you like her?'
"Well, come one. You've looked at her. There's something out of this world about her. And if she wants to give me some of her undivided attention, who am I to refuse?" Wood grinned at him. "I'm not…intruding on something or stepping on toes, am I?"
"No."
Charlie hated to admit it, but Darcie was getting in the way of him being able to live his life like a sane person. In fact, Quidditch was the only activity in recent weeks that had taken her out of his mind and now his Keeper was dating her. Rather than that closing the matter of his jealousy, it made him furious. Knowing that he had to clobber Slytherin in this match, though, he forced himself to ignore everything going on inside him and focus on the game—which they ended up winning by a margin of ten points.
"You were fabulous," Charlie could immediately discern Darcie's voice from the spectators who had flooded the pitch. His body expected her to fling herself into his arms, but when the familiar weight was not applied, he scanned the crowd, and saw her kissing Oliver Wood passionately.
"Should we poison his pumpkin juice tonight?" George's voice was low and angry in Charlie's ear and he despised the fact that it made him feel better.
The after-party was the strangest affair Charlie had ever attended (and he had grown up with Fred and George) because instead of hanging off Oliver Wood's overly muscular arm, Darcie seemed to gravitate towards him. In light of the impending discomfort of the after-party, Charlie had found himself a place by a window where he could smile jovially at people without actually having to join in the festivities, but Darcie actively sought him out, pulling away from the throng of people around the food and approaching him with a shy smile. He grinned back at her, his heart no longer feeling like a lead weight, and allowed her to sit by his arm on the chair.
"You were incredible," she spoke softly and he leaned in closer. "All the girls in my classes are so envious I'm friends with you because you're such a hot-shot athlete and I'm some geeky little Third Year who takes Fourth Year classes. I tell them they should be jealous, but not because of how cool and popular you are but because of how great a friend you are."
Charlie's world crashed around his ears—she came to him because he was a great friend—he knew what close friends talked about. When he had started dating Arielle, all he could talk about to his closest friend was her, how it was to be with her, and almost nothing else. Darcie was here to chat about Wood. "I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood to talk about Wood right now—except that great save he made."
"Oliver?" Darcie looked extremely confused. "Why would I talk to you about Oliver? I came over here to talk about you. If I want to talk about Oliver, I have girlfriends who will squeal about me dating the Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. You're over here all alone after a victory wrenched from the jaws of defeat and (as I hope I'm a good friend to you) I came looking for you. Wondering what's the matter and if I can do anything."
"That's really sweet of you," Charlie's face turned red with embarrassment at having misread her intentions. "I'm fine."
She laid her hand on his still burning cheek and her brows knit with concern, "Charlie, I think you might have a fever."
"No, I'm just warm," he assured. "It's our closeness to the fire. I'm probably just overheated."
"If you're sure," she looked at him shrewdly. "So, I hate to be a gushing fan, but you were actually amazing today. The flying you did was incredible! Did you see me wave to you? I wasn't surprised you didn't wave back because you were really busy, you know, trying to win the match; but did you at least see it?"
He had seen it, but he had noted his proximity to Oliver Wood and passed it off as an attempt by her to be noticed by her new beau. "I saw, it was really nice of you. I have to admit, I'm surprised at the attention you're giving me when it was your boyfriend who made some spectacular saves on the pitch today."
"And doesn't he know it," she said shaking her head. "The thing is, I can only spend time with one of my favourite Quidditch stars at a time. He has someone else stroking his ego right now."
"You're here to stroke my ego?" He was surprised. "According to other people, it doesn't need it. Fred and George, however, do spend most of their time with me trying to bring it down to nothing."
"No, I didn't come to stroke your ego. I thought I would come over and talk about whatever you want to discuss. If it's the match, if it's your schoolwork, anything," she insisted.
"You're sweet," he knew he'd already said something to that effect, but he meant it. "I don't really need to talk about anything, you could sit with me."
Charlie grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into his lap, wrapping her in his arms tightly. She giggled and tried to wrestle herself free from his grip, but he refused to give in to her squirming protests. It was probably very lucky for him that Oliver Wood was in the very middle of the mass of people or Charlie would probably have had to pay dearly for his next move: he kissed Darcie. He had not meant to plant it on her lips, but she writhed in his arms and instead of kissing her cheek like he intended, he molested her.
"Charlie," she hissed.
"I'm sorry!" He yelped, "I swear, it was an accident!"
"An accident," she repeated in a tone that he did not understand. "Maybe I should head to bed. I'll just say goodnight to Oliver. Sleep well."
"Sweet dreams," he choked out, embarrassed. He watched her weave through the crowd and throw herself into Wood's arms, kissing him deeply. Wood was left with a somewhat dazed look on his face.
"I hate him," George muttered as he, Fred, and Lee joined Charlie, who was still a little stunned. "He's so full of himself."
"Charlie!" Fred exclaimed.
"You kill my Keeper, at least give me notice so I can replace him before the next match, will you?" Charlie joked and George high-fived him. "We do need him for the match on Saturday."
"She's our friend and we are supposed to be happy when good things happen to her," Fred shook his head.
"I'm happy for her!" Lee piped up.
"So am I," Fred folded his arms and looked shrewdly at his brothers. "George, I know you're jealous—"
"I'm not!" George exclaimed.
"Fine," his twin rolled his eyes. "But, Charlie, what's wrong with you?"
"She's like a sister to me!"
"You have a sister," Lee remarked and winced at how stupid a comment it was. "What happens when Ginny starts dating?" He noticed Charlie's face reddening with suppressed emotion at each word. "I'm going to bed because I'm obviously making things worse."
"I'm coming, too. I should...what did you say to Oliver the other day? I should get to bed so I can attend all my classes tomorrow in a good mood because if I get a detention, you would have to put Percy in as temporary Beater."
"It's Sunday tomorrow," George reminded, but followed his twin brother and Lee up to their dormitory.
"You fancy her," Lee pointed out.
"Something rotten," George nodded. "But I know she doesn't feel the same way and I've been trying to work it out. Trying to get over my feelings for her."
"OK," Fred sighed. "You know she's with Oliver right now."
"I've noticed," George snapped. "But, I think I need help."
"Let's get to bed—someone's going to end up hearing us," Lee advised.
If that first night of Darcie dating Oliver Wood was any indication of how their relationship was going to affect Charlie's life, it was not going to go well. They did still have their evenings, but he just couldn't be the same around her knowing that she was someone else's girlfriend. Darcie seemed to not have noticed a change in the friendship, or if she had she had said nothing to him.
"Charlie," Darcie began one evening in the common room, "did you and Arielle ever do anything other than just kiss?"
Whatever Charlie had expected to hear, it was not that, and he was so surprised he knocked over his ink. His mind flashed back to two summers ago when he and Arielle had made love for the first and only time, feeling himself flush scarlet. As much as he trusted Darcie and as mature as he thought she was, it was a private matter and she was only thirteen. "Well, it's kind of personal..."
"Oh, you thought I meant—" she broke off giggling, pink, and shook her head. "No, Oliver never seems to want to do anything but snog. He doesn't want to talk about life or his opinions. I suppose he chats about Quidditch whenever we aren't kissing, but nothing else. Ever."
Charlie laughed with relief at the knowledge she had no desire to know about his sex-life. "You know, Arielle and I didn't talk to much either. I think that's why I broke up with her. We weren't connecting on an intellectual level. She was also a horrible person."
"A little bit," his friend giggled again.
Darcie returned to whatever she was working on and Charlie followed suit after opening a new ink bottle. He reflected on his relationship with Arielle—how it had mainly been physical near the end, but he knew they had never had deep philosophical discussions. Several months in the relationship and he had probably only scratched the surface of who Arielle really was.
"You and I connect on an intellectual level," Darcie said out of the blue. "Don't we?"
"Yeah," he nodded, unsure where this was headed. "I mean, there are certain things you don't know, but you're quick on the uptake and I would never dumb anything down for you. I'm going to say something you must never tell Percy I said: You couldn't be top of your classes—in both years—if you weren't really smart."
She looked like she was mulling something over so Charlie went back to his assignment that was due first thing in the morning. Now and then he heard a noise as though she was going to speak, but when he looked at her, she shook her head. Eventually, she appeared to have collected her thoughts so he put down his quill and folded his hands, prepared to listen.
"The problem," she proclaimed, "is that you're too old and I'm too young."
Charlie forced himself to look lost, to look as though he had no idea what she was saying, and to make sure she did not know how many times he had done the equation. He knew in his heart that no matter how many times one said it, telling people you were eighteen and had a thirteen year old girlfriend sounded wrong. It was a line of reasoning no one should toe.
"I'm sorry, I'm talking embarrassing nonsense," Darcie turned pink. "It's probably time for me to get to bed. Good night, Charlie."
"Sweet dreams, Darcie," he hugged her back before she went to her dormitory.
Something was swelling inside Charlie, it felt like a great balloon lifting his spirits and filling him with hope. Darcie thought about their age difference in terms of having a romantic relationship with him! The difficulty was that regardless of how much thought he gave it or how many different ways he tried to look at it, the result would be the same.
Surprisingly, a few days after he and Darcie had their conversation, Oliver Wood stopped him in a corridor before lunch. "Charlie!"
"Hello, Oliver," he greeted his Keeper.
"Do you have a minute? It's important," he added hastily.
"Yeah, sure. What's on your mind?" Charlie prepared himself for a discussion of Quidditch like a long-winded speech or intricate question.
"You're close to Darcie, right?"
Again Charlie was caught off guard by a question posed by someone in the relationship. "I suppose you could say that. Yeah."
"Does she confide in you?" Wood inquired.
"Well, we're friends," Charlie was unsure he should tell Oliver how close he was to his girlfriend.
"Is that a yes? Charlie, I think I need some help," Oliver looked worried. "I'm not sure we're on the same page, but I don't want to lose her."
If the situation had been less serious, Charlie would have laughed aloud. In less than a week, both Oliver and Darcie had expressed concerns to him about not having much of a connection in their relationship. Charlie willed himself to be as unbiased as possible in his response because it would not due to be seen as the one behind the demise of their relationship...no matter how much he was hoping for it to happen.
"Oliver, I'm going to give you some advice," Charlie began. "I would try talking to her. About something other than Quidditch!"
"Really? But she's so smart. What if she realizes I mostly know about Quidditch?"
Privately, Charlie would have staked his parents' entire life savings on her already knowing that fact. "Have you two done homework together for classes you're both in?"
"No—I don't really want her to compare our work," Wood confessed.
"Give it a shot," Charlie recommended.
"Thanks, Charlie," Wood grinned as they reached the Great Hall. He hurried off to sit next to Darcie.
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A little bit longer than other chapters, but I started one that didn't have enough meat to be a self-respecting chapter so I pasted a couple together. I also had no really great ideas for birthday gifts for people to give Darcie so it passed with no fanfare—I can't remember ever hearing about a celebration of Hermione's birthday except her getting wizarding money in the third book to buy a Crookshanks, so I thought it would be an okay event to pass by. Darcie's now thirteen, yay? Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
