George was trying to make his move with Darcie. He was tired of falling just into the "friends" category with this girl—he more than fancied her, he would go so far as to say he really was in love with her. It was hard to determine why these feelings prevailed despite no encouragement from the recipient. She never gave him a sign that she cared for him as anything more than a friend; in fact, she seemed to stress that they were only friends.
"You're back to practices," George exclaimed when he saw her rush down from the stands to give him and Fred big congratulatory hugs.
"Oliver did so well at the last match, and it has been a long time since I was out here, I thought it would be okay for me to return," Darcie informed.
"We missed you," George told her, linking his arm with hers. "Did you see me hit that ball to Fred, Darcie?"
"The one that nearly knocked me off my broom!" Fred put in, indignant.
"I was impressed at your strength, George. And, Fred, I was impressed you stayed on your broom," she beamed at them both.
"Darcie could hardly watch," Lee teased her. "She was ready to burst into tears, and she would have if Fred had fallen off his broom."
"Thanks for that, Lee," she elbowed him in the stomach. "What would I do if one of you three was incapacitated, hmmm?"
"True. Hey, Darcie, can you help me with my Charms homework? It's due tomorrow and I couldn't figure it out," George pleaded.
"Do you two need help, too?" She looked at the other Second Years.
"Nah, I finished three days ago," Lee shook his head.
"Yesterday," Fred added.
"Of course I'll give you a hand," Darcie gave him a side hug.
That night, George and Darcie spent hours getting him up-to-date on all of his assignments and he never wanted it to end. True, very little of the knowledge Darcie was trying to instil in him was actually sticking, but they were spending time together and she was smiling so it had to be a good thing. When they were finished, George knew he had to tell her how he felt or risk dying a slow, painful, heartbroken death. He resolved to tell her how he felt about her before the end of the week. Three days later, the proper moment arrived.
"Darcie, we need to talk about something important," George pulled her aside before they entered the Great Hall for lunch.
"Did my help with your Astronomy essay not work well?" She knit her brows together.
"No, it's not about homework," he shook his head. "It's about you."
"What about me?" Her eyes widened. "George, I'm fine."
"Then it's about me," he was already doubting whether this was the right course of action.
"It's about the two of us?" She looked perplexed. "What about us?"
"Darcie, I have something important to tell you," he took a deep breath. "I think I'm in love with you, and I don't know if you could ever feel the same way about me, but I needed you to know how I feel."
"George, when I was little I used to go to the Muggle library and there was this one book I read called "Gone with the Wind" by a Muggle author. The main character spends the entire book in love with a man who doesn't love her back and never can," she smiled. "He loves another woman, but she cannot accept it. You're one of my dearest friends and I would hate to ever lose you. But, George, I love another. This is something you should accept right now."
"You love someone else?" His mouth dropped open. "Who? You're not back to fancying Wood are you?"
"Oliver? Good heavens, no!" She shook her head. "I won't tell you whom, but you need to know that it…it isn't you."
"Wow," he let out all of his breath in a gush. "You can tell me, though. I won't say a word to anyone—not even Fred."
"No, George. I love you, you know that, right?"
"I know. I just needed to get it off my chest," he shrugged.
Funnily enough, after his confession, George's feelings for Darcie seemed to diminish, he still loved her, but it was in friendship. Fred and Lee pried and wondered why things had changed in what he felt for her, but he could bring himself to tell them neither that he had admitted all his feelings to her nor that she was in love with someone. It did eat at him that he did not know who was number one in his friend's heart.
~:+:~
After Easter was when Charlie really began to feel the pressure of his impending NEWTs and he was only writing five. The whole year had been dedicated to preparing the Seventh Years for these examinations, but Charlie was never one to worry too much about anything. The beginning of April, however brought not only Fred and George's thirteenth birthday, but also the realization that Charlie's time at Hogwarts was nearly finished. He and all his fellow students upped their study periods by whole hours and after midnight the Gryffindor common room was filled with Seventh Years, Fifth Years, and Darcie.
"Do you stay up this late for me?" Charlie inquired of the girl one morning at three thirty.
"Yes," she nodded. "I have no other opportunity to talk to you and we're both awake into the wee hours."
"I'm flattered, but I hate the idea of you losing sleep on my account," he could no longer read so he closed his Charms textbook.
"Look at it this way, Charlie: I have around a dozen of my own exams to write—I'm not exactly sitting here waiting for you to finish studying," she explained. "You have a point," he conceded although the idea of twiddling her thumbs until she could receive his undivided attention was an appealing one. "Are you going to be all right writing so many tests? They may be just the ordinary school exams, but they're going to be tough and, in your case, plentiful."
"I took fourteen exams last year and I'm taking the same number this year," she shrugged. "It's the scheduling that's the worst part. I have practical and theory exams in every course, but some of my courses are doubles. I don't have time to write and perform four examinations in one day. Well…I'm going into seclusion for ten days."
"Seclusion for ten days this year?" He was stunned. "Last year it was only every day."
"I sit an exam every single morning and perform the theory in the day. Astronomy at night," she sighed. "Next year I'm taking only nine courses—I swear! One Year in each, but I'm taking some OWLs, too."
"Just thinking of all your schoolwork makes me tired," Charlie yawned for real. "I do believe you're mental (for the record) and perhaps a little too ambitious. I support you."
"Do you know that, by the time I leave Hogwarts I will have taken over sixty courses," she laughed, but it seemed tinged with hysteria.
"Come here," he instructed, arms open for an embrace. "You'll get through it. And I told you I support you even if you are mad. It's time for bed, though, right now—we're both exhausted."
"Fred, George, and Lee say I bring logic and level-headedness to their lives, but I do believe you bring it to mine," she hugged him.
"I suppose, but I only tell you what you already know," he assured her. "Good night, Love."
"Sleep tight," she kissed him on the forehead and dashed upstairs to her dormitory room.
So Charlie and his peers set to work preparing for the NEWTs they were going to sit in the next few months; they worried about grades and a girl in Gryffindor actually broke out in strange blue hives she was so nervous. The Seventh Years had a bit of a leg up on the petrified Fifth Years because they had experienced important exams, having already written their OWLs, but Charlie still felt ill-equipped for the momentous experience ahead. He also was training his team for the final Quidditch match of the school year. If they lost, Hufflepuff would win the Cup, but if they won, Charlie would leave Hogwarts in a blaze of glory—successful Quidditch Captain, offers to play Quidditch for England, scholarship to study dragons in Romania, and (fingers crossed) good grades on all of his NEWTs.
Occasionally Charlie would worry about how Darcie was looking—tired and grey. He was certain she was working too hard getting ready for her marathon of exams; on the other hand, he fretted she was having terrible nightmares again. She gave him weak smiles whenever he grinned at her and they rarely spoke at night.
"Darcie," Charlie closed the book she was reading, "can I ask you a question?"
"Of course," she looked up at him.
"Do we win this year?" He had to know.
"I don't know. I wouldn't tell you if I did know. Please just promise you will be careful," she begged. "I'm not sure what will happen, but I feel it's bad."
"I will," he nodded.
The Quidditch finals were held on 11 May that year and Gryffindor was practically a lock to win. Ravenclaw would not win the Cup unless they won by over 210 points, Slytherin had no chance, and Hufflepuff would win only if Gryffindor scored fewer than 90 points. Charlie was positive his team would not only score more than 90 points, they would win the match. He knew that even if his Chasers scored absolutely no goals, he could win the match as long as he was the first to catch the Snitch.
The second Saturday of May was warm and grey. Charlie woke up and grinned at River who was awake as well and he smiled back. Both boys knew it was the time for Gryffindor to win the Quidditch Cup.
The Ravenclaw captain looked like she was torn between feeling resigned to the fact there was almost no way for her team to win the Cup and wanting to make Gryffindor really work for their glory. Charlie shook her hand, he was elated because his team was going to win, and everyone took their positions on the pitch. All the balls were released, the players took off, and that was the last thing Charlie remembered until he woke up in the Hospital Wing with Darcie by his side.
"Darcie?" He had a terrible throbbing in his head, shoulders, and neck.
"Oh, Charlie," her face was stained with tears, "Thank God you're awake!"
"Start at the beginning in a very soft voice, please," he requested.
"You don't remember anything?" She looked at him piercingly.
"Not after Hooch blew her whistle," he shook his head which sent shooting pain down his back. "Come on."
"Well, you lasted about fifteen minutes on your broom, but a Bludger hit you in the chest and you fell to the ground—Dumbledore helped you down, though, he didn't want you any more severely injured," she began. "You broke your collar bone, and fractured your skull, and dislocated a shoulder. No one knows which Beater hit the Bludger, so the twins feel dreadful."
"Darcie, tell me we won," he was finding it very hard to breathe and it was not due to his injuries.
"They tried, but no one except the Seeker can catch the Snitch," she reminded.
"We lost," he felt ill. "I lost the Cup for Gryffindor again."
"Charlie, it wasn't your fault!" Darcie held his hand tightly. "Charlie, you were hit in the chest with a Bludger, it's not like you're responsible for falling off your broom."
"I'm responsible for leading my team to victory," he protested.
"Charlie!" Darcie wailed and he winced. "Charlie, you could have died. Do you not understand that? You are alive and no one cares that you lost!"
"I care," he muttered. "We lost and I fell off my broom."
"You're ridiculous," she frowned. "The team is here, I'm going to the common room. I'll see you later. I'm glad you're alive, even if you aren't."
"Charlie!" Oliver was the first one he saw. "You're conscious! Last time we were in here, you were pretty out of it."
"He's only just come round," Darcie informed and hugged the twins. "See you later."
"We are so sorry, Charlie," Fred spoke, he and George were the colour of porridge. "I don't know who it was, but if it was me, I'm really sorry."
"Me, too!" George put in, brows furrowed. "The Ravenclaw Beaters feel pretty terrible."
"They may have won the match, but they're put out because they didn't win the Cup. But anyone could have seen that coming," Wood scoffed.
"I'm sorry, guys, I let you all down," Charlie buried his head in his hands.
"Forget it," Fred urged.
"We don't care," George nodded. "At least we didn't have to scoop up your remains in the Cup we could have won at your expense."
"Lovely, George," Charlie rolled his eyes, but he did feel better knowing that he, himself, was the only one who actually blamed him for the loss.
"Everyone out," Madam Pomfrey bustled over to the group. "This boy is going to rest. Mr. Weasley, your bones are healed, but I'm keeping you overnight to make sure you are all right."
Charlie recovered quickly from his physical injuries, but his wounded ego would take longer to fully heal, especially when Slytherins would take the mickey about his falls; watching the Hufflepuffs in their glee at beating Gryffindor also helped little. His moans about losing were tolerated for two days, but, eventually, they began to fall on deaf ears. Darcie was the least sympathetic which grated on him because they simply did not see eye to eye on the issue and she was one of the people he cared about most in the world. She believed the important element was that he was alive while he was upset about the loss.
"Darcie, you need to talk to me," Charlie ordered one night once he had given up on studying. Exams were going to start at the beginning of the week.
"I asked you to promise you would be careful," she looked at him sternly. "You ignored me and now all that worries you is that you lost."
"I'm sorry," he was slightly taken aback. "I don't even remember what happened. If I was not careful or whatever."
"You promised," she stated.
"I'm sorry. That's all I can say to this," he felt upset and she looked upset. "Why didn't you tell me what would happen?"
"I told you that I just knew something bad was going to happen. Can we call a truce?" She climbed into his lap a snaked her arms around his neck.
"Truce," he agreed. "I believe you would have told me what was coming if you knew I was going to get destroyed by a Bludger."
"I would," she assured. "I was devastated when I saw you fall. You saw I was crying while I was at your bedside."
"Seeing you with tears in your eyes almost killed me," he stroked her hair. "Darcie, I love you, but I must go upstairs and get to bed."
"Good night, Charlie," she kissed him on the cheek and went back to her spot in front of her textbook and papers.
~:+:~
The day exams started, a blanket of tension fell over the entire castle and Charlie's nerves were as tightly-strung as he could remember them ever being. Charlie's first exam was Transfiguration and he was barely nervous, he wished River good luck, waved to Darcie (who was writing her Third Year Divination exam), and all students found seats in the Great Hall. The written examination went well and, when he was finished, he turned his attention to the practical test that afternoon. He missed seeing Darcie's smiling face around the corridors, but she was in isolation somewhere in the castle to keep her from anyone who was writing the same exams she was.
"What's going on with you, Charlie?" George demanded at dinner one night partway through the testing period. "You look awful."
"Stress I suppose," he lied.
"You didn't even have an exam today!" Fred accused.
"You lot come talk to me when you write your NEWTs," Charlie snapped.
"Kidding, kidding," George held up his hands in surrender. "How do you think Darcie is doing these days all alone?"
"She's fine," Lee declared. "Come on, she's spent most her life away from people her own age, I'm sure a week and a half alone is going to make her mental."
"Lee has a point. She's quite resilient that one," Fred agreed.
"I miss her," Lee was the first one to say it. "No offence, mates, but it's better to study with her than you two."
"You'll get no argument from me," George shook his head.
~:+:~
That night, Fred and George went on a Darcie hunt. It was easy with the incredible map they had come across in Filch's office the year before: all they had to do was look for the little dot with the label Darcie Burke. There seemed to be no one on guard, but she was located in a room next to the one housing Minerva McGonagall. The twins climbed out of the portrait of the Fat Lady—on the pretext of going to the lavatory—and rushed to where Darcie was.
"Do you think she'll be happy to see us?" George asked his brother as they both kept a wary eye on the map to make certain they were not near Filch or Mrs. Norris.
"Course she will," Fred proclaimed. "She's all by herself. Think we should have brought Lee with us?"
"How do we explain how we know where we're going? How we know we won't be caught by Filch or his stupid cat? We swore we wouldn't tell anyone about the Marauder's Map," George reminded. "Besides, he's going mental about our Charms exam tomorrow."
"Good point. Let's pick up the pace a little, Mrs. Norris is on her way," Fred urged.
When their names reached the room where Darcie's name was, George tapped lightly on the door and whispered, "Darcie."
"Fred and George? I should have known you two would find me," Darcie's smiling face peeked through the small crack in the open door. "You two could get me in so much trouble if anyone sees or hears you!"
"Then let us in," Fred ordered. "We'll be quiet, I promise."
"Fifteen minutes. That is how long you are allowed to stay in this room," Darcie opened the door just wide enough for them to enter.
"How are you doing all by yourself?" George inquired.
"I'm fine," she informed. "I'm tired of writing so many exams. You lot have one written and one practical exam a day and I have ten days to write and perform almost thirty. It's tiring. How is everyone in the great wide world?"
"Lee misses you, Percy will bite the head off of anyone who even speaks to him, and Charlie looks like someone killed his puppy," Fred caught her up on the situation.
"You don't look so well yourself. Are they feeding you in this prison?" George wondered.
"I told you, it's just a tiring state of affairs. I'm all by myself for hours each day and when I am with other students, I'm not allowed to speak to them," she shrugged. "I need to sleep, boys."
"We'll go," George silenced his twin with a sharp look.
Darcie was let out of isolation a few days later and the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Sixth Years waited impatiently for their end of term marks. Darcie passed with an overall average of a hundred and one percent. Fred managed an eighty, George seventy-seven, and Lee obtained eighty-one for his work. Percy seemed torn between wanting to know how he compared to Darcie and being scared of what he would find if he asked. Charlie had resigned himself to the fact he would not know his grades for another few weeks and simply celebrated how well his friends and brothers in lower Years had fared.
The End of Year Feast was the best meal Fred had ever had at Hogwarts short of the previous year's Christmas Feast. The next day, all the students lugged their trunks down to the Entrance Hall so they could be loaded up for the Hogwarts Express. On the train, the twins, Lee, and Darcie found a compartment together. Oliver Wood boarded after them and peeked his head into their compartment, ducking out as quickly as possible when he saw who occupied it.
"Darcie, you're bright red!" George guffawed.
"Shut up," she whacked him on the arm.
"We'll let you alone once you stop blushing every time Oliver Wood comes closed than five feet," Fred pledged.
"Just wait until you get your first girlfriend," Darcie laughed. "The one who does it first will have to live it down forever."
"Can I hide out in here?" Charlie knocked on the door of their compartment. "The couples in my compartment are being cutesy."
"And Arielle is bringing you into it?" Fred asked.
"Ew!" Darcie shuddered and Charlie grinned at her.
"No, I just don't care to be around them. It grows tiring," Charlie sat next to Fred.
"You two are both coming to visit us this summer, right?" George addressed Lee and Darcie.
"Only if I'm invited by the Ferret parents," she nodded enthusiastically.
"I'll be there. Especially if Darcie's around," Lee swore.
"Hopefully Mum and Dad will write earlier this summer. Now they know who you are, they should have no problem inviting you," George said knowingly.
"I think she should come the middle of August," Charlie proposed. "That's Percy's birthday and then I'm going off to Romania. It's the perfect time for her to visit."
"But that's really late in the summer," Fred protested.
"It is, but it does sound like the perfect time," Darcie pointed out to them.
When the train reached Kings Cross Station, everyone had been brought around to the idea that the middle of August really was the ideal time for Darcie to come to the Burrow. Darcie hugged all four of the boys and Percy, who had come up to them, before joining her great aunt, and soon she was out of sight. The Weasleys were embraced by their mother, said goodbye to Lee, and headed home.
~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~
Another chapter written while waiting for something to happen with my account. I know this year was short, but there are more chapters to come and I'm eager for Charlie to be out of school. Also, I'm debating a chapter from Darcie's perspective…thoughts? Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed.