Please don't hate me, but this still isn't the end of Charlie's birthday It just got too ridiculously long for only one more chapter. I could've left out the bit with Katie (sorry if you think she's too pushy - I think she has to be under the circumstances), and Ron's meltdown, but I didn't want to!

The next bit is more or less written but not typed up yet, so I hope it will be up tomorrow or the next day.

(Edit to correct battle date...)

12th December 1998 Charlie Weasley is 26

III

Katie was not sure what to do. She knew what she would like to do, but she did not want to seem to be intruding. On the other hand, she did need to know that George was alright. Katie worked as a junior secretary at Gringotts, and she knew that a meeting had been cancelled that afternoon as Bill Weasley had had to leave because of a "family emergency". The reason she knew about it was that her friend Janey was supposed to be at the meeting, and she was overjoyed as it meant that she might get the rest of her work done that day and not incur the wrath of their boss Maghoop. To Katie however, to whom the Weasley family meant chiefly one person, it was worrying. She decided that she could legitimately pop into Weasleys' Wizard wheezes after work – she did have some Christmas presents still to buy after all, which would serve as an excuse if she needed one – and make sure that George was okay. So when they finished work for the day, Katie turned down Janey's suggestion of a quick drink at Viggo's, and headed for the joke shop.

She was relieved to see George behind the counter as usual, though a second glance showed her that he was whiter and more strained-looking than he had been for several weeks now. That might be accounted for by the fact that the seven-month anniversary of Fred's death was just days away of course – all the month anniversaries had been hard, but Katie knew this one would be worse coming so close to Christmas – the first Christmas without Fred. But then Katie caught sight of Ron, who wore the same strained look as his brother, and Ginny, who had obviously been crying. Clearly, there was something wrong, even if George himself was okay.

George smiled when he saw Katie, although she saw that the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Hi Katie," he said. "Are you buying or just visiting?"

She smiled back at him. "Visiting mainly. I wanted to make sure you were okay – they said your brother had to leave work because of an emergency, and I was worried about you."

The smile left George's face. "That's nice of you, but I'm okay. It's Charlie who isn't – he was attacked by a dragon."

Katie's eyes widened in horror. She knew Charlie – he had been the Gryffindor Quidditch captain who put her on the team when she was just a first-year – and liked him. "Oh no George," she exclaimed. "Is he badly hurt?"

George grimaced. "Sounds like it, though we don't know the details yet. Mum and Dad and Bill have gone over to Romania. We're waiting to hear from them."

Katie could see the dread in George's brown eyes, and she pulled him into a hug. "Oh George, I'm so sorry. I hope he'll be okay…"

At that moment, George felt that he would like nothing better than to collapse and cry in Katie's arms. He had been trying to keep up a brave front all afternoon for the sake of Ginny and Ron, both of whom were coping very badly with the news of Charlie's accident, and the strain of doing so on top of the constant sorrow for Fred that never left him was telling on him. Vaguely he wondered why Katie should have this effect on him, why she should be someone who he wouldn't mind seeing him cry. Anyway, there was no way he could break down in front of a shop full of customers, however much he might like to, so he swallowed hard and closed his eyes against the rising tears, pulling away from Katie and trying to get his face in order again. "So do I," he whispered, fighting to keep his voice steady. "We can't lose Charlie too, we just can't…"

Katie squeezed his hand. "He'll be okay, George, I'm sure he will."

Lee appeared at that point, a worried frown on his face. "Hi Katie," he said distractedly. "George, I think we really need to close up. Ginny just burst into tears again and disappeared upstairs, and I think Ron's not far off doing the same. You look pretty rough too," he added, putting a sympathetic hand on his friend's arm.

George blinked rapidly. Crying in front of Katie was one thing, doing so in front of Lee was quite another. "What's the time?" he managed to get out in a relatively normal tone of voice.

"Quarter to six," replied Lee. "If we close now it'll only be an hour or so early. You three really don't need to be here right now…"

George nodded, realising that his friend was right. "Okay," he said slowly. "Put up the 'Closed' sign and lock the door. I'll admit defeat."

Lee squeezed George's arm, and turned away to start the business of closing the shop for the day, leaving George and Katie alone for a minute.

George turned to Katie, suddenly realising that the last thing he wanted was for her to leave. "Katie, I.." he began, but they were interrupted by one of the remaining customers coming to pay for his purchases.

Katie stood on tiptoe and kissed George on the cheek – he was several inches taller than she was – and gave him a brief hug. "I'll see you soon," she murmured. "Let me know about Charlie." Then she was gone, and George shook himself inwardly and turned to deal with the customer.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

By the time George, Ron and Ginny arrived back at The Burrow, Percy was already there. He and Fleur were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee.

"Any news?" asked Ron tensely as the three of them came in through the back door.

Fleur shook her head. "Nossing," she said. "But we would 'ave 'eard if-if…" Involuntarily, all five of them looked at the clock on the wall. Charlie's hand remained stationary at "Mortal peril".

Fleur sighed and stood up. "I will make some dinner. We 'ave to eat I suppose."

"I'm going to get Pig and send a message to Hermione and Harry," said Ron abruptly. "They're practically members of this family; they have a right to know what's happened." He looked round at the others almost challengingly, as if expecting someone to object, but no one did.

They had nearly finished dinner, when an owl appeared at the kitchen window. All of them stood up, and Percy, who was nearest, wrenched the window open and detached the letter from the owl's leg with shaking hands. "Dear Percy, George, Ron, Ginny and Fleur," he read out loud. Charlie is very ill, but still alive. He has bad burns to his arms and face and is still unconscious. The Mediwizards are doing all that they can, but they don't know when – or if – he will come round. We will let you know as soon as we have any other news. Look after each other. Love, Dad."

There was silence as Percy finished reading, and they all looked at each other. Then Ron turned on his heel and walked rapidly out of the kitchen, his head down in an attempt to hide the tears running down his face. Ginny burst into sobs and fell into George's arms, and he held her close, hiding his own tears in her hair. Percy sat abruptly back down at the table, burying his face in his hands, and Fleur, her lovely face streaked with tears, began mechanically to clear the table. It was clear that no one was going to eat anything more now.

That seemed like a very long evening. By the time the others came into the living room, Ron had stopped crying, although his eyes were still very red, and he seemed incapable of saying anything to anyone. The five of them made desultory attempts at reading or at conversation, but none of them were able to concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes. Periodically, someone would mutter an excuse and go into the kitchen to check the clock. Charlie's hand remained stubbornly unmoving. At about midnight, they decided by unspoken consent that they could not bear to sit there waiting any longer, and they went to bed. Whether any of them would sleep at all was another matter.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ron came into the kitchen the following morning to find Fleur looking at a piece of parchment that had just arrived by owl.

"Is there news?" he asked quickly.

Fleur shook her head. "Not really," she said sadly, handing the parchment to him. "Eet is from Bill. Eet just says 'No change'"

Ron stared at the note from his brother for a few seconds as if willing it to say something different, and then groaned and discarded it on the table. Fleur had her back to him, making coffee and toast, but Ron could see her shoulders were shaking with silent sobs. Suddenly all the anxiety of the last twenty-four hours seemed to explode inside him, and he had to take it out on someone.

"I don't know why you're crying," he said harshly. "Charlie's not your brother." He was unaware that Percy, George and Ginny had entered the kitchen until he heard Percy's shocked cry of "Ron!" and felt Ginny's hand on his arm. He shook it off angrily, as Fleur turned to face him.

"Charlie may not be my bruzzer, but zat does not mean zat I do not love 'im," she hissed angrily. "And I love Bill, and I know what eet will do to 'im if Charlie- if Charlie…" her voice tailed off as she began to cry again.

Ron did not seem able to stop himself. "Oh, I wondered when that was coming," he shouted, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "All I've heard for the last six months is how much worse Fred's death is for George than for anyone else, and now we get how much worse it will be for Bill than for the rest of us if anything happens to Charlie. Fred and Charlie are my brothers too, for Godric's sake!"

There was an instant's shocked silence, and then Fleur threw the mug she was holding onto the floor, where it shattered into pieces, shouted something incomprehensible in French at Ron, and then groped her way to the table where she sat sobbing with her head buried in her arms. Ginny went over to her, and put her arm round her shoulders.

Percy and George both rounded on Ron angrily. "Ron, no one's saying …" began Percy, but was interrupted by George.

"Is that seriously what you've been thinking for the last six months?" he yelled at Ron incredulously. "That I think no one else can mourn for Fred because he was my twin, because it must be worse for me? Merlin, Ron, it's not a fucking competition about who's hurting the most!"

Ron stood staring at his brother for a few seconds, his mouth open, and then whirled around and left the kitchen rapidly. They could hear his feet on the stairs all the way up to his room at the top of the house.

Fleur was still sobbing, and seemed to have totally lost her command of English, as she was choking out something in French that none of the others could understand. Percy walked across the kitchen pulling out his wand, muttered "Reparo" at the pieces of broken china scattered on the floor, and began to make coffee. George seemed to be frozen where he stood, unable to say or do anything. Ginny shot him a concerned look, but was unable to go to him as Fleur, who was sobbing almost hysterically now, was taking up most of her attention.

George pulled himself together with a visible effort. "I'm going to work," he said abruptly. "If Ron comes down, tell him I don't want him in the shop today." He walked across the kitchen and out of the back door, and they heard him Disapparate in the yard.