Author's Note

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Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Wishin' girl x x x

...

Charlie hadn't noticed the sea of redheaded Weasleys surrounding the resting place of Remus and Tonks, mourning the loss of their friends and fellow freedom fighters when he had collapsed over Tonks' dead body.

After a long while Madam Pomfrey made her way over to the crowd and she and Molly lifted the grief stricken pair up to their feet and held them firmly. Madam Pomfrey swayed the young witch who had helped her to save so many lives already that night while Molly rocked her son as his body gave up on everything but tears and shallow, grating breaths.

"Ashlynn," Madam Pomfrey whispered in her ear as she wrapped her in a protective hug and squeezed her tight in the hopes of keeping the broken girl as whole as she could possibly be "Ashlynn, we can heal many things but the killing curse is not one of them. I'm so sorry."

She continued to squeeze and rock the girl who sagged in her arms from unimaginable anguish, until Voldemort's voice rang inside their heads for the second time since the battle began.

…

The rest of the battle had passed in a blur of changing emotions. Harry Potter was pronounced dead, Neville Longbottom had his head set on fire then killed Voldemort's snake with the sword of Gryffindor which no-one knew he had, Harry vanished and then there was chaos and fighting everywhere again. Molly Weasley killed Bellatrix Lestrange, Harry was somehow alive and offered redemption to Voldemort, then Voldemort died from his own rebounding killing curse and in the blink of an eye the war was over.

Charlie woke up several hours later, in the early afternoon in a four poster bed in Gryffindor tower. It was in the same place in the boys fifth year dorm room as his had been a lifetime ago so for a moment he felt transported back in time. When he finally noticed that the other beds were all empty, there was no Chudley Cannons poster above him and Ashlynn Bird was wrapped in his arms, still covered in dirt and dried blood, the memories of that morning and the night before came ruthlessly flooding back.

His sobs rent through the air as he remembered Tonks' death and before long Ashlynn's tears joined his, their arms pulled each other closer as the duo tried to hold the broken pieces of each other together. It took many hours before they mustered enough energy and their tears dried up enough that they could stand shakily and the pair silently walked into the bathroom together. They each took off their clothes and stepped into the shared shower, their bodies ached gratefully at the flow of warm water easing their muscles, sore from the side effects of shock that had run riot on them for so many hours.

Carefully Ashlynn washed the mud out of Charlie's thick, messy hair and he washed the blood of her patients off her soft, freckled skin.

They slowly dried off with fluffy red towels provided by the celebrating house elves and climbed into a clean bed together. They fell asleep with their hair wet, cheeks stained with constant tears and naked bodies pressed flush to each other in a tight embrace.

…

Someone had brought them clothes and food ready for when they awoke the next day.

They ate a few small mouthfuls in silence, as much as they could stomach, and slipped into the comfortable clothes laid out for them, a soft pair of red tartan pajama trousers and a well worn t-shirt each. They put their shoes back on from the night before, after some intense use of the scourgify charm. The silence between them remained unbroken, neither having muttered a wonder to anyone since finding out about Tonks' death, as they walked hand in hand down to the house common room. Charlie faintly noticed a diamond ring on Ashlynn's left hand but didn't care anymore. He wanted her in his life and he no longer gave a toss what capacity that was in. He couldn't lose her as well.

The energy in the common room was a strange mix of mourning and celebration. The war was finally over which provided both the cause for celebration and the breathing space people needed to mourn their losses properly. Charlie and Ashlynn joined the Weasleys and Hermione by the fire, who were all chatting quietly and welcomed the newcomers by clearing one space on the sofa and one in an armchair for them to sit down in.

Not being able to bear being separated even for a moment, Charlie sat in the armchair and gently tugged Ashlynn into his lap, their hands never disconnecting. He held her close as she snuggled closer into his body, sharing what warmth they had left from their hot shower the day before.

…

Ashlynn, Charlie, Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys, all except for Fred who had been transferred to St Mungos and his twin George who refused to leave Fred's side, stayed at the castle for several more days. The castle was slowly emptying and the other dragon keepers had flown all the dragons home to the reserve after hugging Charlie goodbye and telling him to take as much time to grieve with his family as he needed before coming home, where they assured him he would be welcomed with open arms and looked after too. The group worked diligently with the house elves and other volunteers to help rebuild walls, ceilings and floors, mend windows and clean every surface they could find. Every evening the house elves would provide the guests with dinner in the common rooms and big, fluffy towels in the colour of the house where they were staying. Every morning they would leave breakfast out in the bedrooms and a clean pair of tartan pajama bottoms and one from an assortment of old t-shirts.

Charlie and Ashlynn had only left each other's sight to use the toilet and still neither had uttered a word to anyone yet. They followed a quickly established pattern of eating just enough breakfast to get them through the day and dressing in their, otherwise empty, dorm room before going to McGonagall for a list of the day's planned activities. After finishing their tasks for the day, hand in hand, the pair would eat silently with the Weasleys and other volunteers stationed in Gryffindor tower before retiring to their room to wash each other clean under the hot shower and climbing into bed with each other naked. The skin to skin contact of their bodies brought them so close to each other that it was hard to pinpoint exactly where one person ended and the other began, and gave them just enough strength to get through the night as they repeatedly fell apart together.

At the end of the week Ashlynn finally spoke. The pair had just eaten the hot cross buns left by the house elves for breakfast and were getting dressed ready for another long day.

"I have to tell him" her voice cracked with the lack of use.

Charlie looked at her quizzically as he pulled on his clean pajama trousers for the day ahead.

"Sam." She said looking down at her engagement ring. "I have to tell him it's over."

"What's over?" Charlie's voice sounded equally as raspy as Ashlynn's from the lack of use and their many hours of crying together.

"The engagement. I can't live without you Charlie. I can't bear to be away from you so much that I sit on the floor outside the toilet door when you go." Ashlynn's eyes started to tear up at the thought of losing Charlie. "I can't not be with you. I'm in love with you Charlie Weasley…"

His world had been a whirlwind of emotion since the battle and his heart still felt like a piece was missing at the loss of Tonks, it may always feel that way, however what was left of his heart soared higher than any dragon ever had at her words.

"I've loved you since the very first time you broke my fall. Do you remember? Tonks tripped on the stairs and we went tumbling into you. I fell in love with you then and fell further and further in love so many times since. I fell in love with you when you stuck out your hand to formally greet us, you were such a gentleman even in first year…" Ashlynn took his hands and studied his eyes as she continued her confession, both of their minds visiting flashback as she spoke.

Charlie took a couple of seconds to bring himself out of his stupor from her hazel eyes before quickly jumping up and offering each of the girls his hand.

"Hi, I'm Charlie!" he grinned. "It's so great to meet some more first years. So far I've only met other Gryffindors but I'm guessing you're both in Hufflepuff?" He checked, shaking their hands like he'd watched his father do when meeting new people in the hopes of making a good first impression. They giggled at how formal he was being and he was once again entranced by the tinkling sound the blond girl made.

"Charlie, I fell in love with you when you proudly introduced me to your family that first Christmas on the platform at King's Cross Station.."

"MUM! DAD!" A young Charlie called across the platform, fighting his way through hundreds of excited students swarming around him.

The moment he reached them his parents wrapped him in a hug big enough to embarrass most eleven year old boys but he didn't mind. Instead he wrapped an arm around each of their waists as his Dad ruffled his messy red hair and his Mum gushed over how much he had grown. Mrs Weasley decided that he clearly wasn't eating enough at school and brandished a chocolate frog she had brought for him and Bill as a treat. The brothers snapped the squirming frog in half and happily shared the small piece of chocolate, unfazed that most kids would be given their own they appreciated the money their mother had spent on making their arrival that little bit extra special. Ashlynn stood a few paces away watching the scene in wonder as she felt the love and respect Charlie held for his family emanate from all around.

"Mum, Dad, this is Ashlynn," Charlie said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards his family "she and Tonks are my best friends. She's really kind and clever and funny and she's awesome at flying, maybe even better than me." Ashlynn blushed at the kind comments he showered her with in front of the family so deeply important to him. "And she gave me the most amazing Christmas gift, do you want to see?"

"When you stood up for me in front of those older kids in second year…"

Ashlynn ran. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her through the winding path of the dungeons as tears dripped from her chin. Shouts of 'Filthy Mudblood' and the pounding footsteps of three fifth year Slytherin boys followed her. She didn't know where she was going or how she was going to protect herself when they finally caught up with her but she just kept running, her side cramping and her lungs burning up as she turned another corner. The older boys were only a few steps behind now and she could hear their leers and shouts more clearly telling her exactly what they were going to do to 'a dirty girl like her'. She turned yet another corner, her mind blank in panic, and her body collided with the body of a confused looking red head.

"What's wrong love?" Charlie asked her a second before the Slytherins slid into view.

"You're holding our mudblood, kid." One of them said, baring his teeth menacingly.

"We're going to have some fun with this one, aren't we boys?" Another added as he raked his eyes up and down her body while the third cracked his knuckles ominously.

Charlie stepped in front of his best friend and pulled himself up to his maximum height before channelling Molly Weasley and letting loose on them. He shouted about their 'disgusting behaviour' and the 'ridiculousness of blood purism', he called the boys an array of colourful names including 'pig headed bigots' and 'filthy, half-witted pillocks', until eventually Professor Snape appeared having followed the noise of the commotion. Unwilling to listen to what really happened he docked Gryffindor 10 points and gave Charlie detention for the language he was using, but Charlie didn't even care about the punishments as he knew that even Professor Snape wouldn't let the boys hurt Ashlynn in the ways they had been implying.

"I fell further in love with you when we had that first Care of Magical Creatures lesson, your face shone so brightly that day that I thought I'd never need the sun again…"

Tonks tripped over a rock hidden in the long September grass as they made their way down to the edge of the forest for class, but she was quickly gathered in the arms of her two best friends before she even hit the floor. Charlie rolled his eyes at her clumsiness and Ashlynn giggled in response, he could always elicit a giggle from her. Together they supported Tonks the rest of the way down the slope and skidded to a halt as a ragtag collection of giggling girls and a smirking Charlie who was trying to hold in his laughter and make a good first impression with their new teacher, he had been looking forward to this class ever since he was a small boy. He used to bring any and all injured creatures into the burrow to care for them and nurse them back to health, his parents gave up trying to stop him and got used to this, eventually they even allowed him to heal any garden gnomes that were injured in the degnoming process.

Professor Grubbly-Plank stood at the front of the class, right by the trio, and introduced them to their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson. She outlined the syllabus and all eyes were on her as she spoke of flobberworms and bowtruckles, unicorns and nifflers. All eyes except Ashlynns, for hers were fixed on the face of her best friend as his eyes glowed with anticipation and his shoulders shook with contained excitement. She thought his smile was brighter than a thousand fireworks and she realised that this was the expression she wanted him to have every day.

"You re-captured my heart every time you played with the charm I gave you…"

Fourth year exams were taking place the following week and Charlie, Ashlynn and Tonks were holed up, yet again, in the library. They were sat in the furthest corner from Madam Pince's desk tucked in an alcove walled with bookcases and a large window, their table was littered in the books they had been studying for hours on end.

Tonks was asleep with her purple haired head lying on a page that detailed how to properly transfigure a guinea fowl into a guinea pig, Ashlynn was sat on the window ledge with her feet up on the desk and her head turned towards the window. The sun was warm against her back and her eyes roamed over the lake and mountains but she kept sneaking glances at the boy sat with them. His long legs stretched out along the bench he was sat sideways on, his dark red hair falling over his closed eyes and his head lent back against a bookcase housing tome upon tome about obscure pieces of magic. She watched as his fingers absentmindedly rubbed the small metal charm hanging on leather around his neck, the tiny dragon clambering and twisting around his fingers was playing with the boy and occasionally nipping gently at his calloused skin.

He was in his own little word dreaming of the day he would see a Longhorn in real life.

"I thought I already loved you as much as my heart could take but when you gave me your jersey during our first round as prefects I knew that there would never be a limit to my love for you, even though I still tried to kid myself that I didn't feel that way for far too long…"

With Ashlynn pulling him along they completed the first half of their rounds quickly with little trouble. They were on their way up the astronomy tower when he first noticed her shivering, the crisp September air was blowing in through the open windows of the tower now that the sun had fallen behind the nearby mountains.

Tugging off his jersey Charlie pulled Ashlynn towards him and plopped it unceremoniously over her head. The jersey fell softly around her shoulders and she pulled her arms through the sleeves instinctively.

"Where's your jumper you muppet?" Charlie teased.

"I was playing chess by the fire, it was so warm I forgot it wasn't the same all the way around the castle" she mumbled blushing before noticing what jersey she was wearing and shouting indignantly "hey this is a rival quidditch jersey, no chance I'm keeping this on!" she began trying to tug it back off as Charlie held down the hem chuckling at her vehement house pride.

"Well, next time bring your own then" he countered, re-grasping her hand and pulling her stumbling along behind him still trying to be free of the red and gold fabric.

"I fell for you again when you asked me to cheer for you in your first game as quidditch captain…"

"Would you… would you mind wearing this for me love?" he asked with so much hope and vulnerability in his eyes that she would never have said no to his request. Realistically she would have worn whatever he wanted to the game anyway, she just wanted his first game as captain to go well.

"Whatever you want oh mighty captain" her following giggles were muffled by the red and gold fabric as he plopped it over her head. She pushed her arms through and realised it was the same jersey he had lent her on their first ever prefect rounds two years ago.

"I'll cheer for you forever Charlie. I'll support your dreams and endeavours, I'll be there to hold you when we fall apart at the memories of our best friend and I'll hold you when you cry over the loss of a dragon. I want to be there for you and with you forever in any and every way that you'll have me. I was an idiot to stay away from you for so long and I wonder what our lives would be like now if I had made it to your portkey gate just a few minutes earlier." Ashlynn's voice trailed off as she searched his face for any sign of a response.

"What do you mean portkey gate?" Charlie's brain was struggling to process the information he had just heard before passing it along to his heart and that was something he could question easily.

"The morning after graduation I came to tell you how I felt, but I missed your portkey by a couple of minutes and your Dad and Tonks carried me home." Ashlynn clarified, her eyes still wide in anticipation of his response to her bearing her heart to the man she had loved for over a decade.

"But you married the head boy" Charlie's brain was even foggier and confused now as he rubbed her left ring finger.

"No," Ashlynn chuckled "I turned him down the second I saw you leave. This is from a muggle boy I met while in hiding. I never told him about our world and I never told him I loved him. I guess I was always holding out hope that one day I could marry you Charlie."

Charlie's brain cleared of all the fog and swirling thoughts at her last few words and all he could see was her. She was in the best moments of his past and he wanted her to be his future. Stepping forward Charlie closed the gap between them and brushed his lips softly across hers.

"I love you more than life itself" he whispered just loud enough for her to hear before kissing her soundly.

The feel of his lips burned against her own, she felt like she was being branded from the heat and passion of the kiss. Her arms wound tightly around his neck and he pulled her closer by the hips.

"I love you. I love you. I love you." Charlie chanted between each kiss. "I want you love, no one else. I love you with every part of me. I love you."

"I love you too Charlie."