Charlie hadn't been home in ages. He had been away in Romania with his dragon covert when McGonagall had asked him to track wild dragon poachers in Siberia and northern Mongolia. It was an undercover mission and he hadn't contacted the family in over a year. It was good to be back, even though Mum kept shooting him angry looks. He knew he definitely couldn't last another freezing Siberian winter.
'At least McGonagall would get the brunt of her anger', he thought.
All this was nothing compared to the feeling of coming back home. The smell of Mum's cake baking, cinnamon hanging from the eaves, and the sight of all of his siblings- He stopped himself. Almost all of them. The memory of Fred dying was one that made the sight of most of these things seem more bitter and almost meaningless.
While he had been away, life had moved on without him. George, Percy, and Ron were all engaged. Ginny was married and expecting her first! And the strangest development of all was that his own mum had developed a muggle best friend.
"Oh, you'll love her, Charlie! Look! She made this for Mum last week!" Ginny was petting a long, quilted table runner that impressively spanned the length of their dining table.
"How did they meet?" Charlie asked, completely dumbfounded by his mum having an actual friend. His entire life, she never showed any interest in having girlfriends or spending time with any other women her age. Her family was it- they were her friends.
"McGonagall asked her to look in on her when she moved to the village." Harry added. What?! What made this muggle of interest to McGonagall? He had meant to elaborate to even out the furrowed brow on Charlie's face, when his father chimed in.
"You should hear about ALL of the eckeltric things she has! She has a kettle that can boil water in less than 4 minutes-" Started Mr. Weasley
"Dad, we can magic boiled water instantly-" Added Ginny, already exhausted with his enthusiasm, rubbing circles over her pregnant belly.
"-and an eckeltric TOOTHBRUSH! Practically brushes her teeth for her!" Arthur finished, eyes wide and expecting amazement from all. Only confused glances made his way.
"Again, not very impressive." Sighed Ginny.
"But we can all agree our lives are better with her and Lucas around!" Here came Mum, saving the conversation as well as putting a stop to it. She plopped some flowers in a vase freshly cut from their garden in the middle of the table with a satisfying THUNK. "And we are so happy you are back from that idiotic traipsing about all of Russia, dear boy. Really, what were you thinking?!"
"Mum, what's this? I thought you said flowers get in the way of all your lovely cooking? Wait." Charlie looked about the dining room a second time. Dad wore his strange suit jacket he found at a train station, the one with roundy bits on the elbows, Mum had used potion in her hair to tame the frizz- George was strangely quiet and grinning at Charlie. And why on earth was Percy here? Oh yes. We liked him again.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just Sunday dinner with the family! And others, of course. You'll be able to see some familiar faces. We all just missed you too much! What a proper welcome, hey?" Molly squeezed Charlie's cheeks and placed a lipsticked smackeroo right on his forehead. He was too horrified to notice.
"MUM! I just got back! I'm not ready for any-"
"Just got back! Fresh faced and happy to be home!" She sauntered out of earshot and silenced any concerns or fears he had, because it didn't matter when Mum plans things. They just have to happen sometimes.
Hermione and Ron came into the room, "Sorry Charlie. But we are excited to see you back. It's been so long!" Hermione flashed him a sheepish smile. Ron flashed him his hidden flask as a proffered peace offering of sorts. Charlie shook his head. Just another family dinner. Soon he will be in bed. He could do this sober.
Bill and Fleur arrived, heavily pregnant and stupidly happy. Charlie grinned. It had been a while since he'd caught up with his favorite brother. He waved them over to the sofa and smacked Bill on the back in greeting.
Bill beamed and caught up with Charlie in the living room while Fleur found a seat with Ginny and Hermione at the table. The Burrow was abuzz with laughter and loud conversation when Molly noticed a tiny head of black hair zoom past the kitchen window. Lucas!
Molly quickly dried her hands on the carefully embroidered towel that hung under the sink and exited the back door into the garden.
"Millie!" She cried, opening her arms for her friend.
"So tell me about Mum's friend. Who is she?" Charlie asked Bill, more curious about her than any of the other recent developments.
"Did they tell you anything about her?" Bill asked
"Dad says she has an electric toothbrush," Charlie shrugged. "But Harry mentioned something about McGonagall asking Mum to look out for her?" Bill and Charlie had a great relationship. Charlie knew anything he asked of or said to Bill would stay between them. So he added, "She sounds important enough for Minerva to have interest in her, but she sounds like a nice friend for Mum, at least. It's about time Mum has friends her own age."
To that, Bill laughed until he had a weird cough-wheeze happening. "You! Hhhhhhhhch! You don't even know!"
"Know what? That's what I'm trying to get at! Who is she? All I've gathered is she's a quilter and there's her husband Lucas? Does Dad like Lucas? Come- Come ON, Bill. I'm sure I haven't said anything to warrant that reaction." Bill's face was as red as his hair as he laughed. And so was Charlies out of embarrassment. He racked his brain as to what he had assumed wrong about Mum's friend. Hopefully anything he said wouldn't have been in any way insulting to her had she somehow found out. He ran his hand through his hair as he tried to sort it out, gazing at his family in the process. George had caught some of their conversation and was laughing with Bill. The Kitchen door opened.
Charlie stopped. He made Bill stop. He hit Bill on the head to stop, "Shut up, man!"
Molly Weasley walked into the kitchen clutching the hand of a little boy who was pulling on the dress of an absolute angel. 'No. Wait', he thought. 'There's gotta be something more beautiful than an angel. That's so cheesey. A dragon? An Antiopodean Opaleye?!' His thoughts raced to catch up with what he was feeling in that moment. The woman laughed as the child released her to jump on George's lap. George immediately produced a lizard from his nostril, much to the appreciation of the kid and his fiancé, Angelina, who arrived just in time to witness the pair.
The golden haired enchantress followed his mother into the kitchen and Bill smacked Charlie's chin upwards to stop his drooling. "THAT'S Millie. And Lucas."
"Millie?" He whispered, not even knowing what he was saying.
"Mum's new friend!" Bill whispered harshly, exasperated with his brother's sudden stupidity.
"Wait-" Charlie started, beginning to feel his brain working at full capacity. Bill smiled at the sudden recognition.
"'MOLLY and MILLIE'? Are you freaking kidding me?" To that, George lost it, scaring Lucas with his loud guffaw.
"Dinner is ready!" Mrs. Weasely announced, sending everyone to a mad scramble to find seats at the table. Charlie was the last to arrive, suddenly nervous and noticing only where Millie was sitting- which was across from the only empty seat left. "Sit down, Charles! You're causing everyone's stomach to rumble much longer than is necessary!" His mother quipped.
He had suddenly forgotten how to properly sit In a chair and awkwardly scooted in, making everyone cringe at the screech that ensued of wood against floor. Soon he heard his mother again, suddenly grateful to her to take the attention off of him. "Wands, Please!"
"What?" he asked Percy, next to him
"Everyone! Wands to me! You know the rule!"
"It's in an effort to make Millie and Lucas more comfortable." Percy stated, as if pointing out the obvious.
"Molly! You know we don't mind, it's really unnecessary!" Oh, Merlin, how her voice was sweet yet raspy and Charlie had almost closed his eyes in the hope to hear more. Keep it together, he thought.
"Nonsense!" Started Arthur, "It's no inconvenience-" a raspberry like noise emitted from Ron at that, "we find it as more of a tradition now!"
One by one, wands were collected and Molly placed them in an empty jug on the table.
"Please pass the potatoes, Percy." Mr. Weasley chimed, holding out his hand like a non- magical buffoon, Percy thought.
"NO!" a loud squeal emitted from in front of Charlie.
"Lucas, It's fine!" Came that perfect voice again.
"NO! I want the food to be FLYING!" Lucas had a red face when Charlie turned to watch what was happening. A very red face. Bulging eyes. This kid was crazy.
"Love, take deep breaths. We can see magic later! We're going to pass the food to each other like we do at home! Deep breaths, now. 1…2…" Charlie found himself taking her advice. 'Keep it together, man!' he inwardly yelled. No woman should be this attractive, he thought. He could smell her vanilla and cinnamon perfume from across the table. Cake. Millie smelled like cake. Charlie had to pinch himself.
"FLYING TATTIES!" Lucas screamed. George spit out his water, even Mr. Weasley was unable to hold in a surprised laugh.
All at once, the potatoes levitated and silence fell. "Lucas, no, darling…" Millie groaned, already looking defeated as she saw what was unfolding.
The dish of potatoes fell from almost near the ceiling, hot mash landing on everyone, but most of it on Charlie's shocked face.
"Flying tatties," George was laughing to himself, "Bloody brilliant, this kid!"
"Oh, dear!" Molly exclaimed, most likely over the loss of the food.
"Honestly, Molly, can we just give the kid what he wants next time?" Mr. Weasley chimed in.
"Good one, Lucas! You're getting better, kiddo!" Shot Ron, much to Hermione's displeasure.
But Charlie had been watching only one person, and he had been waiting for her reaction. She looked thoroughly embarrassed and completely at a loss of what to do.
"Lucas, love," Millie started, "We talked about this." She looked to Molly first, most likely for direction or possibly as a silent apology. Then her eyes met his. "Oh! I'm so sorry! Lucas, your napkin!" She snatched his napkin from him and leant over the table towards Charlie. He was still in shock over the whole debacle and hadn't found the willpower to move. Her brilliant, wavy tresses fell in front of her as she reached to wipe potato off his cheeks. His breathing hitched and his pants became uncomfortable as he noticed he had quite a view down the top of Millie's white eyelet dress.
"Lucas gets emotional and sometimes he has…well…tantrums?" She started to explain to him, continuing to wipe away the mash, not realizing Charlie's breathing had sped up and his strong jaw was clenched tightly. He hoped against hope this woman was unattached and looking specifically for a red-headed Dragonologist.
"hihhhhhnnnn!" was Charlie's clever addition to the conversation.
"Millie, dear. Not to worry. I'll have everything clean in a mo, darling." Molly had retrieved her wand and Charlie instantly resented her for it. The mash was gone and the moment was lost. Millie was sitting down, talking to Fleur on her left and everyone had begun to pass around dishes. Mum had worked hard and made all of his favorites, but he found himself picking at his chicken and mushroom pie rather than eating it.
'What just happened?' Charlie thought, glancing over at this new woman who blew into his life. Never has a girl had such an effect on him.
George knew Millie was attractive enough to peak his brother's interest. He'd started a bet with Bill and Ron on when Charlie would fall under her muggle spell. SO far, it seemed that George had earned 50 galleons. He laughed seeing Charlie's face as Millie wiped off the potatoes. Ron sent a scowl over his way.