A/N
Prompt- 1984
Team- Tutshill Tornados
Position- Captain
Word Count- 1558
1984 is the year when Charlie Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks start their first year at Hogwarts and create an unlikely friendship between a Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.
They meet for the first time during the train ride to Hogwarts where they share a compartment.
"Hey, my name is Tonks. What's yours? You are a Weasley, aren't you?" Nymphadora Tonks introduces herself to the redhead boy already sitting in the cabin.
"Yes, I am Charlie Weasley. Nice to meet you," Charlie replies.
She slumps down across the whole berth, looking tired.
"You look tired," he observes looking at her over his copy of quidditch weekly.
"I was up all night. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep," she admits.
"I couldn't sleep either. I had to console my younger siblings that, no, just because I am going to Hogwarts. It doesn't mean that I would forget about them," he shakes his head, smiling slightly.
"It must be nice having siblings. I am an only child," she is envious of him. Her childhood has been very lonely in the magical world.
Her parents were considered outcast because her mother had defied her pureblood lineage and married a muggle-born. Her maternal side of the family left no stone unturned to make their lives miserable. They also had to keep their distance from the paternal side of the family so as to not give their secret away.
"It's nice but chaotic. I have an older brother Bill who is now in his third year at Hogwarts. Then there is Percy, who is three years younger. The twins Fred and George are two years younger than him. Ron is two younger than him and then Ginny the baby of the family is a year younger than Ron. I am going to miss them," he tells her a little wistfully.
"At Least you will have Bill with you at school," she tries to console her new friend. Tonks can understand that the topic isn't something that Charlie necessarily wants to talk about right now. It seems that this is the first time he is away from his family. "What house do you want to be in? My mother was in Slytherin and my father was in Hufflepuff. I am personally leaning towards Hufflepuff," she changes the subject.
"Gryffindor. Both my parents and Bill are Gryffindor. All the Weasleys are," he replies.
"Is that what you want though?" she asks curiously.
"Honestly, I don't think I belong anywhere else. Gryffindor feels like the place for me to be," he tells her.
Tonks thinks about what he said. Is Hufflepuff the place for her? Or does she only want to be a Hufflepuff because she doesn't want to end up in Slytherin like her maternal side?
After a while, she gives up thinking about it because there is no point in it. She will have her answer later that night. They spend the rest of the journey getting to know each other more. By the end, Tonks knows that she has made her first friend.
Nymphadora is in awe of the castle. Her father had told her that the place is magnificent. The feeling she is experiencing right now doesn't even cut it. The sorting starts soon and she starts fidgeting waiting for her turn.
Finally, she hears her name getting called out by professor McGonagall "Nymphadora Tonks."
"YOUR NAME IS NYMPHADORA?" she hears Charlie loudly exclaims.
She finds herself getting flushed with anger. Her hair turns red from her anger earning her a gasp from the whole hall. Her secret is out of the bag now. The whole school knows that she is a Metamorphmagus.
"Don't call me Nymphadora," she angrily retorts. She stumbles on her way to the stool which further embarrasses her. She takes her place at the stool scowling slightly. What a shitty start at Hogwarts she thinks.
Professor McGonagall places the hat on her head. The sorting hat comes alive on her head. "You have an interesting personality. You are loyal, patient and hardworking as a Hufflepuff. You also believe in fair play. Your personality is gone on your father. You are also resourceful and brave and a little reckless and clumsy. I know just the place for you," the sorting hat tells her before he announces for the whole hall to hear. "HUFFLEPUFF,"
Tonks is happy that now she has an answer to the thoughts that she had earlier. She truly does belong in Hufflepuff. That is the place she belongs.
Charlie watches Tonks' antics in amusement. He finds it funny that her name is Nymphadora. It doesn't suit her personality at all. Tonks is more her style. He makes a decision then and there that no matter what he is going to call her Tonks itself.
He realizes that there aren't many students left and it would be his turn soon and that makes him nervous. He glances towards the Gryffindor table to see Bill is watching in already. Bill gives him an encouraging smile. He knows that his older brother is trying to reassure him that it will be alright. The mere thought of that makes him feel better. Tonks was right. He isn't alone here. He still has Bill with him.
"Charlie Weasley," Professor McGonagall calls out.
Charlie gives another glance at Bill nervously and walks towards the stool. The sorting hat is put on his head and before he has time to understand what's happening he hears a voice in his head "A Weasley I see. You are an easy one. You are out and out a Gryffindor. Very Brave and Reckless. You would do well there. That's where you should go."
"GRYFFINDOR," the sorting hat calls out to the hall and Charlie hears his brother shout joy "YES!"
He sighs in relief. He is glad that he was right about it. That his place belongs with Gryffindor, the house that very Weasley has been. He can't wait to know what the future has in store for him.
The next few months despite being in different houses Charlie and Tonks continue to be friends. If you are to ask anyone they would say that the two of them are best friends. Neither of them would disagree with the sentiment.
Before they know it is time for their Christmas vacation to start and both of them are heading home for the holidays. They decided to exchange gifts on the train since it will be easier and more convenient for them.
They had all but forgotten about the gifts until it was few minutes left for London to arrive and they hurriedly exchange gifts.
"Here, I hope you are going to like your gift. My mum also sent some fudge for you," Charlie hands Tonks her gift. He knows that Tonks is interested in the newly formed band called weird sisters. So, during the last Hogsmeade day, he asks Bill to get him one of their t-shirts from the clothing store. His mother has sent homemade fudge for them to give to their friends.
He watches Tonks eagerly digging into her gifts. She gasps seeing the t-shirt he has gotten for her. He can see the delight in her eyes.
"This is cool. I love it. Thanks, Charlie," Tonks thanked him. "Here, this is for you," she tosses him his present while she starts munching some of the fudge happily.
He opens the gift to see that it contains a book on dragons. He looks at her in shock. He didn't expect to know that Tonks has been paying attention to all his rambling about dragons. "Thank you, Tonks. This is so thoughtful of you," he thanks her.
"You were thoughtful too," Tonks beams at him. "What are your plans for Christmas?" she asks as she carefully packs her t-shirt.
"I don't know. I think I will probably spend all the time playing quidditch with my brothers or dancing to Ginny's tunes," he shrugs. Charlie didn't have any big plans for the holidays. He wants to spend the time with his family.
"My parents and I are going to visit my grandparents in Yorkshire," she tells him.
"Will that be okay?" he asks her. He is aware of how difficult it is for Tonks to meet her family since she still doesn't have full control over her abilities.
"It's only going to be my dad's parents and us. It will be okay. They are aware of my abilities of I don't have to hide them," she replies.
"That's nice," Charlie hmms.
"Hey, Charlie. We are still going to be friends in the new year right?" she asks him.
"Of course," he replies incredulously. He can't believe she would ask him something ridiculous.
"Don't look at me like that. I am only making sure that you won't forget about me in your puberty. After all, aren't you at the stage where all boys think that girls are gross," she teases him.
"Stop being an idiot," he tells her and goes on ignoring her for the rest of the ride. He won't admit it to Tonks but she is pretty cool for a girl. There is no way he will let go of this friendship with her.
In the end, he doesn't need to say it because Tonks understand as she always has been doing in the past whole term.