Warning: This prologue was written before Deathly Hallows came out and is therefore not canon. I thought about excluding it completely, but I like it too much. Also -- J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter; I do not.

Age of Consent
(Otherwise known as: I Told You I Could Write This)

By Siriusly Amused

This fic is dedicated to:
Mariah, who doubted I could write it,
Joey, who wasn't afraid to tell me what parts were crap,
And to Kari, who reads it religiously.

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Prologue

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It was hard watching the battle from the sidelines, but if there was one thing that The Golden Trio had learned during their months of Horcrux-hunting, it was that sometimes they needed to keep a low profile and stay out of the fighting. And so the three of them stood at the edge of the forest, concealed by the night and the trees, their hair and clothes flailing in the wind as they somberly watched the scene before them: Malfoy Manner was in flames and a handful of Death Eaters were fighting a score of Aurors, who had just recently Apparated in.

Ron was particularly interested in the fight; his blue eyes were narrowed and focused on a certain charismatic trio, who fought alongside one another with such agility that it appeared that they were three people who possessed the same mind, three fingers on the same hand that was fisted and ready to deal a powerful blow that the Death Eaters would not soon forget. They danced around one another, covered each others' backs, launched one another into the fray; they fought much like how he, Harry and Hermione fought: they were Tonks, Bill and Charlie.

The battle was short. It only took the death of one Death Eater to send the others Apparating away to safety, leaving the Aurors alone with the roaring flame that used to be Malfoy Manner. Ron kept his eyes upon his older brothers and Tonks. The three came together, Bill and Tonks examining what looked to be a wound on Charlie's chest. Words were exchanged before Charlie stalked off to a tent that was being erected nearby as Healers Apparated in and began treating the wounded. Bill and Tonks rejoined the other Aurors to help douse the flames.

"Charlie's hurt," Ron stated simply to his companions, keeping his eyes on the growing confusion before him.

"Do you want company?" Hermione asked.

"Nah," Ron replied, bringing the hood of his hoodie over his red locks as he stepped out of the wooded area. If there was one thing the Death Eaters were, it was closed-minded; for all of these months, they were searching for three teenagers in wizard robes and because of this, Muggle clothing worked almost as well as an invisibility cloak.

"See if you can get any information," Harry called after him, and Ron raised a hand to signal that he heard him as he approached the commotion, keeping his head down so that no one would see his face and recognize him. He entered the medical tent and was greeted with screams and moans.

"Get out of here, kid!"

Ron looked up to find Madame Pomfrey rushing towards him, waving her arms in a shooing motion. Upon seeing Ron's face, however, she stopped short, her eyes blinking in surprise.

"He's in the back," she informed, pointing to a curtained off area. Ron nodded his thanks and, with his hands in his pockets and his hood still over his head, he approached his brother's section and went through the curtain.

Charlie was lying shirtless on a bed, propped up by pillows, his tattooed dragon curled around his shoulders like an inked shawl. His golden brown eyes locked with Ron's blue ones and a corner of his mouth pulled upward in the lopsided smile that the Weasleys were famous for.

"I thought I smelled something foul!" Charlie exclaimed as Ron pushed his hood off, gracing his older brother with a slight smile.

"Shut up, Charlie!" Ron slurred, pulling a chair up to the bed. He turned the chair around and straddled it, folding his arms in front of him on the back of the chair. "You okay?" he asked, nodding at Charlie's bandaged abdomen.

"Yeah," Charlie sighed, following Ron's gaze to the bandages. "If I'm lucky, I'll have a scar."

"If you're lucky?" Ron asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

Charlie grinned at him. "Girls dig scars, little brother. Or haven't you found that out yet? Show Hermione any of yours?"

"Piss off," Ron stated softly, his cheeks turning red as he ran a hand through his hair. Charlie chuckled.

"You, Bill and Tonks fight really well together," Ron said suddenly, wanting to change the subject before Charlie pushed the topic of his love life. "I was surprised. I mean…I knew you guys were good fighters individually, but you guys acted as though you could communicate telepathically or something."

"Yeah, one of the many benefits of being best friends is being able to read their facial expressions and body language in a split second." Charlie shrugged as if it were no big deal.

"Best friends?" Ron asked, his face contorting to a shocked expression.

The half smile returned upon Charlie's face, and a flame danced in his eyes. One thing about Charlie Weasley was that he always looked as if he was smirking at the world, as if he knew a joke that the rest of humanity just did not get. "Did you think that you, Harry and Hermione were the only trio to roam the halls of Hogwarts?" he asked. Ron graced his brother with a momentary expression of guilt, causing Charlie's wicked grin to broaden.

"Tonks is my age, little bro. And Bill was a little loser in school so we decided to let him hang out with us because we were nice like that."

"Bill was a loser?" Ron asked skeptically.

"Full on geek! Always in the library studying! You should have seen the way he stuttered with the ladies!"

"And now he's married to quite possibly the most beautiful woman in the world."

"Yeah…the bastard."

It was now Ron's turn to smile, one corner of his mouth turning upward to his eyes.

"So?" Ron asked after Charlie remained silent for a bit.

"So what?" Charlie countered, knitting his brow in confusion at his younger brother.

"So aren't you going to tell me about your Hogwarts days as a member of 'That Other Trio'?"

"It's a long story."

"I've got all night."

Charlie's eyebrows disappeared into his fiery curls with surprise. "You trust Harry and Hermione alone together all night?"

"Yes," Ron replied at once, his face completely serious. "I mean, wouldn't you trust Bill and Tonks to be alone together at night?" Ron winced and shook his head after saying it. "Sorry. That doesn't make sense at all."

Charlie chuckled again. "Actually, little bro, it's a good comparison."

"…What?"

"Well, let's just say that Tonks has had some Weasley loving."

"…What?"

Charlie's lips curled once more into a reptilian smile. "You've got all night? Well then…it all started a few days before my first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

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End Author's Note: I got the idea for this story back in April when I realized, quite suddenly, that there's hardly any fics about Bill/Tonks/Charlie back when they were at Hogwarts. There's tons of Marauder-era fics, countless Golden Trio fics, and even a healthy number of Next Generation fics, but the time between the Marauders and the Golden Trio is rarely written about, so I said to myself, "I'm going to write Bill, Tonks and Charlies' years at Hogwarts!" I then went to my friend, M, and said, "I'm going to write Bill, Tonks and Charlies' years at Hogwarts!" ...And she replied, "You can try," which is why this fic is subtitled the way it is. Anyway, I started plotting, and I started writing in May, and I forced myself not to post anything right away. Now it's December and I'm half crazy from exams, so I'm ready to start posting. The fic isn't done yet; I only have 8 chapters written (not including this prologue), but I'm ready to start getting some feedback. I'm actually nervous about this because, unlike my other fics, I really put a lot of work into this one, and I'm assuming the reason why many Bill/Tonks/Charlie fics don't exist is because people aren't that interested in the characters (I know I wasn't until I started writing), so I'm afraid people will be loathe to give it a try. But that is my own cross to bear. ANYWAY...go on and read chapter one...I dare you! XD