Cielie-

An audible gasp escaped Ginny's lips as the figure stepped into the porch light.

I turned to Ginny for a moment and then looked back at the figure. Something felt familiar about them. I stared for another moment, until it clicked. It was one of Ginny's older brothers.

She ran up to him and embraced him, "Charlie!" That solved the question of which Weasley it was. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but that could have just been because Ginny talked about all her brothers rather frequently. However, if I remembered correctly, Charlie had left Hogwarts just two years prior and had been in Romania studying dragons. Perhaps he could help me with my dragon dilemma. I was pulled out of my thoughts by Ginny.

"Charlie, why don't you come in, you look frozen." I nod and move out of his way, letting him come into the living room and sit down by the crackling fire. We sit around him, waiting for him to say something. Eventually, he begins to speak.

"Ginny, mum couldn't make it because dad's in the hospital." Ginny gasps, looking worried, but Charlie continues. "He should be fine, the doctors said he would be home by Christmas. Anyways, mum sent me to pick you guys up. You're supposed to come back to headquarters with me. Ron and the others are already there."

XxX

Dragging our trunks through the snow, we trudge along the street following Ginny's brother. It's bright outside, but not the sort of bright that will make the snow melt away. The sun is hidden behind the stark gray clouds and it's freezing, even under all of my layers. The only spot of warm is around my middle, where Seren sits. She is curled up in the pocket of my sweater and I am glad for the small amount of heat she provides.

We follow Charlie through the empty, snow-filled streets of London for another few blocks. The neighborhood changing gradually into flats and small, dark houses as we trudge through the snow. Finally, Charlie stops. I look up to see two houses with an oddly sized gap between them. Charlie turns to us and hands me a small scrap of paper. I look at Ginny, slightly confused.

"Read it, it'll make sense then. I promise," Ginny explains. I follow her instructions, reading the scrawled address. "Grimauld Place," I mutter to myself, and then I look up. A small gasp escapes me as I see a house appear in the space between the houses I had noted before.

"Welcome to headquarters," Charlie says, giving me a smile. Ginny goes up to the front door and gives a few sharp raps. The door opens, and a man who seems vaguely familiar stands there. Luna bounces up the stairs and steps into the house, Ginny follows, and I go next, with Charlie bringing up the rear.

It is deliciously warm inside and the smell of stew wafts through the narrow hallway, filling my nose with its wonderful aroma. But the mood that has settled itself like a dampening blanket over the seemingly festive atmosphere is quite at odds with the sights and smells before me. There are soft voices coming from down the hall and as I pass the man who let us in, I see dark circles under his eyes.

XxX

Sitting around the large wooden table that is placed in the center of the kitchen, are Harry Potter, Ron and the Weasley twins, Fred and George. Ginny is standing, or rather pacing, by the roaring fireplace. Luna and I hang back, sat unobtrusively at the very end of the slab of oak that makes up the table. This is Ginny's family matter, and though she is my friend and I long to comfort her, it doesn't really feel like my place. I catch Harry's eyes for a moment and realize that he feels the same. We, Luna, Harry and I, are not part of this and so we keep to ourselves, letting the family sort themselves out.

The man from earlier strides in, making the Weasley's look up. He comes further into the room and as he does, I realize why his face seemed familiar. It's Sirius Black. It's the man who was terrorizing Hogwarts in my third year. A murderer, someone who certainly shouldn't be out and about on the streets running free, and yet, here he is. The expression on my face clearly displays my shock and its Charlie who sees it first. He gestures quickly for me to follow him outside into the hall. I do so a bit hastily and almost trip over the small set of stairs that leads out of the kitchen. Charlie reaches out a steadying hand and I gratefully take it, finding it surprisingly warm despite the chill that we experienced on our trudge here.

He closes the door to the kitchen and it shuts with a soft thud. Standing alone in the hallway, I become acutely aware of the bizarre wall decorations. As I stare at them, I begin to wonder how I missed them the first time coming down this hall. Adorning the musty wallpaper, hung on hooks, are a plethora of heads, house-elf heads. One even has a faded St. Nick hat perched precariously upon its knobby head.

I am snapped out of my odd train of thought, by Charlie, who starts speaking.

"That was Sirius Black, and yes, we know that he was supposedly a mass murderer-" I cut him off at that, "Supposedly?! What do you mean supposedly? He's either a murderer or he isn't, which one is it?" Now it's his turn to cut me off.

"The rest of the world thinks he murdered about a dozen people a few years back. The rest of the world also thinks that he's dead, and we need to keep it that way. To answer your question, he isn't a murderer. The man who killed those people was actually Peter Pettigrew, who didn't actually die in the blast. Oh, and he's also Harry's godfather. I know that that's a lot to take in, but it's crucial that you don't tell anyone. Form what Ginny's told me about you, I'm sure you can do that, ok?"

I blink at him a few times, and then as the information settles I start to nod. "Yeah, yeah, ok. A murderer, who isn't actually a murderer, is living in the headquarters of a secret organization bent on stopping Voldemort. That's it, definitely not mind-blowing or slightly concerning," I say, still in slight disbelief. He gives me a wry smile and heads back to the kitchen.

"I knew you'd understand. Now come on Cecilia, I want to hear the news from Sirius." I follow him back, the information sitting slightly uneasily in my mind. It shocks me how much I struggle to accept it. But somehow it feels almost as if someone had told me that Voldemort was actually some sort of decent human being who helped baby dolphins with cancer. And with that thought it clicks. There were rumors, that Sirius Black was involved with the murder of my brother, that he was there when Voldemort returned, like the loyal servant he was.

I turn away from the table, staring at the fire, raging so perfectly contained within its stone fireplace. Silent tears run down my cheeks as it hits me again that my brother isn't coming back. Not now, and not ever. And in that moment, I feel more alone then I have felt this whole time. Because he's gone, and because I can't even think his name, because I couldn't do anything to keep him safe. And even though I know it's not my fault, it still feels like there was something I could have done. The powerlessness that comes with that thought is enough to make me feel truly broken inside. And it's the sort of broken that will take a whole lifetime and then some to mend, if can even be mended.

Hi, TigerMoon here

So as to make my CharliexOC work a little better age-wise, I switched Charlie and Percy's ages. Cielie's birthday is in late May, which makes her 16 and Charlie is currently 19 due to the age switch.

Sorry that it's been a while since I've updated. I should update more regularly now that it's summer. Thanks for bearing with the horribly sporadic update schedule.

Thanks for reading!

:)