Okay, a couple of quick notes: I don't know if it's possible for a wizard
to apparate with someone else, so I'm just going to pretend like it is (go
artistic license!! Woo woo!) Also, this takes place towards the end of The
Triumphant Trio's (aka, Harry, Ron, & Hermione) fifth year, and I know that
Voldemort rose again and all that at the end of the fourth year, so we're
going to pretend like the trio conquered the evil guy during Christmas
vacation or something; either way he's gone and dead now in THIS story!
Yeah. So that's it (for now at least).
Disclaimer: I own Ariane and her mum!!! (At least it's something, right??) Oh yeah, and I don't own the Xerox company. Shame, really. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ariane's house was in complete disarray. Her clothes were strewn over the furniture, and her kitchen was a complete mess. She wanted desperately to impress Charlie's family, but she didn't know what wizards wore, what they ate, what they talked about. She had finally settled on a pair of slacks and a fitted sweater. Then she spent all day in the kitchen making a cake, but Ariane had never been much of a cook. Her kitchen, usually a pale yellow, was now frosted white with flour. She had no clue how to prepare for conversation. Charlie had mentioned that his father loved - what did he call them? Muggles? - And maybe she could just talk about that.
Her palms were sweaty and she was just about to jump under her bed covers and hide when Charlie apparated into her living room. Since he had told her about being a wizard, he had been going back and forth between her house and his much more frequently. He usually spent the night with her and then went back to Romania for work. Most evenings he would charm her kitchen to make them dinner, and Ariane had never eaten so well since moving out from her mother's house.
Charlie was dressed in his robes, which Ariane had never seen before. He had always dressed in Muggle clothing until now.
"Charlie, what are you wearing?!" she gasped.
"Robes," he said, confused, looking down at his attire.
"Robes?" she said with a slight giggle.
"Yeah. It's what we wear. Oh wait. You've never seen these; I've always worn Muggle clothing around you, haven't I, darling? Well, laugh all you want. You'll be seeing plenty of them in the very near future," he replied to her amusement. She walked over and hugged him, keeping her arms around his waist.
"Oh, it's not that they're that funny. It's just that it does nothing for your figure," she said before breaking into giggles again. Charlie sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked.
"Um. Yeah, just let me get the cake."
"Cake?" he repeated, bewildered. "Ariane, you didn't have to make a cake. My mum can charm an oven just as well as the next person."
"Oh, I know. I just wanted to do something nice, that's all," she called from the kitchen.
"As long as it can be split twelve ways. My brothers can get pretty scary if they have to fight for something as good as cake."
"They'll be small pieces, but it'll have to do." She came out with a five layer chocolate cake, which slightly resembled the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Charlie bent his neck to the side to see what it would look like straight up.
"It's a little, um, crooked, don't you think?" he asked. She playfully smacked him, and hooked her free arm through his, after grabbing a small knapsack on the ground.
"It's edible, and that's all that counts. Shall we go, then?" Charlie grinned down at her and whipped out his wand. He quickly apparated the two of them to the front door of the Burrow. Ariane, now no longer having to hold onto him, let go of his arm and held her cake with both hands, struggling to make it look less crooked. Charlie opened the door through the kitchen and yelled up the stairs. Ariane followed him through the door, but stayed in the kitchen. She noticed a scrub working on a pan, all by itself; and a knife chopping up carrots which then added themselves to the simmering stewpot on the stove.
"Hey, we're here!? Come on, isn't anyone going to give a welcome?" There was a sudden clambering of feet down the stairs, coming from all different levels. Mrs. Weasley was the first to greet them, coming from the adjacent living room.
"Charlie, darling. I'm so glad you could make it; it's so wonderful to see you. How are the dragons?" Suddenly remembering his guest, she stood on her tiptoes, trying to peer over his shoulder. "Where is she?" Charlie turned around, and realized that Ariane must still be in the kitchen. He went back into the room, and found Ariane peering at the silverware, which seemed to be preparing to set itself.
"Mum, this is Ariane." Ariane suddenly looked up, startled by the reappearance of Charlie, and the plump woman next to him. Ariane walked over, setting the cake on the table, and went to shake hands with Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley, being ever so happy for her son, took Ariane into a huge hug, which Ariane returned with gratitude. Interrupting the moment, Ginny came flying into the kitchen, eager to see her older brother. Charlie held out his arms, and she dived into them, and he swung her around, just as happy to see his sister as she was to see him.
Quickly following Ginny came the twins, followed by Ron, Harry and Hermione. After some persuasion from Mrs. Weasley, Percy reluctantly came down from his room as well. They all clambered into the tiny kitchen, greeting Charlie, asking how everything's been, what's new, and so forth. Hermione was the exception, as she had been keeping in contact with Charlie up until the last week, and the two had developed a small friendship. Hermione made a bee line towards Ariane, who seemed to get lost in the sudden bustle of the Weasley household.
"Hi," said the bushy haired fifth year. "My name is Hermione; you must be Ariane." Ariane smiled, grateful that she had someone to talk to, and didn't feel nearly as awkward.
"Yes," she replied, taking Hermione's offered hand. "And you are?"
"Hermione Granger. I'm one of Ron's friends," she replied, pointing out Ron, who was trying to keep the twins from shoving what looked suspiciously like a Canary Cream into his mouth. "Charlie wrote to me about you - said he needed to know about Muggles."
"You know about Muggles?" asked Ariane, surprised to hear that not all wizards and witches were as clueless as Charlie.
"I'm Muggle-born," explained Hermione. "Both of my parents are dentists." The two went on chatting for a couple of more minutes, when Fred suddenly realized that a new face was in the kitchen.
"Oi!" he shouted. "Charlie, who's that? You didn't say anything about bringing anyone!" He pushed his way through the crowd of Weasleys and took Ariane's hand in his. "I'm Fred. Obviously, you've already realized that I'm the cute one of the family." George pushed him out of the way.
"I'm George. Fred is delusional, but I can tell that you're smart, and you've already figured out that I'm the cute one." Ariane giggled and looked at Charlie, who was rolling his eyes behind the twins' backs. George looked Ariane up and down. "Why are you in Muggle clothing? Not planning on playing a friendly game of Quidditch with us?"
"Well, you see, um, I'm not a witch," started Ariane, when Charlie pushed his way up to her. Charlie could see that she'd gotten everyone's attention now.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Ariane. Wait, where's Dad and Bill?" Charlie's eyes scanned the crowd.
"They'll be back in a second. They're just de-gnoming the outside dining area," Mrs. Weasley told him.
"Well, all right, then, I'll just have them meet you later," Charlie said to Ariane. "Everyone, this is Ariane," he started again. "She's very dear to me, so no jokes," he said, eyeing the twins. "She's a Muggle, and the best Muggle there is." Charlie put his arm around her shoulders, and hugged her to him. Suddenly, there was a loud thump at the doorway.
"Did I hear someone mention Muggles?" asked Mr. Weasley, stumbling into the kitchen. "By Jove. Charlie, did you bring home a Muggle? Pleased to meet you-"
"Ariane," she supplied. "You must be Charlie's father."
"Yes that I am. You and I will have to talk later on. Sit near me at dinner, will you?" He turned to his son. "Charlie, how are you? Come now, why didn't you tell me about this beautiful young woman?"
"Oh, let's not all stand around here, squished in every direction! Go outside, the lot of you!" Mrs. Weasley shooed everyone out of the kitchen before another word was said. Charlie took Ariane's hand in his and led her outside. He noticed his older brother, Bill, throwing what looked like the last gnome out beyond the fencing. Charlie saw that Bill's hair had gotten increasingly longer, and he still had one of his ears pierced.
"Oi, Bill!" he called. Bill turned and saw Charlie and Ariane walking towards him.
"Charlie, how's it going? Aye, and who's this beautiful young woman?" Bill kissed Ariane's hand and winked at her.
"Bill, this is Ariane," Charlie answered proudly. "Ariane, this is my older brother, Bill."
"Older means more experienced," Bill said slyly to Ariane. Charlie narrowed his eyes at him, and then the three laughed at Bill's implications. "Have a seat, everyone, I imagine Mum's almost done cooking. If we eat fast enough, it'll still be light enough to play a little bit of Quidditch."
After much running around, all twelve people were seated, and food was out in front of them. Ariane found herself seated next to Charlie and Mr. Weasley and across from Hermione, Ron, and Harry. As they ate, there were conversations flying all over, oftentimes intertwining with one another. Hermione and Ron were arguing about some new charm they were learning in school, Harry was involved in a conversation about Seeker tactics with Charlie, Bill was patiently explaining to his mother that he was not going to cut his hair nor remove his earring, the twins had their heads together, whispering about something or another, and Percy was telling anyone who would listen about his newest assignment at the Ministry.
Mr. Weasley, however, had grabbed Ariane's attention and was asking every obscure question possible about Muggles: "How do films work?" "What exactly is a Xerox?" "Tell me about microwaves" and "Do curling irons truly work?" Ariane did her best to answer all of his questions completely, but there were some things that were so strange; she had to admit to not knowing how gel pens were constructed and why computer batteries were so much larger than AA's. Mr. Weasley was having a field day, however, and told Charlie to "Hang onto this one. Brilliant, she is." He winked at his son and turned back to Ariane.
After everyone had ate their fill, and tasted a bit of Ariane's cake, all of the Weasley children dragged out their brooms and started dividing themselves into Quidditch teams. They obviously didn't have enough able bodied people to have two full teams, so they finally decided on Harry and Charlie as Seekers, Fred and George as Beaters, Ginny and Bill as Chasers, and Ron as one of the Keepers. After much begging, they finally got Mr. Weasley to play the other Keeper, but he promised to dodge any Quaffle or Bludger that looked as if it were going to injure him or cause pain.
Ariane and Hermione sat on the sidelines, Ariane watching intently and Hermione engrossed in a book that was small by her usual standards. Ariane clapped delightedly whenever Charlie tried to trick Harry with diversions, and gasped whenever she thought he was going to hit the ground at high speeds. In the end, though, Charlie's team ended up scoring the most, but Harry caught the Snitch, enabling his team to win. Harry, Ginny, Fred, and Mr. Weasley did a little victory dance, and all eight players landed to take a breath and talk.
Noticing Hermione, Charlie asked what she was reading. Ron and Harry groaned, preparing themselves for a longwinded explanation that would probably be longer than the book itself. Hermione glared at them, and then looked back to Charlie.
"It's a book detailing the rise and fall of You-Know-Who. It describes some of his first victims and how their deaths contributed to his power. It goes through the major points in his reign, and his major downfall, and then his final perishing. It was only published a month ago. Now that's he's finally gone, I suppose people are willing to actually read and write about it." Charlie was intrigued. He observed that Hermione was almost done with the book.
"Do you mind if I read it after you?"
"Sure, I'll be done with it by tomorrow. You can just owl it back to me when you're done."
"Thanks," said Charlie. Ariane peered over Hermione's shoulder.
"Why is there a picture of the three of you in there?" she asked.
"Ron, Harry, and Hermione here helped bring about the downfall of You-Know- Who," stated Charlie proudly.
"'You-Know-Who?'" repeated Ariane.
"We do not speak his name," said Bill.
"Well, most of us don't," said Ron pointedly, looking at Harry.
"What's his real name?" asked Ariane.
"Voldemort," said Harry clearly, making all of the Weasleys flinch. "Oh, come on, the guy's dead! He can't come back!"
"What did this guy do that was so horrible?" asked Ariane.
"Oh, don't let's get into that, dear," interjected Mr. Weasley. "No need to ruin a perfectly good day with talk of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
The Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and Ariane all went back inside, setting up sleeping arrangements, and eventually settling down again in front of the fire in the living room. Ariane was fascinated by the knitting needles knitting by themselves and the baby pictures of all of the Weasley children. She sat back and listened with affection as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley recounted stories from Charlie's childhood for her, and laughed with everyone else as Bill and the twins told her some of his more embarrassing blunders. Finally, late into the night, everyone retired to bed: Hermione, Ginny, and Ariane sharing one room; Harry, Ron and the twins in another; and Bill, Percy, and Charlie in the last room. Charlie walked Ariane to her room, and kissed her good night.
"Thank you for sharing your family with me," she whispered. "I've had so much fun here."
"Thank you for being so wonderful," he whispered back. He kissed her once more and went upstairs to his bed.
The next morning, Ariane awoke to find everyone else already downstairs, smells of breakfast filling the air. The day went by quickly, with another Quidditch match and what he and Bill called "Table Wars." The last time they had played the latter game was the night before the Quidditch World Cup. Lunch and dinner went by in the same manner as the night before, and they all spent another night in front of the fire sharing stories of the last two years since the whole family had gotten together. Charlie himself filled everyone in on the reservation's latest recruits: two dragons from South America, a species that many had thought to be extinct.
The next morning was Easter, and they started off the day with an egg hunt. Ariane was charmed when she opened one of the eggs and discovered that fireworks shot out of them. One of her eggs, unfortunately, had a Canary Cream inside of it. After turning into a small yellow bird for the first time, she truly felt part of the family. Every one of the Weasleys had been a victim of the twin's jokes at one point or another, and she was delighted to join the club. After a large brunch, Charlie and Ariane announced that they had to apparate back to London.
It took a good hour to finally say goodbye and leave, as Mrs. Weasley felt Ariane needed to take home food for her kitchen, to save her the trouble of cooking ("Honestly, I don't know how you do it without magic!") and Mr. Weasley had a few last minute questions for her ("Can you tell me again the function of a loofah?") Charlie gave each of his siblings a hug goodbye, and promised to write Ron more often. Hermione handed over her book, and Charlie promised to have it sent back to her good as new, and quickly, too. They finally were able to apparate out, Ariane's knapsack bulging with food (and a couple of surprises from the twins).
Finally back in her flat, Ariane put the stuff down on her kitchen table and walked back out to Charlie. He had put on one of her favorite CDs, a Frank Sinatra.
"Dance with me," he told her. He took her up in his arms, and they danced slowly in her living room in silence. After several minutes, she looked up at him.
"Charlie," she said. He looked down at her. "I love you." He grinned, and kissed her.
"I love you, too." He held her tighter to him, and cherished this moment. It would surely be one to remember.
*Okay, sorry for the fluffiness again, but it needed to be said, and I don't think it's all that possible to say "I love you" without a tad bit of fluffy surroundings (at least for my writings, it's not!!) Anyhow, thanks again for reading, and don't forget to review (it's that little button down there!) To my reviewers: my day goes by SO much better knowing people appreciate my writing; I am indebted to you (I'm trying to make it up to you by writing more!)
Disclaimer: I own Ariane and her mum!!! (At least it's something, right??) Oh yeah, and I don't own the Xerox company. Shame, really. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ariane's house was in complete disarray. Her clothes were strewn over the furniture, and her kitchen was a complete mess. She wanted desperately to impress Charlie's family, but she didn't know what wizards wore, what they ate, what they talked about. She had finally settled on a pair of slacks and a fitted sweater. Then she spent all day in the kitchen making a cake, but Ariane had never been much of a cook. Her kitchen, usually a pale yellow, was now frosted white with flour. She had no clue how to prepare for conversation. Charlie had mentioned that his father loved - what did he call them? Muggles? - And maybe she could just talk about that.
Her palms were sweaty and she was just about to jump under her bed covers and hide when Charlie apparated into her living room. Since he had told her about being a wizard, he had been going back and forth between her house and his much more frequently. He usually spent the night with her and then went back to Romania for work. Most evenings he would charm her kitchen to make them dinner, and Ariane had never eaten so well since moving out from her mother's house.
Charlie was dressed in his robes, which Ariane had never seen before. He had always dressed in Muggle clothing until now.
"Charlie, what are you wearing?!" she gasped.
"Robes," he said, confused, looking down at his attire.
"Robes?" she said with a slight giggle.
"Yeah. It's what we wear. Oh wait. You've never seen these; I've always worn Muggle clothing around you, haven't I, darling? Well, laugh all you want. You'll be seeing plenty of them in the very near future," he replied to her amusement. She walked over and hugged him, keeping her arms around his waist.
"Oh, it's not that they're that funny. It's just that it does nothing for your figure," she said before breaking into giggles again. Charlie sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked.
"Um. Yeah, just let me get the cake."
"Cake?" he repeated, bewildered. "Ariane, you didn't have to make a cake. My mum can charm an oven just as well as the next person."
"Oh, I know. I just wanted to do something nice, that's all," she called from the kitchen.
"As long as it can be split twelve ways. My brothers can get pretty scary if they have to fight for something as good as cake."
"They'll be small pieces, but it'll have to do." She came out with a five layer chocolate cake, which slightly resembled the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Charlie bent his neck to the side to see what it would look like straight up.
"It's a little, um, crooked, don't you think?" he asked. She playfully smacked him, and hooked her free arm through his, after grabbing a small knapsack on the ground.
"It's edible, and that's all that counts. Shall we go, then?" Charlie grinned down at her and whipped out his wand. He quickly apparated the two of them to the front door of the Burrow. Ariane, now no longer having to hold onto him, let go of his arm and held her cake with both hands, struggling to make it look less crooked. Charlie opened the door through the kitchen and yelled up the stairs. Ariane followed him through the door, but stayed in the kitchen. She noticed a scrub working on a pan, all by itself; and a knife chopping up carrots which then added themselves to the simmering stewpot on the stove.
"Hey, we're here!? Come on, isn't anyone going to give a welcome?" There was a sudden clambering of feet down the stairs, coming from all different levels. Mrs. Weasley was the first to greet them, coming from the adjacent living room.
"Charlie, darling. I'm so glad you could make it; it's so wonderful to see you. How are the dragons?" Suddenly remembering his guest, she stood on her tiptoes, trying to peer over his shoulder. "Where is she?" Charlie turned around, and realized that Ariane must still be in the kitchen. He went back into the room, and found Ariane peering at the silverware, which seemed to be preparing to set itself.
"Mum, this is Ariane." Ariane suddenly looked up, startled by the reappearance of Charlie, and the plump woman next to him. Ariane walked over, setting the cake on the table, and went to shake hands with Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley, being ever so happy for her son, took Ariane into a huge hug, which Ariane returned with gratitude. Interrupting the moment, Ginny came flying into the kitchen, eager to see her older brother. Charlie held out his arms, and she dived into them, and he swung her around, just as happy to see his sister as she was to see him.
Quickly following Ginny came the twins, followed by Ron, Harry and Hermione. After some persuasion from Mrs. Weasley, Percy reluctantly came down from his room as well. They all clambered into the tiny kitchen, greeting Charlie, asking how everything's been, what's new, and so forth. Hermione was the exception, as she had been keeping in contact with Charlie up until the last week, and the two had developed a small friendship. Hermione made a bee line towards Ariane, who seemed to get lost in the sudden bustle of the Weasley household.
"Hi," said the bushy haired fifth year. "My name is Hermione; you must be Ariane." Ariane smiled, grateful that she had someone to talk to, and didn't feel nearly as awkward.
"Yes," she replied, taking Hermione's offered hand. "And you are?"
"Hermione Granger. I'm one of Ron's friends," she replied, pointing out Ron, who was trying to keep the twins from shoving what looked suspiciously like a Canary Cream into his mouth. "Charlie wrote to me about you - said he needed to know about Muggles."
"You know about Muggles?" asked Ariane, surprised to hear that not all wizards and witches were as clueless as Charlie.
"I'm Muggle-born," explained Hermione. "Both of my parents are dentists." The two went on chatting for a couple of more minutes, when Fred suddenly realized that a new face was in the kitchen.
"Oi!" he shouted. "Charlie, who's that? You didn't say anything about bringing anyone!" He pushed his way through the crowd of Weasleys and took Ariane's hand in his. "I'm Fred. Obviously, you've already realized that I'm the cute one of the family." George pushed him out of the way.
"I'm George. Fred is delusional, but I can tell that you're smart, and you've already figured out that I'm the cute one." Ariane giggled and looked at Charlie, who was rolling his eyes behind the twins' backs. George looked Ariane up and down. "Why are you in Muggle clothing? Not planning on playing a friendly game of Quidditch with us?"
"Well, you see, um, I'm not a witch," started Ariane, when Charlie pushed his way up to her. Charlie could see that she'd gotten everyone's attention now.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Ariane. Wait, where's Dad and Bill?" Charlie's eyes scanned the crowd.
"They'll be back in a second. They're just de-gnoming the outside dining area," Mrs. Weasley told him.
"Well, all right, then, I'll just have them meet you later," Charlie said to Ariane. "Everyone, this is Ariane," he started again. "She's very dear to me, so no jokes," he said, eyeing the twins. "She's a Muggle, and the best Muggle there is." Charlie put his arm around her shoulders, and hugged her to him. Suddenly, there was a loud thump at the doorway.
"Did I hear someone mention Muggles?" asked Mr. Weasley, stumbling into the kitchen. "By Jove. Charlie, did you bring home a Muggle? Pleased to meet you-"
"Ariane," she supplied. "You must be Charlie's father."
"Yes that I am. You and I will have to talk later on. Sit near me at dinner, will you?" He turned to his son. "Charlie, how are you? Come now, why didn't you tell me about this beautiful young woman?"
"Oh, let's not all stand around here, squished in every direction! Go outside, the lot of you!" Mrs. Weasley shooed everyone out of the kitchen before another word was said. Charlie took Ariane's hand in his and led her outside. He noticed his older brother, Bill, throwing what looked like the last gnome out beyond the fencing. Charlie saw that Bill's hair had gotten increasingly longer, and he still had one of his ears pierced.
"Oi, Bill!" he called. Bill turned and saw Charlie and Ariane walking towards him.
"Charlie, how's it going? Aye, and who's this beautiful young woman?" Bill kissed Ariane's hand and winked at her.
"Bill, this is Ariane," Charlie answered proudly. "Ariane, this is my older brother, Bill."
"Older means more experienced," Bill said slyly to Ariane. Charlie narrowed his eyes at him, and then the three laughed at Bill's implications. "Have a seat, everyone, I imagine Mum's almost done cooking. If we eat fast enough, it'll still be light enough to play a little bit of Quidditch."
After much running around, all twelve people were seated, and food was out in front of them. Ariane found herself seated next to Charlie and Mr. Weasley and across from Hermione, Ron, and Harry. As they ate, there were conversations flying all over, oftentimes intertwining with one another. Hermione and Ron were arguing about some new charm they were learning in school, Harry was involved in a conversation about Seeker tactics with Charlie, Bill was patiently explaining to his mother that he was not going to cut his hair nor remove his earring, the twins had their heads together, whispering about something or another, and Percy was telling anyone who would listen about his newest assignment at the Ministry.
Mr. Weasley, however, had grabbed Ariane's attention and was asking every obscure question possible about Muggles: "How do films work?" "What exactly is a Xerox?" "Tell me about microwaves" and "Do curling irons truly work?" Ariane did her best to answer all of his questions completely, but there were some things that were so strange; she had to admit to not knowing how gel pens were constructed and why computer batteries were so much larger than AA's. Mr. Weasley was having a field day, however, and told Charlie to "Hang onto this one. Brilliant, she is." He winked at his son and turned back to Ariane.
After everyone had ate their fill, and tasted a bit of Ariane's cake, all of the Weasley children dragged out their brooms and started dividing themselves into Quidditch teams. They obviously didn't have enough able bodied people to have two full teams, so they finally decided on Harry and Charlie as Seekers, Fred and George as Beaters, Ginny and Bill as Chasers, and Ron as one of the Keepers. After much begging, they finally got Mr. Weasley to play the other Keeper, but he promised to dodge any Quaffle or Bludger that looked as if it were going to injure him or cause pain.
Ariane and Hermione sat on the sidelines, Ariane watching intently and Hermione engrossed in a book that was small by her usual standards. Ariane clapped delightedly whenever Charlie tried to trick Harry with diversions, and gasped whenever she thought he was going to hit the ground at high speeds. In the end, though, Charlie's team ended up scoring the most, but Harry caught the Snitch, enabling his team to win. Harry, Ginny, Fred, and Mr. Weasley did a little victory dance, and all eight players landed to take a breath and talk.
Noticing Hermione, Charlie asked what she was reading. Ron and Harry groaned, preparing themselves for a longwinded explanation that would probably be longer than the book itself. Hermione glared at them, and then looked back to Charlie.
"It's a book detailing the rise and fall of You-Know-Who. It describes some of his first victims and how their deaths contributed to his power. It goes through the major points in his reign, and his major downfall, and then his final perishing. It was only published a month ago. Now that's he's finally gone, I suppose people are willing to actually read and write about it." Charlie was intrigued. He observed that Hermione was almost done with the book.
"Do you mind if I read it after you?"
"Sure, I'll be done with it by tomorrow. You can just owl it back to me when you're done."
"Thanks," said Charlie. Ariane peered over Hermione's shoulder.
"Why is there a picture of the three of you in there?" she asked.
"Ron, Harry, and Hermione here helped bring about the downfall of You-Know- Who," stated Charlie proudly.
"'You-Know-Who?'" repeated Ariane.
"We do not speak his name," said Bill.
"Well, most of us don't," said Ron pointedly, looking at Harry.
"What's his real name?" asked Ariane.
"Voldemort," said Harry clearly, making all of the Weasleys flinch. "Oh, come on, the guy's dead! He can't come back!"
"What did this guy do that was so horrible?" asked Ariane.
"Oh, don't let's get into that, dear," interjected Mr. Weasley. "No need to ruin a perfectly good day with talk of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
The Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and Ariane all went back inside, setting up sleeping arrangements, and eventually settling down again in front of the fire in the living room. Ariane was fascinated by the knitting needles knitting by themselves and the baby pictures of all of the Weasley children. She sat back and listened with affection as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley recounted stories from Charlie's childhood for her, and laughed with everyone else as Bill and the twins told her some of his more embarrassing blunders. Finally, late into the night, everyone retired to bed: Hermione, Ginny, and Ariane sharing one room; Harry, Ron and the twins in another; and Bill, Percy, and Charlie in the last room. Charlie walked Ariane to her room, and kissed her good night.
"Thank you for sharing your family with me," she whispered. "I've had so much fun here."
"Thank you for being so wonderful," he whispered back. He kissed her once more and went upstairs to his bed.
The next morning, Ariane awoke to find everyone else already downstairs, smells of breakfast filling the air. The day went by quickly, with another Quidditch match and what he and Bill called "Table Wars." The last time they had played the latter game was the night before the Quidditch World Cup. Lunch and dinner went by in the same manner as the night before, and they all spent another night in front of the fire sharing stories of the last two years since the whole family had gotten together. Charlie himself filled everyone in on the reservation's latest recruits: two dragons from South America, a species that many had thought to be extinct.
The next morning was Easter, and they started off the day with an egg hunt. Ariane was charmed when she opened one of the eggs and discovered that fireworks shot out of them. One of her eggs, unfortunately, had a Canary Cream inside of it. After turning into a small yellow bird for the first time, she truly felt part of the family. Every one of the Weasleys had been a victim of the twin's jokes at one point or another, and she was delighted to join the club. After a large brunch, Charlie and Ariane announced that they had to apparate back to London.
It took a good hour to finally say goodbye and leave, as Mrs. Weasley felt Ariane needed to take home food for her kitchen, to save her the trouble of cooking ("Honestly, I don't know how you do it without magic!") and Mr. Weasley had a few last minute questions for her ("Can you tell me again the function of a loofah?") Charlie gave each of his siblings a hug goodbye, and promised to write Ron more often. Hermione handed over her book, and Charlie promised to have it sent back to her good as new, and quickly, too. They finally were able to apparate out, Ariane's knapsack bulging with food (and a couple of surprises from the twins).
Finally back in her flat, Ariane put the stuff down on her kitchen table and walked back out to Charlie. He had put on one of her favorite CDs, a Frank Sinatra.
"Dance with me," he told her. He took her up in his arms, and they danced slowly in her living room in silence. After several minutes, she looked up at him.
"Charlie," she said. He looked down at her. "I love you." He grinned, and kissed her.
"I love you, too." He held her tighter to him, and cherished this moment. It would surely be one to remember.
*Okay, sorry for the fluffiness again, but it needed to be said, and I don't think it's all that possible to say "I love you" without a tad bit of fluffy surroundings (at least for my writings, it's not!!) Anyhow, thanks again for reading, and don't forget to review (it's that little button down there!) To my reviewers: my day goes by SO much better knowing people appreciate my writing; I am indebted to you (I'm trying to make it up to you by writing more!)