Okay, I was at work this morning, and I realized that Ariane would add up
to be around 29 years old. Charlie probably isn't this old (as Ron & Ginny
are still in their fifth and fourth years, and Ginny stated that she wanted
to go to Hogwarts since Bill started). Therefore, I am simply stating that
Charlie likes older women (apparently). So, without further ado, read and
review on!
Disclaimer: I own none of it, and after talking to the Registrar and Business office at school, I'm about to lose even more money to pay for this semester (UGH!) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Monday morning after Easter, Charlie apparated to his own house in Romania, having already told his boss that he would be late (owing to a family reunion). He settled down with Hermione's book and he flipped to the first page and began reading. "You-Know-Who began life in a tragic way. Born to a witch and Muggle father, he lost both of his parents due to death and abandonment, respectively. His full given name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, is known to few, even those who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with him. Riddle was one of the most brilliant students Hogwarts has seen to day."
* * *
Ariane pushed open the door to her mother's house. "Mum! I'm home!" she called out in Japanese. Ariane had retained very little of the language, but she knew her mother appreciated it when she used what bits she did remember. Her mother scuttled into the front room to hug her daughter.
"Come, come," she said, leading Ariane into the living room and sitting her down on the couch.
"Mum, what's all this about?" asked Ariane, switching into English. Her mother had invited her over (for no apparent reason), which was highly unusual. Ariane usually saw her mother every other weekend, and then on birthdays or Japanese New Year. But almost never did her mother ask Ariane to come out of the blue like this.
Ariane's mother hurried in, a large photo album in her grasp. Ariane groaned.
"Mother, please tell me you didn't make me drive out here to give me a lecture on family history." Her mother only glared at her and set the photo album down in her lap. Sighing, Ariane turned to the first page.
* * *
Charlie sped through the first and second chapters, detailing Voldemort's upbringing in a Muggle orphanage and his years at Hogwarts. The third chapter, titled "The Disappearance of Tom Riddle and the Rise of You-Know-Who" intrigued Charlie, who wasn't known for his zeal in reading. He read on with renewed fervor.
"After graduating from Hogwarts, the newly licensed wizard set off, telling nobody his destination. Soon, Hogwarts' prized pupil had disappeared; even the great wizard Albus Dumbledore could not track his whereabouts. Rumor had it that he had left for Eastern Europe, and had probably experienced a painful death by the banshees and vampires that are said to inhabit said area of the world.
"Many years passed, Mr. Riddle believed dead. Five years after his disappearance, however, many more wizards and witches showed up missing as well." Charlie paused and remembered Bertha Jorkins sadly.
* * *
Ariane looked on at the pictures of her parents' wedding obligingly. She had seen them thousands of times before. When she was little, she used to pull out her parents' wedding album and picture her own wedding, with her father there to give her away. She knew now that this would never be possible, and it pained her to see her mother still clinging to the fantasies of her father returning.
Ariane sighed and started to stand up. "Mother, I don't have time to do this. I've already missed half a day's work coming out here. Can't we do this Sunday or something?" But her mother sent her an admonishing glare that told Ariane to sit back down and not leave until instructed to do so.
Ariane sat with a thump and felt her mother shoved the heavy photo album back onto her lap. She turned to the next page, finding the expected family pictures: one at the hospital, newborn Ariane in her father's arms; age one, age two, and age three family portraits. Ariane looked sadly at her father's smiling face. Her mother urged her to turn to the next page, with surprising urgency. Flipping the page over, Ariane was shocked to see the pictures were moving.
* * *
By far, Chapter Three was the longest and most detailed. Charlie took the time to look at each deceased wizard and witch's pictures, those who were thought to be Voldemort's first victims. With seriousness not in his usual character, Charlie read each of their obituaries that had appeared in the Daily Prophet at the time.
Reading on in the text, Charlie discovered that Voldemort's first 'Dark Mark' attacks were on Muggle families: "In order to prove some sort of superiority over Muggles, You-Know-Who began killing Muggle families and leaving what is now known as the 'Dark Mark' over their households. Ministry workers struggled to cover it up, but unfortunately were unable to catch the unknown culprit from the beginning. Much more unorganized than the current Ministry, they made severe mistakes, such as failing to modify the first few Muggle witness' memories." Charlie looked on with interest, which quickly turned to stupefied horror, as he realized the first of these Muggle victims was Ariane's father.
* * *
Ariane struggled to find words. "Mum, how can these - why are they - how do YOU have wizard pictures?!" she finally got out.
"He finally told you then, did he? I could smell him as soon as he walked through the door - wizards. All of them are the same," her mother said bitterly.
"Charlie is a good man, Mother. Now, tell me, please: What's going on?"
Ariane's mother gestured to the pictures, and Ariane looked closer. The first was a picture of her first house's living room. There was a body on the ground, men and women bustling around. She noticed her mother in the corner of the photo, crying hysterically, and gripping a three-year-old Ariane in her arms. There was a wizard speaking to her with unmistakable red hair: Arthur Weasley.
* * *
Charlie read with horror that Voldemort had gone into the Hara household, and apparently used the Crucio curse on Ariane's father first, before finishing him off with the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra. For some unknown reason, he had left Ariane and her mother alive and physically unharmed. Charlie had no doubt that the encounter left both emotionally scarred to the point of repression for Ariane and who knew what for her mother.
Charlie thought that his horror could go no deeper until he read that the Ministry came by, "to clean up," most posing as Muggle police officers; one posing as a doctor. Charlie had a hard time believing what the words were telling him, but it was all there, in black and white, with photos to boot: Arthur Weasley, his own father, had been the one to tell Ariane's mother that her husband died of a mere heart attack.
* * *
"He came in here, with a stick in his hand - a wand. He looked around, and then pointed it at your father. He muttered something, and your father started jerking around in pain. I yelled at him to stop, but every time I got near him, he pushed me away somehow, like with an invisible force. After a while, he stopped and your father told me to love you and take care of you, as if he knew what was coming next. Then there was a flash of green light, and your father died. I thought the man was going to do the same to you and I, but he merely looked at us and told me to remember the moment, and make sure it haunted my dreams. He said you were too young to truly enjoy killing, and he would be back when he would be able to savor your death. And then he disappeared," Ariane's mother finished. There were tears flowing freely down her cheeks.
"But how did you get these pictures, Mother?" Ariane was confused; she didn't know how to react to the story of her father's death.
"More wizards came by, pretending to be policemen, doctors. They took pictures. Dr. Weasley, he said. Died of a heart attack. As if I was that stupid. They were all in it together, I know it. They all hate us, and they use their magic to watch us suffer; their form of amusement, I suppose. They sent me these pictures after a week. An owl dropped them off with a note written in green. It told me to let the pictures keep the memories fresh. I knew it was from the first one, the one that killed your father. But the others put him up to it!" she spat.
Ariane shook her head in disbelief. Mr. Weasley - the kind, jovial man whom she had met only three days ago - he couldn't possibly. Could he? And Charlie - was he really just playing with her? Ariane didn't know what to believe anymore.
* * *
Charlie sat back in his chair, stunned. With this new information on Ariane's father, he couldn't possibly keep it from her. But how would she react? No wonder her mother hated him so. Her first and only interaction with wizards, and she had seen her husband tortured and killed, and then was lied to; by Charlie's own father no less, instead of having her memory modified and sparing her this pain. As Charlie read on, he learned that the crime scene photos taken by the Ministry had been stolen, presumably by Voldemort, and given to Ariane's mother. When the Ministry officials went to retrieve the photos (and most likely to modify their memories as well), they discovered Ariane and her mother gone. They had already moved, and none of the neighbors knew where. The Ministry officials searched for a couple of more days, before having their full attention turned to another attack.
Of all people to fall in love with, she had to be a Muggle, thought Charlie again. Of all Muggles to fall in love with, I found the one whose family was hurt by the worst of our kind, and then lied to about it by my own father. Despite these negative thoughts, Charlie DID love Ariane, and he felt she had to know the truth. It was because of his love for her that his heart was aching with this knowledge. But maybe if he was there for her, she might be able to accept it more easily. It would be hard to digest, yes, but no child should go through life believing a lie. He pulled his boots on, and apparated to her flat in Kilburn.
* * *
Ariane drove home, her head buzzing with thoughts, questions, doubts. She had to talk to Charlie, confront him. But she feared that her mother was right about him; that he was just using his magic to play with her. Her mother had been right about all of her past boyfriends, why wouldn't she be right about this one, too? It was a numb drive home, not feeling like the normal two hours it usually took. She pulled into her driveway, and unlocked her door to see Charlie Weasley standing in her front hallway. He noticed her tears, and went to hug her, not knowing the reason she was crying.
"Stop," she said. "Don't." She brushed past him.
"I need to tell you something," he started.
"Like what? Like the fact that my father was killed by a wizard? That YOUR father lied to us about it? I don't need to hear excuses, Charlie. My father is dead. He's DEAD. And it took me my entire life to finally figure out how, and then I learn that your kind is involved!" Ariane shouted at him, startled that she was yelling at him.
"Ariane, I just found out this information myself today!"
"Yeah, I bet," she spat back.
"Ariane, look -"
"No, YOU look. Actually, no. I don't want to discuss this. You need to leave. Go back to Romania or something. Just go. Leave." With that, Ariane stalked into her bedroom, slamming the door. Charlie could tell that it would do no good to follow after her; in fact, he'd probably end up with a lamp or alarm clock impaled in his head. He apparated out of her flat, deciding she needed a while to cool off. No matter how he looked at it, though, he was heartbroken. He feared never seeing her again, and he was terrified that this new information for both of them would ruin their relationship. Most of all, though, he hated Voldemort. Hated him for what he did to Ariane's family, hated him for what he did to all of his other victims: the Longbottoms, the Potters, and countless others. Hated him because, even though he was finally defeated, he was still coming between people. His past was still haunting lives.
*Well. Finally got the "plot twist" in (I like to think it's a twist, anyways!) So anyhow, thanks again for reading, and review if you'd like.
P.S. Sorry if the layout of the chapter was confusing at first; I just had to find a way to show that Ariane and Charlie were learning this information simultaneously, and each was seeing a different viewpoint with slightly different info as such.
Disclaimer: I own none of it, and after talking to the Registrar and Business office at school, I'm about to lose even more money to pay for this semester (UGH!) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Monday morning after Easter, Charlie apparated to his own house in Romania, having already told his boss that he would be late (owing to a family reunion). He settled down with Hermione's book and he flipped to the first page and began reading. "You-Know-Who began life in a tragic way. Born to a witch and Muggle father, he lost both of his parents due to death and abandonment, respectively. His full given name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, is known to few, even those who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with him. Riddle was one of the most brilliant students Hogwarts has seen to day."
* * *
Ariane pushed open the door to her mother's house. "Mum! I'm home!" she called out in Japanese. Ariane had retained very little of the language, but she knew her mother appreciated it when she used what bits she did remember. Her mother scuttled into the front room to hug her daughter.
"Come, come," she said, leading Ariane into the living room and sitting her down on the couch.
"Mum, what's all this about?" asked Ariane, switching into English. Her mother had invited her over (for no apparent reason), which was highly unusual. Ariane usually saw her mother every other weekend, and then on birthdays or Japanese New Year. But almost never did her mother ask Ariane to come out of the blue like this.
Ariane's mother hurried in, a large photo album in her grasp. Ariane groaned.
"Mother, please tell me you didn't make me drive out here to give me a lecture on family history." Her mother only glared at her and set the photo album down in her lap. Sighing, Ariane turned to the first page.
* * *
Charlie sped through the first and second chapters, detailing Voldemort's upbringing in a Muggle orphanage and his years at Hogwarts. The third chapter, titled "The Disappearance of Tom Riddle and the Rise of You-Know-Who" intrigued Charlie, who wasn't known for his zeal in reading. He read on with renewed fervor.
"After graduating from Hogwarts, the newly licensed wizard set off, telling nobody his destination. Soon, Hogwarts' prized pupil had disappeared; even the great wizard Albus Dumbledore could not track his whereabouts. Rumor had it that he had left for Eastern Europe, and had probably experienced a painful death by the banshees and vampires that are said to inhabit said area of the world.
"Many years passed, Mr. Riddle believed dead. Five years after his disappearance, however, many more wizards and witches showed up missing as well." Charlie paused and remembered Bertha Jorkins sadly.
* * *
Ariane looked on at the pictures of her parents' wedding obligingly. She had seen them thousands of times before. When she was little, she used to pull out her parents' wedding album and picture her own wedding, with her father there to give her away. She knew now that this would never be possible, and it pained her to see her mother still clinging to the fantasies of her father returning.
Ariane sighed and started to stand up. "Mother, I don't have time to do this. I've already missed half a day's work coming out here. Can't we do this Sunday or something?" But her mother sent her an admonishing glare that told Ariane to sit back down and not leave until instructed to do so.
Ariane sat with a thump and felt her mother shoved the heavy photo album back onto her lap. She turned to the next page, finding the expected family pictures: one at the hospital, newborn Ariane in her father's arms; age one, age two, and age three family portraits. Ariane looked sadly at her father's smiling face. Her mother urged her to turn to the next page, with surprising urgency. Flipping the page over, Ariane was shocked to see the pictures were moving.
* * *
By far, Chapter Three was the longest and most detailed. Charlie took the time to look at each deceased wizard and witch's pictures, those who were thought to be Voldemort's first victims. With seriousness not in his usual character, Charlie read each of their obituaries that had appeared in the Daily Prophet at the time.
Reading on in the text, Charlie discovered that Voldemort's first 'Dark Mark' attacks were on Muggle families: "In order to prove some sort of superiority over Muggles, You-Know-Who began killing Muggle families and leaving what is now known as the 'Dark Mark' over their households. Ministry workers struggled to cover it up, but unfortunately were unable to catch the unknown culprit from the beginning. Much more unorganized than the current Ministry, they made severe mistakes, such as failing to modify the first few Muggle witness' memories." Charlie looked on with interest, which quickly turned to stupefied horror, as he realized the first of these Muggle victims was Ariane's father.
* * *
Ariane struggled to find words. "Mum, how can these - why are they - how do YOU have wizard pictures?!" she finally got out.
"He finally told you then, did he? I could smell him as soon as he walked through the door - wizards. All of them are the same," her mother said bitterly.
"Charlie is a good man, Mother. Now, tell me, please: What's going on?"
Ariane's mother gestured to the pictures, and Ariane looked closer. The first was a picture of her first house's living room. There was a body on the ground, men and women bustling around. She noticed her mother in the corner of the photo, crying hysterically, and gripping a three-year-old Ariane in her arms. There was a wizard speaking to her with unmistakable red hair: Arthur Weasley.
* * *
Charlie read with horror that Voldemort had gone into the Hara household, and apparently used the Crucio curse on Ariane's father first, before finishing him off with the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra. For some unknown reason, he had left Ariane and her mother alive and physically unharmed. Charlie had no doubt that the encounter left both emotionally scarred to the point of repression for Ariane and who knew what for her mother.
Charlie thought that his horror could go no deeper until he read that the Ministry came by, "to clean up," most posing as Muggle police officers; one posing as a doctor. Charlie had a hard time believing what the words were telling him, but it was all there, in black and white, with photos to boot: Arthur Weasley, his own father, had been the one to tell Ariane's mother that her husband died of a mere heart attack.
* * *
"He came in here, with a stick in his hand - a wand. He looked around, and then pointed it at your father. He muttered something, and your father started jerking around in pain. I yelled at him to stop, but every time I got near him, he pushed me away somehow, like with an invisible force. After a while, he stopped and your father told me to love you and take care of you, as if he knew what was coming next. Then there was a flash of green light, and your father died. I thought the man was going to do the same to you and I, but he merely looked at us and told me to remember the moment, and make sure it haunted my dreams. He said you were too young to truly enjoy killing, and he would be back when he would be able to savor your death. And then he disappeared," Ariane's mother finished. There were tears flowing freely down her cheeks.
"But how did you get these pictures, Mother?" Ariane was confused; she didn't know how to react to the story of her father's death.
"More wizards came by, pretending to be policemen, doctors. They took pictures. Dr. Weasley, he said. Died of a heart attack. As if I was that stupid. They were all in it together, I know it. They all hate us, and they use their magic to watch us suffer; their form of amusement, I suppose. They sent me these pictures after a week. An owl dropped them off with a note written in green. It told me to let the pictures keep the memories fresh. I knew it was from the first one, the one that killed your father. But the others put him up to it!" she spat.
Ariane shook her head in disbelief. Mr. Weasley - the kind, jovial man whom she had met only three days ago - he couldn't possibly. Could he? And Charlie - was he really just playing with her? Ariane didn't know what to believe anymore.
* * *
Charlie sat back in his chair, stunned. With this new information on Ariane's father, he couldn't possibly keep it from her. But how would she react? No wonder her mother hated him so. Her first and only interaction with wizards, and she had seen her husband tortured and killed, and then was lied to; by Charlie's own father no less, instead of having her memory modified and sparing her this pain. As Charlie read on, he learned that the crime scene photos taken by the Ministry had been stolen, presumably by Voldemort, and given to Ariane's mother. When the Ministry officials went to retrieve the photos (and most likely to modify their memories as well), they discovered Ariane and her mother gone. They had already moved, and none of the neighbors knew where. The Ministry officials searched for a couple of more days, before having their full attention turned to another attack.
Of all people to fall in love with, she had to be a Muggle, thought Charlie again. Of all Muggles to fall in love with, I found the one whose family was hurt by the worst of our kind, and then lied to about it by my own father. Despite these negative thoughts, Charlie DID love Ariane, and he felt she had to know the truth. It was because of his love for her that his heart was aching with this knowledge. But maybe if he was there for her, she might be able to accept it more easily. It would be hard to digest, yes, but no child should go through life believing a lie. He pulled his boots on, and apparated to her flat in Kilburn.
* * *
Ariane drove home, her head buzzing with thoughts, questions, doubts. She had to talk to Charlie, confront him. But she feared that her mother was right about him; that he was just using his magic to play with her. Her mother had been right about all of her past boyfriends, why wouldn't she be right about this one, too? It was a numb drive home, not feeling like the normal two hours it usually took. She pulled into her driveway, and unlocked her door to see Charlie Weasley standing in her front hallway. He noticed her tears, and went to hug her, not knowing the reason she was crying.
"Stop," she said. "Don't." She brushed past him.
"I need to tell you something," he started.
"Like what? Like the fact that my father was killed by a wizard? That YOUR father lied to us about it? I don't need to hear excuses, Charlie. My father is dead. He's DEAD. And it took me my entire life to finally figure out how, and then I learn that your kind is involved!" Ariane shouted at him, startled that she was yelling at him.
"Ariane, I just found out this information myself today!"
"Yeah, I bet," she spat back.
"Ariane, look -"
"No, YOU look. Actually, no. I don't want to discuss this. You need to leave. Go back to Romania or something. Just go. Leave." With that, Ariane stalked into her bedroom, slamming the door. Charlie could tell that it would do no good to follow after her; in fact, he'd probably end up with a lamp or alarm clock impaled in his head. He apparated out of her flat, deciding she needed a while to cool off. No matter how he looked at it, though, he was heartbroken. He feared never seeing her again, and he was terrified that this new information for both of them would ruin their relationship. Most of all, though, he hated Voldemort. Hated him for what he did to Ariane's family, hated him for what he did to all of his other victims: the Longbottoms, the Potters, and countless others. Hated him because, even though he was finally defeated, he was still coming between people. His past was still haunting lives.
*Well. Finally got the "plot twist" in (I like to think it's a twist, anyways!) So anyhow, thanks again for reading, and review if you'd like.
P.S. Sorry if the layout of the chapter was confusing at first; I just had to find a way to show that Ariane and Charlie were learning this information simultaneously, and each was seeing a different viewpoint with slightly different info as such.