Harry had returned to the flat barely before dusk, and was there when they awoke. They looked remarkably respectable given the cramped accommodations. He guessed that Vampires must not need much in the way of creature comforts.
"So, how was your day?" Charlie asked amiably.
Harry shrugged, "Nothing to report. No Creatures of Night hanging around the Quidditch pitch."
"Given that it was daytime, that doesn't mean much."
"Well, still, nothing really new happened today. Except there was one surprise visitor..."
"Yes?" Charlie was attentive. He looked suddenly very dangerous, and Harry was reminded that he wasn't really human any more. Suddenly, a family dinner seemed to be a bad idea. Would Molly thank him for bringing Charlie into her home?
Harry continued with trepidation, "Your little brother, Ron, stopped by. He's invited me to a dinner tomorrow night at your parents' house. I thought you might want to come..."
Charlie shook his head, and the dangerous look evaporated. He was suddenly just another Weasley. "It's too dangerous. I don't want to get them involved with this."
Tracy cut in, softly. "I think you should go."
Charlie seemed surprised. Harry certainly was. Tracy seemed totally unaware of Charlie's ties to England, his family, and even what it meant to be Magical. Charlie responded first, "Why? It's not worth the risk."
Tracy continued quietly, "You haven't let go of them, Charlie, not yet. I don't know if you ever really will. Even though you almost never talk about them, I can see the way you feel when you see a family.
"I don't have that," she continued, "I haven't been able to talk to my Mom since before I was turned. She never really saw me as an adult, and I didn't think either of us could take having her try to see me this way. But I don't think you'll be complete until you see your parents -- even if it doesn't go well, at least you'll know."
Charlie took her deep into his arms, and held her tight. "Come with me?"
She shook her head. "No, I don't think so."
He tried to protest, but she put her finger over his lips. Harry felt like he was intruding, but it was his own home. He didn't really have anywhere to go.
Tracy whispered to Charlie, but Harry heard every word in the silence that surrounded them all. "If you take me, then they'll either focus on me as part of the problem, or they'll avoid saying anything because they won't want to make a scene in front of me. If you leave me out of it, at first, then if things go well, you have a good reason for a second visit. Besides, there are good reasons for us not to venture out into public together, right?"
Charlie nodded reluctantly. "We'll need to feed, though, so we'll have to go out tonight."
Harry was relieved that he wasn't on the menu, but Tracy looked at him, grinning. "Well, we don't have to go out."
Harry yelped involuntarily, jumping back. Charlie held out his hands. "Don't worry Harry, she wasn't thinking about that. Even if she was, it wouldn't hurt much." Charlie grinned, and continued, "We've survived off of animals before, and we can do it again. Do you think you can find a few rats?"
Tracy made a sour face. "I hate rats. I eat just one, and then I get hungry a half-hour later. Besides, they wriggle. Maybe a nice Saint Bernard?"
Harry felt himself turning green, and Tracy and Charlie were staring at him. Suddenly, they both started laughing hysterically. "You... should... see your face, Harry!" Charlie guffawed.
Tracy tried to compose herself. "Seriously, we can go a day or two without feeding if we need to, but if you can find anything mammalian, even just a mouse, it would be better than nothing. Charlie had better not be starving when he goes to his Mother's."
Harry nodded, still feeling pretty nauseous. "I'll see what I can do. I don't suppose I can just rob a blood bank?"
Charlie shook his head. "No, it pretty much has to come from a live source, or it doesn't do much good to us. You can't transfigure something to a rat either, it has to start out alive."
Harry shrugged. "Well, it looks like I'm on rat hunting duty, then. I'll be back in a few."
It took Harry more than a few hours to return. Most of the pet stores were closed, and the ones that weren't wanted to know information about him. He finally found one that would sell mice as food for pythons, and which didn't seem to have any scruples about giving him several dozen of them. He got all that he could, and then went home. He was exhausted, and he didn't feel the need to watch them feed, anyway. He said his good nights, and confirmed that Charlie would be ready to leave at dusk the next day, after he got back from practice.
Practice the next day went smoothly, but Harry was a little distracted. It wasn't enough for Oliver to notice, but he felt less able to just focus on his routine. The dinner would probably be a little problematic, but he found himself more worried about Hermione than Charlie.
Harry hadn't realized how long it had been since he had seen her, until he really thought about it. It had been almost a year since they'd last had dinner at the Weasley's. His routine, practicing, playing, and spending time at his flat, had pretty much become his life. Unlike most of the other players, who spent their off time partying, he just used the time to get more exercise or more practice. All in all, boring. And, all in all, very lonely.
Harry envied Charlie Weasley. He might be dead, but he wasn't alone. He had someone who cared deeply for him, that was obvious. He also seemed to have a more exciting life than Harry had, or rather an exciting unlife. Except for tonight, that is.
Harry had to wonder where exactly he'd gone wrong. He'd had more than his fair share of excitement in school, and close friends. Why had he let them all slip away? How could he go for a year without dinner with the Weasleys? He chalked it up to the victory of the routine, of not having to think about his schedule. He blamed it on lack of risk-taking, on not wanting to be vulnerable to the people who could hurt his feelings. Whatever the reason, it had been too long. It was time for a change.
Oliver worked Harry hard, and it was already dark when he got back to his flat. Charlie and Tracy were inside; Charlie looked nervous, Tracy reassuring. "There's nothing to worry about," Tracy said, "They'll be so overjoyed to see you, anything else will be forgotten quickly."
Charlie looked unsure, "How can you know? You've never met them." His lack of confidence aside, he looked like the same Charlie Harry had known before. His hair was back in a long ponytail, its red competing with the black of his robes. He wore black riding boots, and black denim jeans poked out from underneath his robes.
Tracy looked at him solemnly, "Anyone that can raise you can't be totally ignorant about love."
Harry pretended to retch, grabbing their attention. Charlie smiled at him, "Sure, make all the jokes you want to now. Someday, you'll find someone, and we'll pay you back in spades."
"I hope so," Harry said, earnestly. He ducked his head. "Let's get going. Molly will be upset if we're late."
Charlie seemed amused. "You should have worried about that before. You're going with the late Charles Weasley, after all."
Harry slugged him. "So, should we use the Floo, or Apparate?"
"I think my license is probably expired," Charlie said, "They generally don't let dead people keep them."
"The Floo, then," Harry confirmed. He lit his fireplace with a wave of his wand, and pitched in some powder, crouching under the mantle. "The Burrow," he said, and disappeared.
He stepped out of the fireplace, and was immediately swept into a hug by Molly Weasley. "Harry, dear, it's been an age! Come sit down, and wipe the dust off. Did Ron say you were bringing someone?"
"Yes, he's right behind me, or he should be." There was a burst of green flame in the fireplace, and Charlie stepped out. He was greeted by silence.
The quiet moments stretched to almost a minute, until Molly finally broke the calm. "Oh my, Charlie, is it really you?"
He stepped into her arms, holding onto her. "Mum, I've missed you so much."
Harry stood to the side. He felt good for having brought the meeting about, but he worried about how they'd react when they heard the news. He knew that Molly could react out of emotions at times, especially fear, before she had thought things through.
Harry also felt like he was intruding on their moment. He knew that they considered him, in many ways, an honorary Weasley. That meant a lot to him, but he still felt like this was a moment for real Weasleys, and he wasn't one of those, whatever they might say.
As the moment grew longer, Harry let his eyes travel across the other Weasleys. Ron was sitting at the table. He looked stunned at Charlie's return, and he was gripping Luna's hand tightly. He glanced at Harry, and his glance held an intense thanks.
Fred and George were trying to crowd in to see Charlie, but their Mum wouldn't let them through. He didn't see Arthur anywhere; probably still at the Ministry, even though it was a Saturday night. Victory over Voldemort hadn't made things much easier for him, especially after he succeeded Cornelius Fudge as the Minister of Magic.
He also didn't see the one person he wanted to see the most -- Hermione wasn't anywhere to be seen. He didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed. Harry's feelings for Hermione were complicated, and lately, he had tried to avoid complication. Still, she had always been one of his best friends, and since Ron had gotten caught up with Luna, she had been the only one who was always there for him.
Harry walked over towards Ron anyway. Ron stood, clasping his hand tightly. "Thanks," was all he could say. Harry hadn't realized just how much Charlie's disappearance had affected the younger Weasley; maybe he hadn't been doing enough listening, either.
"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked back at him. Ron looked over at the fireplace, then back at Harry. He looked concerned, and tension showed on his face.
"You mean she's not with you?"
"Why would she be?" Harry replied, and he was starting to tense as well.
"We were getting worried. You were later than we'd expected you. She seemed really nervous."
Luna interrupted Ron, "Ron teased her. He told her that you were nervous about her being here, and she decided that she should just go and retrieve you."
Harry looked back at Ron, "Could I have passed her in the Floo?"
"She thought you were probably Apparating. You know, you usually walk to Diagon Alley, and she was going to see if she ran into you."
Harry wasn't sure why her absence worried him, but it did. What would probably happen would be that she would see Tracy, and possibly jump to the wrong conclusion... he could live with that, though. He had a feeling, though, that whatever had happened was worse than that. "I'll go back for her," he said, pulling out his wand. He could just Apparate straight home, no need for the fireplace.
Charlie moved faster than he would have thought possible, grabbing his wrist. "Wait," he commanded. "I'll come with you. Let's use the fireplace."
Molly looked flustered at Charlie's quick desertion, but Ron stood up, looking grim. "I'll come with you, too." Charlie held up his hand in denial, but Ron insisted. "I don't know what you're mixed up with, but I'm not letting you face it alone. Especially if there's a chance that Hermione's gotten involved."
The three used the fireplace, quickly appearing back at Harry's flat. The first thing that Harry noticed was the small red puddle at the foot of his door. Looking up from there, he saw that the door was crooked, not fully flush with the frame. He could see a large crack down the edge of the door, tracing towards the upper of the two deadbolt locks.
There was a dent in the sheet rock on his wall, about five feet up. Cracks radiated out from it, and Harry could tell that the dent had been made by someone's head. Strands of long brown hair, caught in the cracks, made that an obvious guess. Harry's heart quickened. He shook his head, trying to deny what had probably happened to Hermione. He hoped it hadn't been Tracy. He would hate to have to kill Charlie's girlfriend.