Chapter 10- Reconciling

When Charlie awoke, he was unsure of where he was and what had happened. His last coherent memory was that of learning it was Tonks—and not Ginny—who had been taken by Death eaters. He sat up straight and looked around the room. The windows showed that it was night: dark. Charlie saw Hermione and Ron sitting next to one another, apparently asleep, though Ron's hand continued to play with Hermione's hair.

He looked around the room. Across from Charlie and to his left was George, asleep in one of the beds. He was wearing one of the hospital's gowns, and Charlie felt a slight pang of guilt, one more memory coming back. Ginny was in the same bed that she had been in before, asleep, though she was curled up to one side.

Charlie didn't notice the head leaning against the bar of Ginny's bed until she turned over on her back. A bunch of black hair was all that was visible unless Charlie sat forward a bit more.

He looked to his right, hoping to see someone else, but the bed was empty. "Ron," Charlie said as loud as he dared. "Ron," he added a bit louder, his voice feeling as though it had just been wrung through a washboard and left to dry.

Charlie was about to get out of bed when Ron finally opened his eyes and looked over with a bit of a jump. "Charlie," he said.

Hermione started to stir. "Shhh," Charlie said, panicked. "Ron… do they still have Tonks?" he asked in his whisper.

Ron's brows furrowed. "No," he said. "Don't you remember?" Charlie shook his head.

"She's…" Ron paused to swallow, and Charlie felt his heart sink. "Tonks is… she's in critical condition."

"Here? Please tell me she's—"

"She's here," Ron said, obviously relieved that Charlie was more concerned with Tonks's location than her condition. "We haven't been able to check on her yet."

"What time is it?" Charlie asked, still moving to get out of bed.

"Late," Ron said. "Where are you planning on going?"

"To see Tonks," he said.

"They won't let you," Ron said. " Besides, Mum told me not to let you go anywhere if you woke up."

"George mentioned Mum too," Charlie said, more in jest than he had during the scenario in which he referred. He shared a grin with Ron before closing the drapes around his bed.

As he almost had his robes done up when he heard Hermione's voice. "Why are the curt—"

"The nurse thought he was getting too much light," Ron lied. Charlie could picture his face going red. Ron never could lie very well. "Why don't you go back to sleep?" he suggested.

Charlie listened for Hermione, but figured she must have been sleep deprived, believing Ron's story. He pulled back the curtain and stuck his head out to make sure his Hermione theory was right. Seeing her head laying softly against Ron's shoulder, Charlie stepped out and replaced the curtain. No one would know he'd gone. "Thanks," he said to Ron, earning a nod from his youngest brother before exiting the room.

Since this was the night shift the halls were practically empty. Charlie didn't want to end up stuck in the lift with someone who recognized him, so after a glance at the directory next to the stairs, Charlie set off running up two flights of stairs before catching his breath and trying to seem natural among the few people still wandering the halls.

Once on the landing of the 'Close to fatal', Charlie started looking through the small windows, hoping to see Tonks. Most of the people were bound in bandaging and beyond recognition. He wondered if he'd already passed her room when he came to an information desk.

"Can I help you?" a shabby looking witch asked from behind the desk.

"I'm looking for a friend of mine." Charlie realized he couldn't alert her to who he was seeing. "Is there a Grant Forbes here?" he asked.

"I don't believe so," she said.

"Could you tell me what floor I can find him?" Charlie asked.

The witch sighed in frustration, and turned her back to look through the files. Charlie leaned over the higher level, and looked on a paper. N. Tonks: 542.

"There's no one by that name here," she said.

"Are you sure?" Charlie asked.

"Yes," the lady said with a great amount of irritation building up in her voice. "This is a restricted floor. I'm sure someone down in the lobby can help you."

"Yes… yes of course," Charlie said, then turned to walk away. He waited until the woman had her nose back in her Witch Weekly before turning down a hallway. He hurried as the numbers grew: 528, 530, 532, 534…

Charlie didn't knock, but entered the room quietly. There were several beds, but only one occupied. The woman with medium- length black hair didn't move, bandages over her right arm, and a cut across her neck. Charlie walked over, hoping she could just sit up. Maybe she was awake, but didn't feel like answering questions. Maybe she was just tired.

Standing to her left, Charlie reached out his hand, brushing against hers lightly before intertwining his fingers from under Tonks's hand. She didn't move. Her chest was still rising and falling slowly, every now and again with a struggled breath.

Charlie took a chair from the side of the room, pulled it close to Tonks's bed and just watched her, willing her with his mind to wake up, to be better.

He sat for two hours before deciding that he had to get back to his own room and feign his awakening for whoever was there to see it.

With heavy reluctance, Charlie stood, leaned down and kissed Tonks on her forehead, then walked out the door.

Charlie was sure to blend in on his way back downstairs, the way he had on the way up. Everything had gone smoothly, and he had even managed to dodge a Mediwitch making rounds before hearing a commotion from the room he had been placed.

"He went after her?" he heard Ginny say tearfully. "What happened to him?" she asked, worried.

"He's in the bed next to you," Harry told her softly.

Charlie bit his bottom lip. "It's all my fault," Ginny said. "I should have—"

"There was nothing you could do," Hermione told her. "We're just glad you're okay."

"What happened to George?" Ginny asked, panic in her voice still.

"That was my fault," Charlie said, pushing open the door. Hermione and Harry looked shocked. Ginny had an expression between relief and surprise as she looked between where Charlie was standing and where Harry had told her Charlie was. Ron was bright red, looking down.

"Where were you?" Hermione asked. Charlie suppressed a smile at how like his mother Hermione sounded. "You should be in your bed." She then looked over at Ron. "You knew, didn't you."

"He threatened to curse me," Ron said.

"I highly doubt he—"

"I did, Hermione," Charlie said. "I just went to check on Tonks."

"But they told us—"

"I didn't care," Charlie said. "Don't worry, I didn't get into any trouble."

"Is s-she okay?" Ginny asked, her eyes brimming the tears as she pulled her knees into her chest.

Charlie watched as Harry rubbed Ginny's back and leaned his head against hers. "She's going to be okay," Charlie said. He pulled as much conviction into this as he could.

"I-I'm sorry," Ginny said, sobbing into her blankets.

Charlie walked over to her bed. "It's not your fault," he said, sitting at the end of her bed. She looked so young, crying like this. Charlie could almost see the image of the five-year-old Ginny reflected; having scrapped her knee trying to fly on one of their brooms. "It will all be fine," he told her. "I promise."

Ginny nodded her head, forcing back more tears. "Where's Mum and Dad?" she asked.

"Dad had to go to work and straighten some things out," Ron said. "We talked Mum into staying with Percy and Penelope here in London. She'll be here in a few hours."

"She wanted us to tell her if anyone woke up," Hermione told Ron. "Why don't we send an owl?"

"No," Ron said. "Let her get some rest."

"So George is still out?" Charlie asked, feeling guilty.

"He woke up for about half an hour yesterday," Harry said. "But they told him to get rest. When he wouldn't, the nurse gave him a sleeping draught."

Charlie nodded, pulling back the drapes and sitting on his bed. "Mum had a fit when she found out you left," Ron told Charlie.

"Mum and her fits," Charlie said. "What's new?"

"No, really," Hermione said. "Especially when they brought George in."

"I'll deal with Mum," Charlie said.

He was about to tell them how it was George's own fault when one of the assistance came in. "Two of you awake?" he said in surprise. "I'll go get the mediwizards," he said.

True to his word, a wizard by the last name of Hogglegum came to check up on both Ginny and Charlie. Charlie insisted he look at Ginny first, the whole crowd watching and holding their breaths, waiting for some unforeseen problem to occur.

"I see your brother is still asleep," he said. "I think Madam Bradford was a bit overenthusiastic with that draught," he said with a smile. "I'm sure he'll be able to join your little gathering soon, though," he added. "Plenty of food and water, both of you. I'll have someone around with trays for all of you soon," he added on a last note, then left.

Molly arrived the same time as the food forty minutes later. She nearly broke down into tears at seeing two of the three awake and talking. After giving her attentions to Ginny, Molly turned to Charlie. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Fine, Mum," Charlie said, then felt the weight of a handbag against his head.

"Good! I can't believe you! Going without Dumbledore! Jinxing your brother! You could have done serious damage to the rescue, Charlie. Of all my children I would have thought you to have a straight head about you in an emergency!" Molly continued on this rant for ten minutes.

"I didn't do it Mum," George defended at first instinct to waking up.

Molly started in a fresh wave of tears while hugging George. "I could have lost any of you!" she wailed.

"We're okay, Mum," George said while being suffocated in a hug. "Stop making such a fuss."

Molly (of course) didn't stop fussing for the rest of the day. Every time someone came in to check up on everything, she hovered to see what was happening with her children and she forbid Charlie from going to the local owlery, even though the doctor said a bit of fresh air might do him some good. It was only when he protested that he would be fired if he didn't write and tell his boss about why he was going to be late that she sent Ron and Hermione with Charlie's letter.

Charlie hadn't intended on the single errand alone, and was denied sneaking off by this.

Late that afternoon Bill, Arthur, Percy and Fred all joined in the room, which was almost full to capacity. They all started playing games, against Molly's protests, and were about to start another round of Exploding Snaps when one of the attendants came in. "I thought their potions weren't until 7," Molly said, looking at one of the clocks on the wall.

"It's not," the girl said quietly. She wasn't much older than Ginny, and she looked rather timid to be thrown into a room with so many people. "There's someone that wanted see Mr. Weasley," she said.

Molly looked around the room, wondering who was planning to add any more stress onto Ginny, Charlie, and George. "Which one?" she asked.

"The younger one," the girl said with a bit of unsurity.

"There's six of us," Bill said with a laugh. "Who wanted to visit?"

"A patient up on the fifth floor," the girl said.

Everyone stopped talking and Charlie could feel all the eyes in the room on him. "I'll assume that's me," he said.

"Should you be out of—"

"I'm fine, Mum," Charlie said. He didn't care if it wasn't him or not. Tonks had to be awake… she wanted to see him. "I'll be right back."

No one argued with him as he was led by the girl out, though Charlie saw what he thought was a sly grin from Ginny.

Charlie didn't bother telling the girl that he already knew which room Tonks was in. He didn't know if he could get in trouble still, and he wanted to see Tonks.

The girl stopped as they got to the open door. Charlie could see Tonks sitting up on her bed over the girl's shoulder, and smiled, though Tonks was paying attention to what the mediwitch tending to her was saying. The attendant cleared her throat to get the attention of her superior and Tonks.

Charlie looked away just after his eyes met Tonks. He couldn't tell if she was as nervous as he was, but didn't dare look to see. "Ah yes," the witch said. "I'll be back to check on you in about an hour, dear," she said.

The mediwitch took her trainee along with her, leaving Charlie standing in the doorway.

"The chairs are comfortable enough," Tonks said quietly after moments of Charlie standing awkwardly in the door's frame.

"I noticed that the other day," Charlie said, taking a few steps into the room.

"Thank you," Tonks said. Charlie looked at Tonks to see her head bowed as she bit her bottom lip.

"For what?" Charlie asked.

"Risking yourself," Tonks said.

Charlie swallowed a lump in his throat. "How could I not?" he asked, meeting her eyes with his.

"I thought you hated me," she replied.

"No," Charlie said incredulously. "Never."

"You didn't write," Tonks said. "I'm sorry about what happened back at Hog—"

"You already apologized," Charlie said. It was only after several hours of sleep and a few clear nightmares that Charlie remembered exactly what happened at the fortress. "I told you there's no need."

Tonks grinned slightly and gave a breathless laugh. "I thought you said that because I was dying," she said, still giggling at the joke.

"Don't say that," Charlie said, brows furrowed. "Please don't joke about that."

"I'm okay now," Tonks said. "Well… mostly."

"Why?" Charlie asked, taking another two or three steps to her bed. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just afraid of being lonely again," she said, slow and nervous before looking up at Charlie.

Charlie reached out his hand to close the space between them, locking his fingers around hers. "You won't be," he said, sitting down next to Tonks's bed.


A/N: Sorry… I had to end on the sappy note :D Don't worry… I'll be doing an epilogue of some kind, I promise. When, I don't know… I have to decide how to do the epilogue still. Hope you enjoy this one, still. Review with any comments...

Thanks:

lillyskywalker3: I don't know... is she? raises eyebrow lol no she's not... what kind of a romantic would I be if she died? Then again... look at Nicholas Sparks hehehe. Anyway...I'm glad you enjoyed this. I hope you take some time to check out some of my other fics... it'd be great to see a familiar name on some other reviews.

RiOt-gal: lol I try not to make people wait, because I know how that is when you're really into a story... then you end up losing interest after a while. So here's the next chapter :D Hopefully I'll get up the inspiration to write an epilogue sometime soon... if not, I thought this made a nice ending.

Gifted Empress: Wow, thanks! I'm flattered! Here's the last official chapter, but I hope to see more of you around! It's nice to hear things like that, and perhaps I'm greedy, but I like getting them more often than not hehehe. Thanks again for the review, and enjoy!

Secondhandroses: Awwww thanks! I appriciate the review and I hope you like this chapter!

Funny Cide: I've had fun with it! Especially when they were rivals... that was fun to do :D I'm glad you enjoyed this.

Phoenixplume: Thanks for the review. Glad you enjoyed.

Merry: lol you know that Harry Potter was written by a female for the pure fact that Chocolate makes you feel better... and all the reference it has to Lupin's 'time of the month' if you know what I mean. lol I needed to get a portkey in there, and figured it would be a funny way to do so... I still laugh at the idea, so I guess at leastI have a form of entertainment.

Moon of Amethyst: Didn't like her before, eh? Charlie's okay, as you see... just worn from it all... hope you like this chapter!

Josalyn14hpfreak: Thanks!

Unlucky-duck: Hope the AN answered your question. I'm glad you like this, and I always appriciate seeing your sn on a review! Thanks a ton!

Seed-of-Flame: Of course Tonks will be okay! She's Tonk! ;) I'm glad you've gotten into it, and I'm sorry to say that all stories must have their endings... but I'm thinking of writing another Cupid Inc with these two as the ones needing to be fixed.

Spazzy Magee: What kind of love interest would Charlie be if he didn't save her? Hehehe... I'm glad you've been enjoying this and thanks for the review.

Pedagogie: Thanks

Auror Dora: Thanks... I'm glad you like it. So does the 'Dora' in your name refer to 'Dora the explorer'... don't know, just a thought. I work with kids, you know.