Chapter 20
A couple of weeks later, Catherine was at Grimmauld Place with a couple of reports for Arthur and Moody. Just after she had given the write-ups to Arthur, the sound of feet hurrying down the stairs echoed through the house, and Charlie appeared in the kitchen.
"Hey!" He greeted, a big smile on his face, he picked Catherine up in a big bear hug. "Happy Birthday!" He kissed her cheek softly.
"Thank-you." She smiled back, surprised that anyone knew, much less remembered. At his son's comment, Mr. Weasley turned around at the table.
"It's your birthday? Why didn't you say anything?"
"I dunno." She shrugged, "I'm used to everyone knowing."
"Well then come back tonight, or . . . maybe Charlie could think of something better."
"I've got something in mind." He smiled, "Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron at seven? Dressed in muggle wear?"
"Sure." The (now) nineteen-year-old smiled up at him, "But I must be running now." She hugged him, waved to Arthur, and flooed back to Hogwarts.
At five to seven, Catherine left Gryffindor Tower, she had dressed in muggle wear, but had pulled her robes on over top. The outfit she wore consisted of a red skirt, which came down at a diagonal down her legs, going to her mid-calf on one side, and her knee on the other, the shirt she wore was a black, v-neck tank-top. To accent her clothing, she had stappy sandals on, and the end of her hair was lightly curled.
Catherine hurried through the castle to Professor McGonagall's office, where she flooed over to the Leaky Cauldron. Charlie stood at the door, dressed nicely in a dark suit. The young woman walked over to him, her heeled shoes clicking on the floor.
"Hello." She greeted, kissing him softly.
"Good evening." Charlie replied, kissing her again, "You look beautiful tonight."
"Thank-you." Her cheeks flushed slightly.
"Shall we head off?"
"Of course." Charlie took her hand in his and the couple walked down a few streets to an empty park (not a playground . . . just the green stuff). Along the paved path that lead through the grassy area, were small lanterns, illuminating everything.
"Come on." The young man gestured to his girlfriend, she quickly followed him into the park. Charlie enlaced his and around her waist, pulling her close as they walked up to a gazebo. Inside, was a small table, set with two candles, and two settings, a typical romantic dinner. "What do you think?"
"It's wonderful." Cate replied, smiling brightly, she kissed him.
The couple say down inside the gazebo, and ate in perfect silence. After they finished, Charlie magicked away the dishes (making sure there were no muggles were around first, of course).
"This was fantastic." Catherine stood up, sitting by Charlie on his side of the table. "Thank-you." She brushed his lips against his.
"It's not all . . . " The young man smiled.
"What?" He silenced her, placing a finger to her mouth. The young man pulled a medium sized jewelry case out from his coat.
"This is for you." He whispered, opening it to expose a silver necklace with a sapphire embedded in the charm.
"Oh Charlie . . . " Catherine breathed, "This is beautiful."
"I thought you'd like it." He smiled, taking it out and placing it around her neck. Cate sat in silence for a moment, admiring it, then she leaned over, kissing her boyfriend passionately, carefully parting his lips with her tongue. After a few moments, the couple departed.
"This is, by far, the best birthday ever." Cate whispered, hugging him tightly.
The young woman returned to Hogwarts an hour later, as she left McGongall's office, she was careful to put her robes on and tie them before being seen, and having someone wonder anything serious. She got back to the common room with no interruptions, and her mind was still on the time with Charlie, absentmindedly, she began playing with the necklace. As she walked through the portrait hole, Ginny noticed it.
"Wow . . . that's really pretty." The younger girl breathed. "Where'd you get it?"
"It was a birthday present." She replied with a michevious smile. With the response that she got, Ginny realized Cate meant that it was from Charlie. Wanting to know the details of what happened, Ginny followed her up to Cate's dormitory.
"The necklace is frm Charlie, isn't it?" Ginny asked from the doorway, Catherine turned around (she stood at her bed) she had let her robes fall open, exposing her outfit.
"Take a wild guess." She replied, sitting on the bed.
"What all happened?" Ginny skipped over to the nineteen-year-old's bed, dropping down beside her.
"I was at Grimmauld Place this morning, to drop off some reports for you dad, and Charlie asked me to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron that night." The young woman smiled, pausing.
"And then?"
"I met him, and he took her out for a beautiful dinner in a park, then he gave me the necklace."'
"I'm so glad you and Charlie are together." Ginny giggled, hugging Catherine tightly.
"Well thank-you." Cate laughed in reply, hugging the girl back.
"What's going to happen with Malfoy?" The red head pulled away, looking over at her.
"I really don't know." She sighed, "I know that I will NOT marry him, or provide him with an heir, but that won't be happening anyway."
"How do you know?"
"The only way that happens is if Voldemort rises to power, and only he is killed. We have enough strength to defeat anyone on the dark side."
"True." Ginny pouted, "What if the dark side wins the war?"
"They won't." Catherine encouraged, hugging the sixteen-year-old before she left for bed.
