Chapter 5

Bill stepped out of the Apparition point in Bucharest, one week after receiving Charlie's letter where he had complained about girls in general and Louise in particular. Apparently things had changed for the worse after their trip to Germany, and Bill hoped that they would be able to work things out. His brother deserved a nice girlfriend, and Louise seemed like someone who could suit him well. At least from what Charlie had written in his previous letters. He had not said that he fancied her, but over the years Bill had grown accustomed to reading between the lines when it came to Charlie. And since he wrote about this Irish girl in almost every one of his letters Bill had come to the conclusion that he fancied her.

Holding his bag in a firm grip Bill Disapparated, and Apparated in the middle of the dragon reserve. He looked around to see if he could see Charlie, but did not spot him anywhere. Well, he just had to ask someone if he or she knew where his brother was.

"Excuse me please," he said to a passing wizard. "I'm looking for Charlie Weasley, do you know where I can find him?"

"Is he English?" the wizard answered. Bill noticed a thick Spanish accent.

"Yes."

"Then you have to go in that direction," the wizard said, pointing with his wand to the right. "Follow that… what is it called… path for ten minutes, then you will be in the area where he is working."

"Thank you."

"You are welcome."

Bill started walking, keeping an eye on the dragons he passed. He didn't really feel comfortable with them around, and promised himself that he would not go near any of the enclosures. He didn't trust them, and from what Charlie had told him they could be vicious.

Ten minutes later he noticed that people around him spoke English, and he guessed that he must have come to the area where Charlie worked. And sure enough, soon he spotted a mop of red hair.

"Oy, Charlie!"

His brother turned around.

"Hi! Welcome to an exciting weekend with the most beautiful animals in the world," he said, grinning as he walked towards Bill. "How was the trip?"

"Nothing new. Had to wait at the Apparition point in Cairo for over an hour," Bill answered. He didn't really agree with Charlie on the 'most beautiful animals in the world'-part, but all the same it would be fun to visit him for a couple of days.

"Boooring. It's time for dinner soon, are you hungry?"

"Dinner, you say? I'm starving!"

"Good. Let's leave your bag in my room first."

Bill followed his brother into one of the barracks. His room was small, and Bill noticed a sleeping bag in a corner.

"Well, this is me," Charlie said. "Is it okay for you to sleep on the floor?"

"I see that you already know the answer," Bill said, motioning towards the sleeping bag.

Charlie laughed. "Yes, you've got no choice. But seriously, I'll sleep on the floor if you don't want to."

"No, it's okay. I can sleep on the floor. Now, how about that dinner?"

Five minutes later they arrived at the dining hall.

"You have to show me the mysterious Louise," Bill said in a low voice to Charlie as they stood in line waiting to get their food.

"I will."

And sure enough, once they were seated Charlie nudged Bill.

"There she is. The short one with brown hair down to her shoulders, she is sitting right over there with that blond girl. You see her?"

Bill looked in the direction in which his brother was pointing discreetly. "Yep, I see her."

"She had started to open up to me and we got along really well, but then we went to Germany..." Charlie trailed off.

"Well... you know her better than I do, so it's up to you to figure out what to do," Bill said. "But I'd like you to introduce me to her at least."

Charlie promised that he would, and later that night he took his chance he spotted Louise inside an enclosure.

"Louise!"

She hesitated, and even if it was for just one second Bill noticed it. He also noticed that she looked at him and not Charlie when she walked up to them.

Charlie introduced them to each other, and Bill extended his hand.

"Nice meeting you."

Louise shook his hand and smiled at him. "Nice meeting you too. I'm sorry, but I have to get back to work. See you around."

"Bye," Charlie and Bill said in unison.

"You see what I mean? She did not even look at me!" Charlie said as they watched Louise walk back towards the enclosure.

"Yeah, I noticed. Strange."

"I just have to try and talk to her again."

"There's nothing else to do, is there?"

"No, guess not."

Next morning Charlie woke up at eight thirty. Noises from the floor had caused this not too pleasant awakening, and he groaned. Not now! He put the pillow over his head, trying to shut the noise out, but it was no good. The snoring continued, and finally Charlie decided to wake his brother. He snatched the duvet off him and pulled up the roller blind, making as much noise as he possibly could.

"Time to get up!"

Bill slowly opened his eyes. "What time is it?" he mumbled.

"Eight thirty."

"Already?"

"Yes. And we better hurry up. They only serve breakfast for another half hour."

Charlie threw Bill his clothes, and they dressed hurriedly before leaving for the dining hall.

After breakfast Charlie had to work. Bill accompanied him the whole day, and Charlie could see that his brother became popular with the women in his crew. They sneaked glances at him and talked to him whenever they had the opportunity, and Charlie wondered what made his brother so attractive. What did Bill have that he didn't?

Bill also talked to Louise for a while. Charlie decided not to interrupt; maybe Bill would have something interesting to tell him later.

"You better watch it Weasley, or your brother will get her," Evan said.

"Then I'll just be happy for them."

That was not completely true. Charlie knew that he would not like that. He would be jealous.

That night Louise couldn'tsleep. Instead she decided to take a walk. She dressed warmly, and when she stepped outside she was greeted by the chilly night air. It was a starry night, so she did not have to use her wand to see where she put her feet as she walked past the nearest enclosures.

Suddenly she heard someone talking some distance away, and quietly she walked closer until she could distinguish the voices.

"... don't know what's going on!" Charlie.

"Why don't you ask her?" A voice Louise didn't recognize.

"Like that would help! I've tried, and she just keeps saying that she understands if it was a mistake. She won't believe me if I tell her the truth!"

Louise noticed the frustration in Charlie's voice. Who were they talking about? And who was Charlie talking to? She knew that you should not eavesdrop, but could not help herself.

"Well, then I don't know," said the second voice.

"You're my brother, you should no about these things!" Charlie complained.

Oh... so the second voice belonged to Bill.

"I wish I did, but you know Louise better than I do."

Louise? Were they talking about her? Oh dear...

"I know! But why do things have to be so complicated?"

"I really don't know." Bill sounded serious. "Why don't you talk to her, and explain how you feel?"

"Perhaps. I like her, and I don't want things to be this way."

"Like? You're smitten by her, admit that," Bill teased.

"Okay, so maybe I am falling in love with her. But that doesn't change the fact that she doesn't want to talk to me."

Louise had been silent, to be able to hear their conversation. What was this? Was Charlie interested in her? For how long had he been? Confused she walked back to her room. This was too much. She had not expected this, not at all. He just couldn't be interested in her, it was impossible. She had to talk to him; she wanted to sort this out. And she realised that she then had to tell him all about her past in order for him to understand why she had acted the way she had.

The next day Louise spent thinking about what she had heard the night before. She knew that she had to talk to Charlie as soon as possible, but the question was when. She did not want to do it as long as Bill was there, so she would have to do it when he had gone back to Egypt.

She avoided Charlie and Bill as much as possible. It was hard, but she didn't know what else to do. The nightly conversation between the two brothers was still fresh in her mind, and she was more confused than ever. She had been through difficulties a hundred times before, and she would like this one thing to be uncomplicated. But apparently it was not, and Louise guessed that she just had to deal with it.

At lunch Charlie and Bill accompanied her, and she actually managed to act as if everything was fine. She guessed that it was thanks to Bill, and the fact that she didn't have to be alone with Charlie.

"So have you enjoyed your stay?" she asked Bill when Charlie had gone to talk to another team member.

"A lot," Bill said, his face brightening. "It's always nice to see someone in the family."

"Do you see each other a lot?"

"No, not really. We work and our younger siblings go to school, so there's not much time really. But we normally have a get together at home every summer, and mostly at Christmas too."

Home... Charlie had told her about the Burrow, where his parents lived and where he and his siblings had grown up, and Louise was envious. She wanted a family like that, with a loving, doting mother and a kind father.

"So this is the first time you're visiting Romania?"

"Yes. Not that I'm especially fond of dragons, but it has been interesting."

"For how much longer are you staying?" Louise hoped that he would not leave for another week or so. She did not want to talk to Charlie just yet.

"I'm Disapparating right after dinner."

Damn!

"Okay. Well, it's been nice meeting you."

"It's been nice meeting you too."

Charlie came back, and their conversation ended. Bill and Louise shook hands and said goodbye before Louise went down to an enclosure where a wounded dragon was kept. She had to change its bandages. It was already put to sleep, and she quickly washed the wound and put on new bandages.

While Louise was busy she pondered over when she should talk to Charlie. A little nagging voice inside her said that she should do it right away, while a part of her wanted to stave it off for as long as possible.

Charlie stood outside the enclosure. He had to talk to her again, even though he knew what the reaction was going to be.

Louise turned around.

"For how long have you been standing there checking me out, Weasley?"

Charlie smiled innocently. "For a while. How's he doing?"

"He'll be fine. The wound looks a lot better."

"Good. Look... I need to talk to you, so please, just hear me out. Okay?"

"Okay. But, can I tell you something first?"

"Go ahead."

"I know that I've behaved strangely lately. And I just want you to know that it's not your fault that I've been avoiding you."

"Whose fault is it then?" Charlie asked, trying not to sound accusative.

Then Louise finally told Charlie the whole story of her life. The Dark Lord had killed her parents when she was a child, and since then she had been taken care of by a relative. Elfrida had taken care of her like she was her own daughter, and even though Louise loved Elfrida she really missed her parents. She wanted a family, like the other kids at school.

When she got older, boys entered her life, and she saw them as a chance to finally find someone who loved her. Somewhere she really belonged. However, things never turned out as she hoped that they would. If she was lucky the guy was decent enough to tell her why he left, and if she was really lucky he said that he liked her, but unfortunately not in the right way.

The result of all this was that Louise found it difficult to trust people, and she did not want to get romantically involved with any guy.

She reeled all that off at a speed that almost made Charlie ask her to speak slower, but he let her continue. He was shocked. He had no idea that she had been through so much, and he suddenly understood why she had ----.

"I'm so sorry... I had no idea… Why haven't you told me this before?" he asked when she fell silent again.

"I guess I was afraid you'd walk out on me like everyone else."

"Look... I care about you, and I hope you know that. And when you care about someone you don't walk out on them just like that."

Louise closed her eyes and swallowed before looking at him again. "I guess you're right."

"But now that you've told me your secret I want to tell you mine."

Louise nodded.

"At least hear me out, and then the rest will be up to you. The thing is... I'm falling in love with you."

Louise stared at him without saying anything.

"I'm sorry that it came so suddenly," Charlie said quickly.

Louise finally seemed to come back to reality. "It's okay. I didn't expect it, that's all. And I actually have something else to tell you."

"What might that be?"

She hesitated for a few seconds, looking down at her hands, before looking up again. "I'm falling in love with you too."

Charlie did not know what to say. Was this for real? He hugged her, and could not hold back a smile. It had come as a surprise, but it was what he had hoped for.

"So... what do we do now?" Louise asked eventually.

That was a very good question, Charlie thought. Unfortunately he had no answer to it. Instead he bent down and kissed her for the first time.

"I'd like to take you on one real date, to begin with," he said between kisses.

Louise wrapped her arms around his waist. "And I'd love to go on a date with you."

"Is there anything in particular you want to do?"

"Whoa, we have just decided to go on a date, I haven't had time to decide what I want to do. Why don't we first of all decide when we're actually going to go on this date?"

"How about tonight?" Charlie suggested.

"That'll be great. But I'd like to take a shower and change first."

"I'm going to do that too actually. But how about I come and pick you up in half an hour?"

"Better make it one and a half, I need time to put on my makeup and do my hair. No, half an hour is fine. See you then."

When Charlie left he had a big smile on his face. Things had turned out better than he had dared to hope.

Louise hurried to her room, collected a towel and went to take a shower. As the hot water washed over her she could not help but think about the talk Charlie and she had had. She knew that she was falling in love with him, but she also knew that she found it hard to trust guys. And even if he was just her friend Charlie Weasley she had become aware of the sudden seriousness of the situation. They were going on a date, a real date for Merlin's sake! Dates meant boyfriends, and boyfriends meant trouble and disappointment. Louise tried to calm herself down as she went to get dressed. It was going to be okay. After all, it was only Charlie.

Only Charlie... Maybe that was the way she would have thought about him before their trip to Germany, but now he was not 'only Charlie'. He had become someone else, and Louise was getting scared. She had done this before, and it had never worked out. She did not want Charlie to become just another heartbreak since he meant so much to her, but she told herself that going on one date could not be that bad. Then they could take things from there.

As Louise went outside she saw Charlie coming towards her, broom slung over his shoulder. She took a deep breath and walked towards him.

"Hi," he greeted her and gave her a big hug. She told herself to not panic, it was not the first time he had hugged her. "Are you ready for some flying?"

"Where exactly are you taking me anyway?"

"I don't know," Charlie replied and mounted his broom. "I thought we'd just see where we end up."

He grinned like a child on Christmas day, and Louise could not help but smile herself. She knew that he loved flying, and she had seen that he was really good at it. Apparently he had been Seeker for his house team when he went to Hogwarts, and rumours said that he was one of the best Seekers the school had ever had.

Louise mounted her Cleansweap and kicked of from the ground. Charlie was close behind, and he soon shot past her up into the dark blue evening sky.

She followed him when he slowly made his way over the steep mountains that surrounded the dragon reserve. They spent an hour in the air, and Louise was glad that she had put on mittens and a warm shirt under her robes.

Once back on the ground they stood beside each other, holding hands.

"Charlie..."

"Yes?"

"I just don't want us to rush things."

Charlie pulled her in for a hug. "That's all right. By the way... would you like to spend the night at my place? Just say no if you think it's too soon."

"I'd love to spend the night with you, but not at your place. You can't see the floor under all your robes and stuff. But you're welcome to sleep at my place if you want to."

Charlie agreed, and on their way to he room Louise thought about the others in their team. They would be satisfied, now that they were right about her and Charlie.

Bill was back in Cairo after his trip to Romania, and now he stood in the kitchen of his tent, preparing a couple of drinks for him and Yasmin. They had a relaxing night in, and to be honest Bill hoped that she would spend the whole night. He wondered if he could persuade her to do so, and tried to come up with various excuses to make her stay.

He suddenly felt a pair of arms around his waist and a warm body pressed up against his back.

"Hey..." Yasmin said. She kissed his neck, making him shiver.

"Hey. Didn't I tell you to wait in the living room?"

"Yes, but I just had to hug you."

Bill turned around to face her. "Just hug?"

"Yes. Do you have anything else in mind?" Yasmin asked, trying to look as innocent as possible. She failed, however, and Bill smiled slyly.

"What if I have?"

"Then I very much would like to know what that is."

"Are you sure?

"Positive."

He let his lips brush against hers.

"Mm, me like," Yasmin said, licking her lips.

Bill kissed her again, harder, before lifting her up on the kitchen table, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Still kissing they begun to undress each other, and Bill murmured against her lips; "How about we move into the bedroom?"