Chapter 5

"Charlie, Louise, wait!" Walter stopped them as they were leaving the dining hall after breakfast. "I wonder if you two can do me a favour. I've received a letter from a friend who has got a Chinese Fireball he wants us to take care of. Now he needs someone to meet up with him and his men in Germany, and I wonder if you can help me with that. It should only take a couple of days."

"When do we go?" Charlie asked.

The two men turned to Louise, and she knew that she had to say something. A part of her did not want to spend time alone with Charlie, but she did not want to turn Walter down. "I'm in."

"Then it is settled." Walter sounded pleased. "You will leave tomorrow morning. Come to my office at eight o'clock and I'll tell you where you are going to meet Jordan. Well, that's all for now, see you tomorrow."

"I think it'll be interesting," Charlie said when they were on their way from the dining hall.

"And besides, we'll get a couple of days off."

"Yeah."

Louise did not like this, not at all. She had realised something very important over the last couple of days, namely that Charlie was more than just a friend to her. At first she had not paid much attention to her growing feelings, but now she was freaked. She could not allow herself to feel this way. She was just going to get hurt, like always. Her first instinct had been to tell Walter that she could not go to Germany, but at the same time she did want to spend a couple of days alone with Charlie.

Charlie looked forward to spending a couple of days alone with Louise. And maybe there would be time to try to find out why she had been avoiding him. As far as he knew he had not done anything to deserve that kind of treatment, and he wanted to talk to her to make sure that everything was fine.

At eight o'clock sharp Louise and Charlie stood in Walter's office, ready to receive their last instructions. They were to meet Walter's friend and his men at a cabin in the German Mountains, and take the Chinese Fireball with them back to Romania.

Soon they set off. Flying always gave Charlie a sense of freedom and it reminded him of his days as a Quidditch player at Hogwarts. Sometimes he really missed Quidditch, but he liked his job and would not trade it for anything.

As they put more distance between themselves and Romania, Charlie and Louise did not talk very much since it was hard to hear each other through the wind. When the compass on his broom told Charlie that they were near the cabin he started to descend.

"We're almost there," he yelled, looking at Louise to make sure that she followed him. When they had flown through the clouds they saw a grey and green mountain landscape.

"That must be it!" Charlie yelled, pointing at a little red dot that had to be the cabin. They landed and peered inside. It was dark, and no one seemed to be there.

"Didn't Walter say that they would be here when we arrived?" Louise asked.

"Yes. Hey, here's something!" Charlie had found a note tucked under the doormat and read it aloud.

"Dear Charlie and Louise, We will arrive with the Chinese Fireball tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, make yourselves at home. In the cabin you will find food and everything else you need. The door opens with the usual Alohomora-charm. See you tomorrow, I wish you a pleasant stay.

Sincerely Jordan"

"Let's go inside, I'm cold." Louise produced her wand and pointed it at the door. "Alohomora!"

The door opened quietly, and they stepped inside. The cabin was dark, and Charlie took out his wand. "Lumos!"

Beside him Louise did the same, and guided by the lights of their wands they looked around the cabin. It was a small wooden building with only one room. It consisted of two beds, a small square wooden table, a stove, a grandfather clock and some cupboards.

"Not too bad," Louise said, and pointed her wand at a lamp standing on the table. "Lumos!" It began to glow with a soft, whitish light.

"Not at all," Charlie agreed. He liked the cabin, it was cosy. "Let's try and find some food. I'm starving."

Soon they found what they were looking for, and when they had finished their meal they agreed to have a look at the surroundings.

After half an hour they returned to the cabin. The rest of the afternoon they lay sprawled across one of the beds chatting, and Charlie was relieved by the fact that Louise seemed to be her normal self.

When Louise woke up the next morning she saw a sleeping Charlie beside her. Her heart skipped a beat, and she fought an urge to run her fingers through that thick mop of red hair. She wanted to, but it would be embarrassing it if he woke up.

Suddenly she heard something tap against one of the windows, and it turned out to be a barn owl with a piece of parchment tied to its leg. Louise opened the window to let it in, and it landed on the kitchen table. She gave it water and some bread before she removed the parchment.

"Dear Charlie and Louise,

I regret to tell you that my friends and I will not arrive for at least two days. This due to unforeseen events that have to be taken care of before we can deliver the Fireball in your care. I have informed Walter about this, and he says that you are to wait at the cabin for us to arrive. I trust you will be fine, since there is plenty of food and drink. Send Becky back with an answer if everything is fine, and we will see each other in three or four days.

Sincerely Jordan"

As Louise read the letter her heart started to race. Three more days alone with Charlie! Oh dear Merlin! Her first impulse was to get her broom and fly away from there, but she knew that was not an option.

She retrieved a piece of parchment, a quill and ink from one of the bags she and Charlie had brought with them.

"Dear Jordan,

Everything is fine here at the cabin, so you don't have to worry. See you in three days.

Sincerely Louise"

After attaching the piece of parchment to Becky's leg Louise carried her to the window. She watched the owl fly away before she turned her attention towards the sleeping figure on the bed and shook him.

"Wake up! I've got something to tell you!"

Louise tossed the parchment onto the bed as Charlie slowly opened his eyes.

"We just got a letter."

Sleepily Charlie grabbed it and sat up. After rubbing his eyes he read it through.

Louise watched him as he read the letter. His hair was sticking out in all directions, and she fought another sudden urge to run her fingers through it.

"So we're stuck here for another two days," Charlie said when he had finished the letter.

"Looks like it. Not that I'm complaining. It means three extra days off from work."

"You're right. There is enough food, so we don't have to worry about that. I only wish I had a Snitch," Charlie said as he slung his legs over the edge of the bed.

"There are plenty of birds out there for you to chase."

"Yeah, and scare the poor things to death."

"Nah, they'll only think that you're some kind of gigantic bird of pray and fear for their lives."

Charlie rose and walked towards her. "Let me tell you Miss, that if you do not watch your mouth I will turn you into a bird and chase you instead." Louise stuck her tongue out at him. "No you wouldn't."

"Oh yes, I would!" Charlie reached for his wand and pointed it at her. "Or at least tickle you until you beg for mercy!" He lunged forward and grabbed Louise by the waist, and she bent double.

"No! Stop it!" She was very ticklish, and Charlie the prat Weasly knew it only too well.

"I'm not stopping until you beg for mercy, young lady!" Charlie declared and continued to tickle her.

Louise squirmed and kicked, but Charlie did not stop. Instead he forced her down on the floor, sat on her stomach and held her hands above her head, pinned to the floor.

"You give up?" he asked with a sly grin.

"Never!"

Charlie tickled her again, but Louise managed to get him off her. She had learned a few tricks from a friend of hers, in case she would be attacked without having time to get her wand out.

Charlie looked surprised as she turned him over and positioned herself on top of him. "'Ey, where did you learn that?"

"A friend taught me. Very useful." Louse grinned at him. "Peace?"

"Only if you get off me right now."

She rose and helped him to his feet. They established a truce and after breakfast they took to exploring the surroundings by broom yet again.

As Louise sat on her broom watching Charlie soar through the sky she realised it; she loved him. She had been aware of her growing feelings towards him, but now, all of a sudden, she realised that she really loved him. And it scared her. Why did this have to happen now? Right now, when she had to spend three more days alone with him, in a cabin, in a remote part of Germany.

She headed back towards the cabin, but Charlie blocked her way. He sat on is broom in mid air with a huge grin on his face and his eyes glowing with joy. Louise took him in. That smile, those eyes, those lips. She wanted to kiss him right there and then, but stopped herself.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Nowhere, I was just flying around, like yourself," she lied.

"Want to have another little tour of the neighbourhood? There might be things we haven't discovered yet."

"Yeah, let's go."

Two hours later they headed back to the cabin, and since there was not much else to do the rest of the day was, spent on one of the beds. Louise managed to keep the conversation going, and hoped that Charlie could not sense her uneasiness.

She hated herself for the way she felt. They were supposed to be friends, but her feelings told her otherwise.

Suddenly she felt one of Charlie's hands caress her hair, and shocked she closed her eyes. Why was he doing that? However, she quickly decided not to care about why and just enjoy it. Slowly she relaxed, and soon she fell asleep.

When Charlie woke up the cabin was dark. He felt something next to him and it took a few seconds before he realised that it was Louise. He also noticed that he had put his arm around her waist, and he could not remember doing that. And why had he not moved to the other bed before he fell asleep? Should he stay there or try to get out of bed without waking Louise up? What would she say when she woke up if he remained in bed?

Finally Charlie decided to stay where he was. When looking at the grandfather clock he saw that it was only five o'clock AM, and way to early to get up. He tried to go back to sleep, and soon fell into a restless slumber.

A few hours later he woke again. Louise was still asleep, and when Charlie saw that it was almost nine thirty he decided to make breakfast. He managed to get out of bed without waking Louise, and as quietly as he could he cooked breakfast for the two of them.

"Time to get up!" he hollered once it was ready.

Drowsily Louise opened her eyes, and Charlie's stomach jolted. He knew what that meant, but chose to ignore it.

"What time is it?" she mumbled.

"Almost ten o'clock. Breakfast is ready, so you better get up before I eat it all."

The word 'breakfast' made Louise quickly jump out of bed. Charlie had never seen her newly awakened before, and the thought that crossed his mind was that she looked adorable with her hair all messed up and that sleepy expression on her face.

During the day the two of them spent a lot of time outdoors. There was not really anything else to do, and Charlie welcomed the lonely hours on his broom. Then he had a chance to fly like in the old days.

A whole day outdoors was followed by another night indoors. Once again Charlie and Louise lay on their usual bed, and slowly Charlie realised that what he had felt that morning was not something passing. No, he was falling in love. He was falling in love with Louise Malone, and it surprised him.

Charlie smiled to himself at the thought of their friends. He remembered being told that he fancied Louise, and that he had denied it. How wrong he had been. Why else had he made sure to talk to her so much? Why else had he been so persistent about her coming to that party? Why else had he been so satisfied when she had started to open up to him and spend time with him after work?

He looked at her. She was sitting with her back against the wall, and he was lying on his back with his head close to her legs.

"This is really relaxing. At the reserve there is always something to do, and here we are, doing absolutely nothing." He put his head on Louise's leg. "Need a pillow," he said matter-of-factly.

"So that's all I can be used for?" She pretended to be hurt.

"Yup. I thought you already knew that."

That earned him a light smack on the shoulder.

"Watch it, Weasly, or else..."

"I think I recall us having a similar discussion yesterday."

"We did. So now it's my turn to do this," Louise announced before she started to tickle him. It was not long, however, before Charlie managed to pin her to the bed.

"Not fair!" she exclaimed and tried to defend herself. She continued to struggle to get lose until Charlie realised that she actually was trying to get closer to him. The next thing he knew he was kissing her, and Louise responded to the kiss.

A tiny voice at the back of Charlie's head told him to stop, but he ignored it. Louise did not seem to mind the kiss either, and Charlie only came to his senses when Louise withdrew.

"What was that?" he finally managed, bewildered. "What just happened?"

"I don't know," Louise answered. She looked just as confused as Charlie felt.

"I don't know what got into me." Charlie suddenly felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I just... I... I don't regret it, the... kiss, but..." He fought the mixed feelings inside him. One part of him was confused, and the other part wanted to kiss Louise again.

"But I'm just a friend," she said, finishing the sentence for him.

"No! Well, yes, but..."

"You want us to forget it and go on as nothing has happened."

"No! I don't know, it's... But I want you to know that you're still my best friend," Charlie said, and he could have smacked himself. The second he said it he knew that it had not come out the way he wanted.

"And you're mine."

Louise rose from the bed and got her broom that was standing against a wall. "I'm going out." Charlie did not try to stop her. Instead he watched her leave the cabin, and fell back against the pillow.

Damn! Was this really happening? He had kissed Louise, and she had just left the cabin. Where was she going? What did she think about this? And why had he not stopped her? He needed to talk to her, but at the same time he was glad that she was gone. That gave him time to clear his head.

He would talk to her first chance he got. He did not care about that she had said that she just regarded him as a friend. It might be the end of their friendship, but he needed to let her know that he had feelings for her.

Louise had not come back at one thirty. Charlie fell asleep, and woke up when she shut the cabin door.

"Hi... What time is it?" he asked sleepily.

"I don't know." She took of her robe and lay down on the other bed.

"Listen... about what happened..."

"I'm tired, I don't want to talk about it right now."

Charlie said nothing. He just went back to sleep, hoping that they would be able to talk this through in the morning.

The next day Louise and Charlie waited for Jordan and his men to come with the Chinese Fireball. They spoke a little and did not mention the previous night. Louise just felt awkward and did not know what to say about it, and Charlie seemed confused too.

It was eleven thirty when they heard a knock on the door. Louise opened it, and was greeted by a small wizard dressed in a travel cloak.

"You must be Louise," he said.

"That's right. And you must be Jordan."

"Correct. I'm very sorry for the delay. I hope it has not caused any problems."

"No, not at all." If he only knew.

They shook hands, and Louise introduced Jordan to Charlie.

"Well, I guess you want to see the dragon," Jordan said.

"That's why we're here."

Charlie and Louise followed the little man out of the cabin, and outside four more men were standing around a dragon that was put to sleep.

"Well, here he is. I don't think he'll cause you any problem on your journey back to Romania."

"Good. I think we should go as soon as possible," Charlie said, turned to Louise. She nodded. "I'll go pack right away."

She quickly packed their belongings. The dragon was put into a harness that they would carry between their brooms, and as they took of Jordan and the others went into the cabin.

On the way home they did not speak at all, and when they came back to Romania Walter helped them to release the dragon in an enclosure. After that they went their separate ways.

Bill had decided to talk to Nikki again. A week had gone by since their last date, and he hoped that he had given her enough time to think everything through. And now he had two options: He could come by the restaurant or he could go to her house. He chose the second alternative.

At eleven o'clock AM he made his way down the road where she lived, and soon he stood in front of the house. He breathed deeply a couple of times and tried to calm himself down before ringing the doorbell. He heard steps, and the door opened.

A man stood in front of him. "Yes, can I help you?"

"Yes, hello, I'm William Weasly, and I would like to speak to Nikki please. Is she home?"

A blond woman came out of the kitchen. "Who is it dear?"

"I'm William Weasly," Bill answered. "I would like to speak to Nikki, please."

"Oh, now I recognise you." The woman smiled at him. "Nikki, you've got a visitor!"

"Come in, William," the man said. "I'm Mike, Christine's husband, and this is Christine, Nikki's Aunt."

Bill was shaking hands with them as Nikki turned up at the foot of the stairs

"Bill, hey!"

They hugged, and Christine grabbed Mike's hand and led him into the kitchen. Bill was grateful for that, since he wanted to spend some time alone with Nikki.

"I promised I'd come by, didn't I?" Bill asked, looking down at the girl in front of him.

She smiled. "Yes, you did."

"So... have you been thinking about... you know?"

"Yes, and I'd like to know more about it. If you're allowed to tell me, that is."

"I can tell you as much as you'd like to know."

"Fab!"

"I was wondering if you wanted to do something today, before work."

"I'd love to. Aunt Christine!" The blond woman appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Is it okay if I come in later to work today? Bill and I have some things to talk about."

"Yes, take the whole night off if you need to. We don't have that many guests on Tuesdays anyway."

"Great, thanks!" Nikki smiled gratefully at her aunt before turning back to Bill. "Let's go then."

Bill was about to tell Nikki's aunt that it had been nice meeting her and her husband, but she was nowhere to be seen so he just followed Nikki outside.

They had come to the street corner when Nikki spoke again.

"You want to know something? I've been waiting for you to come."

Had she? That was not really what Bill had expected, but he was pleased to hear it.

"I was afraid that you'd despise me or something," he confessed.

Nikki stepped in front of him, stopped and looked him straight in the eyes. "I could never despise you. It does not make any difference to me that you're a wizard." Bill could not resist giving her a hug.

"So we're still friends then?"

"Yes, we are," she said, hugging him back. "Now, how about heading downtown?"

Bill spent the rest of the day together with Nikki, and he did not feel the least bit guilty about neglecting his work. He should be at home doing paper work, but he could save that for later. It was not long before he realised that Nikki had been serious when she said that she wanted to know all about the Wizarding World. She asked tons of questions, and Bill even told her about the Dark Lord and the war that had been affecting both wizards and Muggles.

After dinner he took Nikki home. He noticed that she got a perplexed expression on her face when she saw the tent, and once inside she just looked around with her mouth open in shock. She made her way around the rooms, and finally she stood in front of the picture of his family.

"They're moving," she said in disbelief, reaching out to touch the photograph.

"I told you that they do, didn't I?" Bill asked.

"Yes, but seeing it..."

"I guess it's like when we see some strange Muggle thing," Bill said. "That's Mum and Dad, Molly and Arthur. Then there is Percy, Ron, Charlie, Ginny, Fred, George and me."

"How do you tell them apart?" Nikki asked, referring to the twins.

"By making them wear different coloured shirts, or shirts with an F or a G on them," Bill answered and chuckled. "By the way, can I get you something to drink?"

"Have you got Butterbeer?"

"I think so."

"Then I'd like one."

Bill prepared one Butterbeer each, and they while they drank he told Nikki more about the Wizarding World. He enjoyed telling her about everything magical, and he could tell that she found it was fascinating.

When it was time for Nikki to go home Bill accompanied her. As they stood on the doorstep Nikki kissed his cheek and hugged him.

"Thanks for walking me home."

"Pleasure was all mine. See you."

They hugged once more before Nikki went inside. Bill Disapparated and Apparated at his home. He was happy that things had turned out so well and that they still were friends.

Nobody was home when Nikki came home, and she went into the kitchen. She had not had any dinner, and her stomach growled loudly.

While preparing dinner she thought about Bill. This was only the third time they had met, and she still wondered why she had accepted the first date. You should never date someone you did not know, and it was pure luck that nothing had happened to her. For all she knew Bill could be a crazy murderer, and she promised herself to be more careful from now on.

But, she asked herself, did Bill really strike her as someone who would rape or kill someone?

No, he did not. But, another little voice inside her pointed out, he could still be very dangerous. She had heard about people who seemed mentally healthy who suddenly showed another side of themselves, and who was she to know what group Bill belonged to? There was no way that she could know if Bill was sane or a lunatic.

This was what went through Nikki's head when she sat at the kitchen table eating her food. However, something about Bill made her trust him. She was glad that he wanted to be her friend, and that he had told her about the Wizarding World. But most of all she was glad that they still were friends. She did not want to lose that.

It was exciting to know a wizard, and she would really like to tell someone about it, but she knew very well that she was not allowed to do so. And she understood why it was important to keep the Wizarding World a secret. She would not tell a living soul about it unless Bill told her to, and he hoped that he knew that and trusted her.

When Bill had gone to bed that night he thought about Nikki and Yasmin. He knew that some might call him a player, but he did not think that he did something wrong. It would have been different if he had snogged them both, but he did not. He only snogged Yasmin, and besides he had told Nikki about her on their first date. At first she had wondered why he had taken her out for a drink since he already had a girlfriend, but when Bill had explained that he only wanted to be friends with her she had been okay with it.

And that was all she was. A friend. It was good having a friend with whom he did not work. With Nikki he could talk about other things than curse braking, something that he always discussed when spending time with his co-workers. Besides, Bill liked meeting new people, and in his opinion you could never have too many friends.

After their trip to Germany, Louise avoided Charlie as much as she possibly could. It was not easy since they had to work together, and to make matters worse he tried to talk to her about what had happened between them.

"I don't want to talk about it!" Louise said every time, hoping that he would give up. Seeing him every day, knowing that she could never get what she wanted, hurt. She just wanted to be left alone, she needed time to solve her feelings and figure out what to do about them.

Not that she could do very much about it. Charlie only regarded her as a friend; end of story, there was not much more to it than that. Louise knew that she had to try to forget him, but that was not easy. Every time she looked at Charlie her stomach jolted, and she could hardly take her eyes of him. Damn these feelings, damn Walter for putting her in this situation, damn Charlie for causing her to feel like this, damn her who felt like this!

As much as Louise wanted to talk to someone about her feelings towards Charlie and what had happened in Germany she did not know whom to turn to. She did not want anyone at the reserve to know, and finally she wrote to her friends back home in Ireland.

Charlie looked down at Louise, who was sitting outside an enclosure.

"Can you just listen to me for a minute? Please?" He knew that it was no good, but he would not give up until she had listened to what he wanted to say.

She looked at him defensively. "What do you want?"

He sat down in front of her. "I just want to talk to you about what happened in Germany."

"There isn't anything else to say, is there?"

"Yes, there is."

"Well, I don't think so. You made it clear that I'm just a friend to you, so what else can there be to say?" she asked and got to her feet.

"Louise, wait." Charlie rose and tried to grab her arm, but she ran off. His first impulse was to run after her, but instead he sat down. What did she mean when she claimed that he had said that she was just a friend? He had never said that! It was she who had jumped to conclusions.

Charlie walked back his room. For three days Louise had hardly spoken to him at all, and he did not know what to do. He did not want to talk to his friends at the reserve about it, so his only option was to write to Bill. His older brother must know what to do, and Charlie was in desperate need for some good advice. He wanted things to get back to normal. Why had he kissed her in the first place? Now he had ruined their friendship, since Louise apparently did not want to talk to him again.

An hour later he had finished his letter to his brother. He looked for Snitch, and found him in his cage.

"Come, I've got a job for you."

Snitch landed on the desk, and Charlie gave him an owl treat and secured the letter before he carried his owl to the window and let him out. That was it, now he just had to wait for Bill's reply.