Chapter 9

"Can I get you something to drink?"

"A Butterbeer if you've got any."

Nikki sat on the couch in Bill's living room, twirling his wand between her fingers. It was his first night back in Cairo since the Triwizard Tournament, and he had wanted to see her.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked when he returned, holding two bottles of Butterbeer.

Bill sat down beside her. Nikki leaned against him and put her head on his shoulder as he handed her one of the bottles.

"You-Know-Who is back," he begun, and told her what had happened at the Tournament.

Nikki listened without saying a word. Bill had told her about the most feared wizard of all times, and she wondered what would happen to her and the rest of the Muggles if there would be another war. Would Lord Voldemort and his followers go after them this time too, or would they concentrate on the Wizarding World?

"But what's going to happen now?"

Bill took a swig of Butterbeer. "We can just wait and see. And I've been thinking about going home. I will defenitely move back if I can get a job at Gringotts in London or work full time for the Order."

Even though Nikki understood that he wanted to be closer to home it still came as a surprise to her. She felt her heart sink. What about them? Their relationship? Was he going to break up with her?

"But... what about us?"

"You could get a job in London too."

Nikki, relieved by the fact that Bill wanted her to move back to England with him, concidered this. There was just one problem.

"But where would I live? It's expensive and hard to find a flat in London, and I don't know anyone there well enough to ask if I can move in with them."

"How about staying at the Burrow?"

"You mean with your parents?"

"I'm sure they'd love to have you."

"I'd love to stay with them, but it's too far from London if I would get a job there. And I don't know if I'll find a job somewhere in Ottery St. Catchpole."

"You could see if you find anything. Unless you want to stay here?"

"No. Cairo's great, but I don't want to live here forever. And Mum and Dad will be happy. If I move back to Manchester, that is."

"So they won't like it if you move to London or Ottery St. Catchpole?"

"Well, they know that they can't decide where I should live, but they'd be happy if I move back home."

"And I'd be happy if you move to London or the Burrow," Bill said, putting his arm around her shoulders. "You can come with me if I get a job at Gringotts. Then you can look for a job too."

Nikki bit her bottomlip thoughtfully. "I'll check with Christine and see what she says." She squeezed his hand. Maybe everything would work out after all. As long as she and Bill had each other everything would be fine.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm knackered," Louise proclaimed. It was past ten PM, and she and Charlie were sitting together with some friends at a table outside the dining hall. She yawned and rose. "I'm going to bed."

Charlie rose as well. "I think I'll join you."

They said goodnight to the others and walked towards the barracks. Louise yawned again.

"So I take it that I won't get any tonight," Charlie said, running a hand down her back.

Louise looked up at him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You could try and convince me that I'm not too tired."

Charlie kissed her. "Good start?"

"Defenitely." Louise kissed him back, and buried her hands in his hair.

She was about to kiss him again when an unfamiliar owl landed on the ground beside them and hooted. Charlie let go of Louise, bent down and untied the letter attached to the leg it held out. His expression quickly changed from one of eagerness to one of disbelief as he read it.

"What's wrong?" Louise asked.

Without a word Charlie handed her the parchment. She read,

"Dear Charlie,

I am afraid I have some bad news. I don't know if you have already heard, but Harry won the Triwizard Tournament. I am so proud of him! However, there was an incident during the third task.

Harry and Cedric Diggory, the other Hogwarts champion, reached the cup at the same time. Harry says that they took hold of it together and that it had been turned into a Portkey. Apparently they were taken to a church yard, and there Cedric was killed. He was killed by You-Know-Who. Harry says that he saw him, and that he spoke to him. I really wish I had some better news, but I don't. You-Know-Who is back, and fortunately Harry managed to get to the cup and return to Hogwarts before he was killed.

Cornelius Fudge refuses to believe that He has come back. He says that there is no need to alarm people before we know if it's really true, and that we should not believe Harry; that he has been under a lot of stress lately and does not know what he is saying. Luckily Dumbledore believes him. He will contact your father and me as soon as he has made the first necessary arrangements.

I had hoped that it would be over by now; that we wouldn't have to face another war like the last one. However, if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has come back again I don't know if another war can be avoided.

Don't come home just because of this one letter. Your Dad and I will wait for Dumbledore's orders, and I will contact you as soon as I know what we are to do.

Love, Mum"

Louise reread the letter, but she still had a hard time believing it. No one had seen him in almost fifteen years. He could not be back, not after all this time. But evidently Harry had seen him, so then it must be true.

When she looked at Charlie she noticed a determination in his eyes she had only seen on rare occasions.

"I need to go home. If Harry says that He is back it's true, and I know that Mum would like everybody to be home now, despite of what she says."

Louise folded the letter. "At least wait until tomorrow. The Apparition and Portkey points are closed at this time anyway."

"I have to pack."

Louise in tow he hurried to his room. He rummaged through his closet, got a bag and started throwing robes and other pieces of clothing into it haphazardly. Louise, who had never seen him so distressed before, went over to him.

"Charlie, calm down. Please. Sit down, I'll do that."

He looked as if he was about to protest, but didn't say anything when she pushed him down onto the bed. She repacked his bag, folding the clothes properly before sitting down beside him.

"Is there anything else you want to take with you?"

Charlie shrugged.

"I'll talk to Walter if you want. I can say that you had to go home because your Mum is seriously ill or something, and ask if you can take some time off." Louise caressed his back, hoping that it would soothe him. "Now let's go to bed and try and get some sleep. Okay?"

It was not even seven o'clock when Charlie woke up the next morning. He felt Louise's warm body beside him, and when his eyes had adjusted to the darkness he could see that she was still sleeping. Carefully he got out of bed and dressed quickly before waking her.

"What time is it?" she mumbled, peering up at him through eyelids heavy with sleep.

"Five to seven. I'm going to have breakfast, want to come?"

Louise stretched and yawned before she got out of bed and dressed. They had breakfast together, and after the quick meal it was time for Charlie to leave.

"I'll owl you when I get home."

Louise hugged him. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too. Promise you'll take care, okay?"

"You too."

After a quick kiss Charlie Apparated to the Portkey point in Bucharest. It was packed with people, and to his annoyance he had to wait for over half an hour before there was a Portkey to London.

When he finally came to Diagon Alley he Apparated home, and a moment later he was standing in the kitchen of the Burrow. Nobody was downstairs. The only thing he heard was the poltergeist in the attic, banging on its pipes.

"Shut up," Charlie muttered and put his bag down by the front door. "Anybody home?" he called to no one in perticaular.

He heard his mum's voice from upstairs. "Charlie, is that you?" She hurried downstairs, and hugged him tightly. "Why are you home? Why didn't you tell us you'd come?"

"I didn't have time. I don't want to sit in the Romanian outback not knowing what goes on at home."

That earned him another hug. "I'm glad you're home. Bill will come home too, he has talked about getting a desk job at Gringotts in London."

Charlie hadn't been told about Bill's plans, but he was glad that he had decided to come home too. That meant that the whole family would be gathered for the summer, when Fred, George, Ron and Ginny came back from Hogwarts.

He spent the rest of the day helping his mum around the house. He could tell that she was worried, but she did her best not to let it show. That worried him. What if this affected her more than he knew? And what would happen now when You-Know-Who was back? The last time he had been alive Charlie had been a child, but he still remembered the fear. He had been too young to fully understand what was going on, but what he had understood was that the Dark wizard trying to take over the Wizarding World was really dangerous.

"All right," Kingsley Shacklebolt said. "So we'll use Sirius' house as Headquarters. There will be enough room, and Arthur, Molly and the children will be able to stay there now during the summer."

"When do we move there?"

"As soon as possible. Sirius, is it inhabitable?"

"Well... I wouldn't go as far as to call it inhabitable, but I'm sure we'll be able to do something about it."

"Good, good. Molly, could you have a look at it and see what needs to be done? Can you go to London tomorrow?"

"Of course, if Sirius has the time to show me around the house."

"I have all the time in the world, Molly. Just pick a time."

"How about ten tomorrow morning?"

"Suits me just fine."

"Good," Kingsley said. "So Molly goes to Grimmauld Place tomorrow. Now, Bill, about the Goblins. Have you been able to find something out?"

"No, not yet. It's hard to get something out of them without asking direct questions, and I don't want to do that. Not yet. It might make them suspicious."

"Yes, you're right. Well, keep trying. I'm sure you will get something out of them eventually. Sturgis. How are the Aurors doing?"

With the conversation turned to the Aurors Bill tuned out. He was sitting in the living room of the The Burrow, with Charlie, their parents and various other members of the Order of the Phoenix; an Order originally formed during the last war. Bill had knewn that his parents had been part of a group fighting You-Know-Who, but it was not until now he had realised that it had been such a large organization. They had begun to recruit old and new members, and he hoped that they would have a better chance against He Who Must Not Be Named and his followers than last time.

He had been home for a week now, about as long as Charlie. He would go back to Romania soon, though. Bill, however, had decided to stay in England. A couple of days ago he had even been to Gringotts in Diagon Alley to ask for a job. In the end it had been decided that he would take care of some of the book keeping, and it would also be his job to break curses in and around Gringotts if ever necesarry. His new position would help him to keep an eye on his new co-workers, and he would also try and determine which side they were on.

The fact that he had managed to get a job in London had calmed him down conciderably. He would be cloer to his family, and able to help out whenever needed. The only downside with his new job was that he would not be seeing as much of Nikki as before. She had said that she wanted to move back to England if he did, but finding her a job and a flat in London was a completely different matter.

Once the meeting was over and everybody had left Bill went to bed. He had just climbed into bed when Charlie came into the room. They were sharing their old room, and Bill enjoyed it. It was almost like before, when they were kids.

"Are you awake?" Charlie asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"Lumos!" Charlie lit his wand in order to see what he was doing. He was soon in bed, and Bill could hear him pull the covers over him.

"This is almost like before."

"Remember when we were kids, and used to yell for Mum and Dad to come and say good night just one more time?"

"Yeah, just because we wanted to see how many times we could make them tuck us in."

"Wonder what they'd say if we did that now," Bill mused.

Charlie laughed. "They'd probably think we were nuts."

"But in Mum's eyes we'll always be three years old."

Charlie propped his head up on one hand, looking at Bill. "So, are you saying that you think she would come up here then?"

"You know it, brother mine."

They both chuckled, and Bill realised how much he had missed this. He couldn't count the number of late night conversation he and Charlie had had over the years. "Seriously though," he said, "I know Mum's having kittens about us joining the Order."

Charlie sighed "I know. She took me aside earlier this evening to ask me to think about how this will affect things with Louise."

"So you got the talk too, then. She gave it to me after breakfast, when you went with Dad to look in his shed. It's a bit different for me though. She likes Nikki well enough, and even though she's not saying out loud, she's concerned about how Nikki being a Muggle is going to affect things."

"D'you think it will affect your relationship?"

"I hope not," Bill answered promptly. "She'll move here too, now that I've gotten that job at Gringotts."

"Has she found a job too?"

"No, not yet. She'll start looking for one and somewhere to live when she gets here."

"But can't she stay at Grimmauld Place with you?"

Bill concidered this. "You know, that's actually a good idea. What about Louise then? Have you discussed moving here or staying in Romania?"

"We haven't had time. I left the morning after I got the owl. But I guess we'll stay in Romania, since Dumbledore wants us to."

"You think she'll want to join the Order?"

"I don't know. Hope she doesn't. I don't want her to put herself in danger."

"But she might be in danger even if she doesn't join, you know," Bill pointed out.

"I know! And that's what scares me. I don't want to lose her."

"I know what you mean. I don't want to lose Nikki either."

"At least she can't join the Order. Since she's a Muggle, I mean."

"No, but there's no guarantee that He won't go after Muggles this time too."

"I think they'll be quite safe. I mean, he won't go after every Muggle in every town in England. But you know what? We should try and get some sleep."

"Probably. Nightie night."

"Nightie night."

Louise sat on her bed, staring unseeingly in front of her. Charlie had been away for a week, and she hadn't heard much from him since he left Romania. He had only sent her a couple of owls saying that everything was fine. Louise knew that it was supposed to calm her down, but it had quite the opposite effect. She understood if he wasn't able to tell her a lot in his letters, and the problem was that it made her even more worried.

Ever since she was a child Louise had known about He Who Must Not Be Named. She knew what damage he had caused, and the fact that he was back scared her. That was why she had decided to go to England, since she couldn't stand being in Romania when Charlie was at home, in the middle of everything.

Louise had not told Walter the real reason why she wanted to go, since she had the feeling that it would not be... well, apropriate, to tell him that He Who Must Not Be Named was back. He wouldn't believe her anyway. Instead she had said that Mrs Weasley was very ill, and that she wanted to be there for Charlie and his family. Fortunately Walter had allowed her to take a week off, something for which Louise was profoundly grateful. She rose from the bed, picked up her bag and Apparated out of her room. Half an hour later she was on her way to England. No one knew that she was coming. She had not mentioned her plans, suspecting that Charlie only would have told her to stay in Romania.

As she Apparated outside the Burrow she saw that the lights were on in the living room and the kitchen, so someone must be home. Relieved she knocked on the front door.

It was opened by Mr Weasley.

"Louise, hi! What are you doing here?" He looked surprised by seeing her, and Louise hoped that she had not come at an inconvenient time. "Has something happened?"

"No, Mr Weasley, nothing has happened. I just couldn't stay in Romania. Not with Charlie and the rest of you here in England."

Mr Weasley stepped away from the doorway. "Come on in. Everyone's in the living room."

"Thanks." Louise smiled at him and levitated her bag inside.

"You can leave your things here," Mr Weasley said as he closed the door behind her.

Just then Charlie came into the kitchen. When he saw Louise he came over to her and gave her a brief hug. "Hi hun, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to be here with you and the others," Louise replied, slightly taken aback by the fact that he did not even give her a proper hug.

"You shouldn't be here. Come, we need to talk."

Sensing that something was wrong Louise followed Charlie outside. What did he mean by that she should not be there? She waited for him to say something, but he was quiet until they had reached the far end of the garden. Then he stopped and turned towards her.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in Romania?"

His harsh tone made the old insecurity wash over Louise. What was wrong? What had she done?

"Yes, you did, but..."

Charlie cut her off, "Because I want you to be safe for as long as possible!"

"I know! But I didn't want to stay there, not knowing if you and your family might be in danger without me being able to do something about it!"

"But the chance of you being able to do anything if we really were in danger is close to nothing anyway!"

"But I'd rather be here when it happens, than in Romania receiving an owl about it three days later!" Why was it so hard for him to understand that she wanted to be with him and his family now? It was as if she had done something wrong in coming to England.

"But at least you'll be safe!" Charlie protested. "Go back to Romania. I'll be back in a couple of days anyway."

Now Louise started to lose her patience. "I'm not going back! Not when I've come all the way here!"

"Yes, you are! And you're staying there until..."

"Maybe I'll actually do that!" Now it was Louise's turn to cut Charlie off. She even managed to keep her voice even, despite the fact that he had raised his voice against her. "And let you mind your own business! You're not happy to see me anyway."

Charlie opened his mouth as if to speak, but instead he turned and walked back towards the house. Louise sat down on the grass, confused and disappointed. She wrapped her arms around her knees, suddenly feeling very small. What had she done wrong? She could understand if Charlie was worried, but it was a completely different thing to tell her that he did not want her there. She might as well return to Romania right away, but she could not bring herself to get her bag and go. She just sat there in the dark, feeling confused and disappointed.

When the front door suddenly burst open Bill and the others saw Charlie storm inside. He went straight upstairs, slamming the door to his and Bill's bedroom shut. He could see that the others, too, wondered what was going on. Where was Louise? They waited for her, but when she didn't show up Bill decided to check on her. It was Charlie's job to make up with her if they had been fighting, but he still wanted to make sure that she was all right.

He went out into the garden, and soon he saw Louise sitting under a large bush. She had pulled up her legs in front of her and rested her chin on her knees. When he got closer she looked up, a surprised look on her face as she saw him.

"Hey." Bill sat down beside her. "What happened? When Charlie came back in he just went up to our room."

Louise swallowed and looked out over the garden. "He wants me to go back to Romania."

She told him what had happened, and to Bill it didn't sound like Charlie at all. Why had he told Louise to go back to Romania, now when she had come the whole way to England?

"Why doesn't he understand that I can't stay there when something like this is going on?" Bill had the feeling that the question was directed to herself as much as to him. "He wasn't even happy to see me."

"I'm sure he was," he said firmly, trying to assure her that everything was all right. "I guess he's just worried, he doesn't want anything to happen to you."

"But he said I shouldn't have come."

"Yes, because he's worried. But I'm sure he's happy to see you."

Louise looked up into the dark, starry sky and blinked. "Why didn't he say so then? If you're happy to see someone you tell them, don't you?"

Bill had to agree.

"I might as well go back to Romania right away," she continued gloomily.

He understood that she was disappointed; he would have felt the same way if Nikki had told him to go back to where he came from in a situation like this. But he didn't want her to give up that easily. He was sure that if she talked to Charlie they would be able to sort it out.

"No, I think you should stay. Talk to him, you'll see that I'm right."

Louise gave him a sceptical look and said nothing.

"Please. He's my brother, I know him." Bill rose and held out his hands.

Louise took them, and allowed him to pull her to her feet. They walked around the house and through the front door, and as she hesitated at the foot of the stairs he gave her a nudge and a reassuring smile.

"Go on. I guess he's still in our room."

Louise slowly walked up the stairs, and on his way back to he living room Bill inwardly cursed his brother for not handling things a bit more smoothly. Charlie sometimes had a habit of making things come out in a way he did not intend, and that had gotten him into trouble more than once. And no wonder Louise didn't feel welcome when he behaved like that.

Charlie was sitting on his bed, staring out the window and knowing that he should go out and see if Louise was still there. He hoped she would be, because he really was happy that she had come. But he knew that it was safer in Romania. That was why he had been so upset when she had shown up at the Burrow without telling him that she intended to come.

There was a soft knock on the door, and when he looked up she saw Louise stand in the doorway.

"Hi."

Charlie smiled at her and patted the bed beside him. "Hi. Come here."

Louise walked over to the bed and sat down, looking almost as if she expected another telling off. Charlie wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you," he mumbled. "I'm really glad you're here."

He felt Louise relax against him. "Romania might be safer," she said, "but I don't want to sit there, not knowing what's going on here and if you're alive or dead."

"I won't get rid of you, will I?"

"No."

Charlie turned her face towards him and kissed her. "Good, I'd rather have you here. Shall we get your bag?"

Louise smiled at him, got off the bed and opened the door to the room. She held out her wand. "Accio bag!"

Charlie smirked. "A bit lazy, are we?"

Louise yawned. "Tired."

She took hold of her bag that came soaring through the air, and put it in a corner before Charlie took her downstairs. She was introduced to everyone she had not met before, and told. about the Order of the Phoenix. Charlie knew that she had never heard of it, but she decided right away that she wanted to help him recruit new members among those working at the dragon reserve.

At eleven thirty Mr Weasley declared that it was time for bed. Now that Louise had arrived she needed somewhere to sleep, and Charlie wasn't sure if Bill would appreciate it if Louise shared their room.

"I'll take another room," he offered when Charlie brought it up.

Fifteen minutes later Charlie and Louise lay in bed. He still didn't know why he had been so upset when she had shown up at the Burrow, and he hoped that she was not too upset with him. After all she had only done what she thought was right.