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Whispers
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"The moon glows, the river flows, but I die, without you..."
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It was getting on in the day. At five o'clock the students of Hogwarts would have to be at the gates of the school, and it was fast nearing four when Rodmilla had finished her shopping. She, Oubliette and Rod were on their way to meet up with their families in their private dining room at The Leaky, before saying their goodbyes until Christmas Holiday.
"Gods the booklist for this year was long," Oubliette commented, hefting her bags, "Remind me to never take four years of Arithmancy again?"
"I'll be sure to do that, next time we're third years," Rodmilla laughed, as they moved through the crowd and down the alley.
"Well this bodes well for us," Rod said, hefting the pile of books he'd offered to carry for both his twin sister and his almost-girlfriend, "You'll be telling the two of us all about the horrors of NEWT year and we shall be highly stressed over next year..."
Oubliette and Rod kept talking, while Rodmilla found herself pausing outside of an apothecary. Glancing over her shoulder at her friends, she wondered if she should risk it. But of course, she would, whether she should have or not, "I forgot to refill my lacewing and belladonna," She called behind her.
"You remembered this now?" Oubby sighed, "We were in the other Apothecary this morning!"
"I know," Rodmilla stuck out her tongue, her voice light, "I'll just be a minute, go on ahead and tell mum and dad?" She directed that last bit toward her brother.
Rod just looked at her carefully. He was under the impression that he and his twin had no secrets between them, and had always been able to read each other like books. They had their differences in manner and interests, but they still knew every nuance of the other's face, emotions and eyes. As such, right now Rod could tell his sister was guarding herself, and he didn't know why. And Rodmilla could tell that he could tell. But the boy didn't comment. Not yet.
"All right," He said simply, taking Oubliette's arm and moving along the way they'd been going. Soon the two of them were busy talking again, melting into the crowd, and Rodmilla turned back to the shop, taking a deep breath before going inside.
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"...And four more orders filled," Charlie was saying at the counter, his voice directed back over his shoulder. Justin Finch-Fletchley stepped up behind him, looking over the young man's shoulder at the list on the counter,
"Good show!" He glanced about, "And the crowd's thinned, everyone's hurrying to get their kids dropped off at the school," Justin clapped Charlie on the shoulder, giving him a smile, "I promised Sally and Morgan I'd go with them to see her off, and your father's seeing off Zoë. You got things in hand?"
"I've been closing since I was sixteen, boss," Charlie grinned back, "I think I can handle the tail end of our biggest shopping day of the year,"
"Well good!" Justin said, dropping his voice as the shop door opened again, bells tinkling, "Because one of Theodore Nott's kids is here, and I can't afford a lawsuit," He inclined his head toward the door, before slipping out toward the back to gather his things and meet his wife and daughter. The older man called out some sort of farewell as he left out the back door, but Charlie didn't hear it. His eyes were fixed on the willowy blonde drifting in between the shelves of potion ingredients.
Rodmilla looked up at him over one of the shelves, a shy smile drifting over her lips. Charlie felt something in his gut twist, and they both looked about to see if anyone was watching. There was a group of fourth year-aged girls in one corner contemplating the ingredients to a love potion, and a set of parents hurriedly picking out a starter kit for the first year son, but that was all. Charlie looked back at Rodmilla with a grin, motioning her back behind the counter, looking around quickly with quick breath, before he slipped behind one of the back shelves. Rodmilla waited until she was sure no one was looking, and then followed him.
Once they were out of sight, Rodmilla had her arms around his shoulders, pressing her face against his neck. Charlie swallowed the knot in his throat, wrapping his arms around her slim waist and taking a deep breath, catching the scent of all that long blonde hair, "I missed you," The girl's muffled voice reached his ears, her breath warm on his skin. Charlie shut his eyes, holding her tighter,
"Missed you too, love," He whispered, pulling back and kissing the top of her head. Rodmilla sighed. There weren't many boys taller than her, aside from her twin brother. She took a step back, her hands sliding down to rest on his arms as she looked up shyly.
"You've never called me that before," Rodmilla stated softly, her face rather pink. Assured as the girl was in all other things, when it came to matters of boys, she was highly nervous. Even over one she'd know for almost a year now.
"I have so!" Charlie protested lightly, grinning. Rodmilla shook her head, an abundance of hair falling in front of her eyes,
"Only on paper," She reminded him, still blushing as she grinned. Charlie felt his heart do a few back flips, "You've never said it out loud..."
"Oh, well..." Charlie tilted forward, brushing the tip of his nose against hers, reaching up and brushing her hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear, "Sometimes your voice is so easy to hear when I'm reading your letters, I jumble what's been said and what hasn't been," All right, that just sounded corny, and Charlie felt himself blushing slightly as well. Rodmilla didn't mind at all, though. She just leaned forward, catching his lips with hers and closing her eyes, pulling him closer as he tugged at her waist, savoring their first sweet kiss since June.
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It would be a year that October since they'd officially met. Rodmilla had seen Charlie before of course, while doing her school shopping every year. At first he'd just been the boy who worked behind the Apothecary, moving boxes. Then, he was the boy who restocked the shelves, and Rodmilla had been able to put together that the tall, older man who worked there was his father. And then he was the boy who worked at the counter, giving her a friendly smile as he rang up her orders. He was never one of the boys she would see at school though...which meant his family hadn't the money for tuition.
Still, he'd fascinated her. She'd wondered about him, while Charlie had simply looked for her at the start of every school year and every weekend the students had to go into Diagon Alley. He enjoyed watching the intangible, untouchable girl, daughter of a Parliament Member and former Death Eater. He knew she likely didn't know the latter, because there was nothing purposefully condescending or unkind about her. She was beautiful, but she was something the boy knew he could never have.
But then, on the first London Weekend of the previous year, he'd bumped into her on a run down to Knockturn Alley. The girl had obviously taken a wrong turn and was getting some wrong looks. After leading her out, Charlie had proceeded to give her a slightly stern lecture on watching where she went and remembering that someone like her shouldn't wander places like that. Predictably, Rodmilla had snapped back that she wasn't a naïve child. Charlie had politely informed her that she was naïve in the very best sense. She somehow found this endearing.
Hidden conversations about each other's lives and notes written back and forth in charmed journals became stolen kisses in dark corners and trinkets left in hidden places. They were highly daring in their trysts, as far as the chances of someone catching them went. But as it was, the only person who knew about the two of them, as far as either of them knew, was Charlie's niece Zoë. And she was very good at keeping secrets.
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"You're glowing," Charlie whispered presently, pulling back and pressing kisses to Rodmilla's hair, "Your hair's all darker and gold...you always glow end of summer..."
"You've noticed for that long?" Rodmilla giggled, reaching up to run her fingers through his messy brown mop, "It isn't nearly as cloudy all the time, in the States...lots of sun to inhale..."
"Maybe someday I'll see," Charlie murmured before he kissed her again, pressing her back against the shelf, the waist of her pale blue dress gathering in bunches in his hands. Rodmilla's sigh was muffled by his mouth, his lips, the two teenagers finally giving each other a proper hullo until a bell rang at the counter.
Reluctantly tearing himself away, Charlie straightened his hair and shirt and took a deep breath before hurrying back to the counter, his friendly smile back in place. He rang up the customers as normally as he did at any other time, while in the back Rodmilla brushed her hands through her hair, a goofy smile fixed on her flushed face.
Charlie returned after a few moments, the tinkling of the shop door echoing through the now otherwise empty room behind him. He had a small book tucked under his arm, that he'd drawn out from under the counter, "I was hoping you'd show up today, I have something for you," He admitted softly, standing close to her again. That was one of the many things she liked about him, the way he stood. Everyone in her daily life was so poised, so stiff. Charlie Podmore had a relaxed, easy grace to him. It reminded her of her brother Alex, if were he older and calmer,
"Oh?" She asked, highly intrigued. Charlie nodded, opening up what appeared to be a photo album, pulling out a picture and handing it to her. Rodmilla took the offered picture, and found herself giggling. It was the two of them, standing together much like they were now, seeming unaware of the camera, "Zoë took this!"
"Yeah I made sure I was the one who developed that roll of film for her," Charlie smirked, "I have one but I...thought you'd want a copy," He blushed again. Rodmilla grinned, holding the photograph to her chest,
"But of course," Her eyes fell on the album, which was still open in his hands, "What else is in there?" She asked, thinking maybe there would be pictures of her beloved inside, when he was younger perhaps. Charlie shrugged, looking down at the open album as well,
"I'm not sure," He admitted, "My mum never takes it out, which was why I hid our picture in here," He smirked, "No one ever opens it, seemed a good place..." He began flipping through the pages, seeing pictures of student aged kids he didn't recognize, dated back when his sister was in school.
Rodmilla looked at them all, mostly for the surroundings. These were back at the old Hogwarts Castle, which now lay warded and in ruins. She stopped though, pointing excitedly at one, "Hey, that's my mum!" She grinned, inspecting her mother in her much younger state, wearing her Ravenclaw uniform. And standing right next to her and displaying a height difference that hadn't changed much over the years, "And Aunt Orla!" She giggled, "Your sister must have been taking pictures of everyone in her year-range..."
"Yeah..." Charlie trailed off; suddenly thinking this might not be such a good idea. He knew certain things about his sister's last years of school, and he didn't know if Rodmilla did. Most of his generation didn't know about those years, but against the law, his parents had told him all about them. It was too late to stop though, Rodmilla was enjoying this and Charlie never could say no to her,
"And...are these...was there a play?" Rodmilla asked, reading the caption, "Ah, yup! Romeo & Juliet, 1997. There's Aunt Orla again!" She giggled, looking at another picture of her mum, sewing the hem of a costume someone was wearing and waving to the camera, her mouth full of pins, "Well that figures, mum is always sewing..."
"Maybe we should..." Charlie tried, but it was too late. Rodmilla had flipped a page and there were all of his sister's old Hufflepuff pictures. The girl grinned,
"Isn't that your sister?" Rodmilla asked, and Charlie nodded wordlessly as she looked at the picture of the smiling, red-headed Megan, hugging her blue cat Ringo and making him wave to the camera. The next was a picture of Megan and Zach in their Quidditch uniforms, making growling, determined faces before a match, "And...there's the woman who owns this place, isn't she?" Rodmilla pointed out a picture of Megan and Sally-Ann in their uniforms, and Charlie nodded again.
Rodmilla looked at the next picture, and blinked a few times. This one just...didn't make sense. It looked like all the Hufflepuffs from Megan's year, sitting outside on the Hogwarts grounds under a tree near the lake. There was Megan and Zacharias Smith and Mrs. Finch-Fletchley and her husband, and a few other people that Rodmilla didn't recognize. But there was also her very own mum, leaning her head on the shoulder of Charlie's sister, while she sat in the lap of a boy who was clearly not her father. Her eyes darted to the caption, where everyone was named. 'Luna and Ernie, our favorite master race couple', Megan had written.
Rodmilla pulled back, frowning. Charlie licked his lips, slowly drawing away the photo album and closing it, "Must have been before she met your dad..." He suggested, setting the book aside,
"Maybe..." Rodmilla said doubtfully, tucking this information away to ponder over later. Something didn't fit there...but she knew better than to let the stolen moment be over shadowed. She smiled again, tucking the picture in her hand into the pocket in her skirts, before leaning toward Charlie again, "I have to meet my parents soon..."
"I know," He wrapped his arm around her, pressing his face against her hair. Her parents...the parents of Rodmilla Nott. Theodore Nott and his wife, both of whom Charlie was starting to think he knew more about than she did. And of whom he was obligated to be very, very afraid of...
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Author's Notes: Love! And brushing the tip of the iceberg of secrets, mwaa. Reviews make me happy and motivated, people!