Other Half of My Soul

Rated M

I hope you all enjoyed the previous chapter. I hope you continue to vote on my next story. Right now, Harry/Seamus is winning out with 3 votes, Draco/Hermione have two votes, Harry/Daphne and Harry/Hermione each have one vote. If there are any other pairings not listed, please send me those votes as well.

This chapter is going to be a little bit different then the other ones. I got a request to show how Charlie and Harry's relationship had gotten to the point it was at in chapter 3. So this one is going to be a backstory chapter and most likely shorter than normal. There needs to be a slight adjustment to this story, Charlie is 23 not 22 when this story starts.

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Chapter 13

Harry Potter known to some as the boy-who-lived grew up knowing nothing of love, friendship, and family until his life got uprooted by a half giant on his 13th birthday. Once he was old enough to talk his uncle gave him some very important rules that he had to make sure that he followed to a tee or there would be consequences. These rules were one, he was never allowed to ask about his parents as they were no good freaks and drunks, two he was never allowed to ask questions of any nature, he just needed to make sure that he did whatever he was told to do, three he was never to been seen by the neighbors when he was sent outside to do the gardening, and four he was to be grateful for everything he was given and never ask for anything. If he broke any of these cardinal rules he wasn't going to enjoy what happened next. So due to his fear Harry made sure he never broke any of these four rules. More rules of course were added as he got older but those four never left. His uncle was the disciplinary figure in the family, and he would also allow Dudley to treat Harry horribly as well. Only his aunt was mildly decent to him and that was only if his uncle and Dudley weren't in the house.

He was forced to do chores that many adults didn't even know how to do like cooking and gardening and when he was told to clean everything had to be spotless. When he cooked, he wasn't allowed to eat any of it and was only given scrapes if he behaved the way his uncle wanted him to. He was never told what his name was until he needed to go to primary school when he turns 7. If it wasn't for the fact that he taught himself to read when his aunt snuck him books, he would have been extremely behind all the other kids at school. Harry also taught himself how to write after seeing this aunt painfully trying to teach Dudley through his 'bedroom door'. He wasn't allowed out of his room when it was time for Dudley to learn important things so he could be successful, his uncle just said that freaks didn't need to know anything. If it wasn't for his aunt, he wouldn't have been sent to primary school either. Her reasoning to his uncle was that if wasn't there they would get in trouble with the law and his uncle needs everyone to believe their family is completely normal, so he begrudgingly agreed.

As you can probably tell poor Harry was both verbally and emotionally abused by his 'family' and occasionally he would be hit as well if his uncle was really mad, although he didn't know how they were treating him was any different than how other families acted until he got to Hogwarts. Even after learning that what he was going through was in fact not normal he already had it ingrained in his mind that no one cares what he is going through and that he just needs to deal with it alone. The friends he was able to make at his new school made him really happy, but he knew they wouldn't want to still be friends with him if they knew how messed up he really was so he continued to keep what he goes through at home to himself. He knew that they would probably pity him and encourage him to talk to the teachers, but adults couldn't be trusted so he pretended that he was fine even when he was internally screaming for help. He thought that no one would be able to break down his walls until he met him.

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Charlie Weasley has had a pretty good life since he was a little kid. While his family didn't have a ton of money, they had plenty of love and support to give. He is the second oldest of seven kids, the oldest being William or 'Bill', Charlie, Percy, Fred and George, Ron, and lastly Ginny. There is 9 years separating the oldest and the youngest, Bill is 25, Charlie is 23, Percy is 20, Fred and George are 19, Ron is 17, and Ginny is 16. Growing up his parents always encouraged their kids to go after what they had a passion for and never stand by if they knew someone was hurting. They each took these lessons to heart which has led them to vastly different career choices and/ or interests. Bill was always fascinated with curses and decided to go into curse breaking, Charlie fell in love with dragons and knew he had to a dragon tamer, Percy was always interested in politics so once he graduated he got an internship with the ministry, Fred and George are the pranksters of the family and they want to have their own joke shop once they graduate, Ron is undecided but knows once he does decide that his family will support him, and finally Ginny wants to be a professional quidditch player.

Charlie always thought that he was content with his life and that nothing would change that. He also always knew that he was gay and didn't think he was ever going to settle down and have kids of his own due to his own personal life choices. Molly was a bit upset at first when he told his parents this, but she loves her son too much to push him away, so she learned to live with it. Bill was the first person he told and of course he supported him 100%, they have always had a close bond. So due to all this Charlie thought his life was perfect until Ron brought home his friend to meet the family. Charlie was floored the minute he met him, and he could immediately see the sadness wafting off him in waves. Ron introduced him as Harry Potter and Charlie knew he had to do something because this boy was too precious to the world to stand by and not do something to help him. This all started in the middle of summer break after Ron's first year ended.

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Molly was working in the kitchen and was extremely happy because she had her two oldest children here visiting for a few weeks and her youngest son was bringing over his friend to stay for the rest of summer.

Ron walks into the room with Harry traveling behind him. "I'm home." His family comes into the living room. "I would like to introduce you to my friend Harry. Harry this is my family."

Harry smiles at them shyly. "Hello, it's nice to meet you all."

Molly smiles brightly. "It's very nice to meet you, Harry. I hope you will feel comfortable staying here with all these people. It's probably more than what you are used to."

He shakes his head, "That's okay Mrs. Weasley I don't mind. It's kind of nice actually." He looks around the room and notice three new faces. "Um but I don't know everyone in the room."

"Oh, my goodness where are my manners, I forgot that you wouldn't know everyone." She points to Bill, "This one here is Bill, he is the oldest and he is visiting from Egypt where he works", she then points to Charlie, "This one here is Charlie and he is visiting here from Romania where he works", then she points to a girl, "Lastly this one here is our youngest Ginny and she will be starting at Hogwarts in September."

Harry stands there to try an absorb what he just learned as quickly as he can, so he doesn't make a fool of himself. "It's nice to meet the rest of you."

Ginny blushes and leaves the room quickly while Harry just watches confused. "What just happened?"

Ron laughs, "She has had a crush on you for years now."

Bill decides to break the awkward tension in the room. "Ron why don't you take Harry up to your room so he can drop his things off then we can go outside and play a pickup game of quidditch?" Ron nods and takes Harry upstairs.

The boys start to make their way outside while they wait for Ron and Harry to come back downstairs. Bill turns his attention to Charlie who has been silent since Ron introduced Harry. "Char are you okay?"

Charlie looks at him and nods. "Yeah, I'm fine Bill."

"Are you sure?"

Charlie laughs a little and rolls his eyes. "Yes, you worrywart I'm sure I'm fine."

Bill punches him on the shoulder and chuckles. "Okay fine sorry for worrying about you."

Ron and Harry come outside a few minutes later and Harry looks around in amazement. "This is so cool."

Fred and George walk over to them and swing their arms around Harry's shoulders and rubs his hair affectionately while Harry swats at them. "Get off you two."

The twins just look at each other and smile. "Never!"

Charlie laughs at them for a minute before putting a stop to it. "Hey, you two knock it off. We have a game to play."

"Yes sir." As they let go Harry attempts to fix his hair. He gives up after a minute of trying to fix it and they all get started on their pickup game. Harry's team won of course, and Mrs. Weasley calls them in to eat. They get to the table to Harry gulps slightly at all the food on the table and hopes that no one expects him to eat a lot. Charlie notices this but doesn't say anything and just decides to continue to observe him. As they continue to eat Charlie notices that Harry hardly eats anything at all and plays it off as just not being too hungry, but Charlie doesn't think that's the case.

After they finish eating, he drags the twins and Percy to a separate room to talk. Percy looks at him. "What is this about Charlie?"

"I know you all saw how little Harry ate; did he do that at school too?"

The three brothers look at each other and think. "To be honest I never spent that much time with him so I can't really answer that, but I did notice he did that at the welcoming feast."

Charlie looks at Fred and George and just raises his eyebrow in a silent question.

"We did think it was weird."

"So, we decided to watch him at meals times, but he was only ever there for breakfast dinner."

"I don't think we ever saw him at lunch time and I'm not sure where he was."

"We would always sneak more food onto his plate and made sure he ate it."

"He got better as the year went on and by the end of the year, he was eating decent portions."

"It wasn't anything huge mind you, but it was much better for how he started."

"I didn't expect him to regress."

Charlie stands there and listens to the twins tell their story and turns to Percy. "Are any of the teachers aware of how little he eats?"

Percy shakes his head "I don't think so but when we go back, I will try to keep a better eye on him at mealtimes."

"We will too."

Charlie nods his head. "Okay good, I'm going to watch him while he is here. Something is going on and I don't know what. Thanks, guys, for the help." His brother's nod and go their separate ways.

"What has you thinking so hard Char?"

Charlie doesn't even have to turn around to know who came into the room with him. "I'm trying to sort out a puzzle."

Bill just raises his eyebrow at him, "And what puzzle would that be little brother?"

"Harry."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know yet, but something just isn't sitting right with me about him."

"What do you think he is a bad person or something?"

Charlie shakes his head, "No, nothing like that but something is off about him. He barely touched his food and when he was introduced, I could practically see the sadness radiating off him, but I have no idea why that would be."

Bill stands there and listens as his brother explains himself and once, he is done he knows Charlie isn't going to stop until he has it figured out. "Why don't you just ask Ron?"

"I love Ron, but you know he isn't the most observant person, that's why I asked the twins and Percy about his eating habits at school since I also noticed he barely ate anything."

"Yeah, you probably made the right choice there, but I still think you should talk to Ron and see if he noticed anything else."

"Maybe, for now I think I'm just going to watch him a bit more before I decide what to do next. I don't want to on a hunch that could be due to a multitude of reasons." Charlie continues to watch Harry over the next few days and immediately knows there is something much larger at play here. He decides its time to talk to Ron before he takes matters into his own hands.

"Ron, I need to talk to you about something, can you please come to my room?"

Ron nods his head and follows his brother upstairs. "What's going on Charlie? What did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to ask you a few things about Harry if that's okay."

Ron shrugs his shoulders. "What did you want to know?"

"During the school year did you notice any weird behaviors from him?"

Ron thinks for a minute. "Not really, sometimes he disappeared for a bit and would show up a few hours later. We just figured he wanted some time to himself since he wasn't used to people knowing him."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He wasn't raised in the wizarding world; he lives with muggles. We got permission from Dumbledore for Harry to stay here for half of summer."

"Anything else?"

"The only other thing that I can think of is that he never went to the teachers when he was getting bullied by Malfoy or if he was struggling with the schoolwork. Our friend Hermione would help him if he asked but that wasn't often."

Charlie can't help the feeling of dread that crawls up his spine. *Something is very wrong here. * "Thanks Ron." Ron nods his head and leaves the room to let Charlie think.

As if sensing his distress Bill walks into the room. "Charlie."

Charlie turns around at hearing his name and smiles slightly. "Hey Bill."

"Did you get more info?"

Charlie's shoulders sag. "Yeah, I did, and I don't like what I heard." Before Bill can ask, he tells him what Ron just told him and what he has witnessed by watching Harry these past few days. "Bill, I don't think I'm going to like what I find out but I have to know what's going on so I can help him."

"I understand what mom and dad always told us about helping people who need it but, the way your acting is way beyond what I have seen before. What makes him so different?"

Charlie sighs and sits down on his bed to gather his thoughts. "I don't know to be honest. All I know is that I must help him because I'm pretty sure no one is. I don't think that boy has ever had someone in his corner, and I don't think he knows how to ask for help either."

Bill walks over and sits down next to his brother. "If you feel that strongly about this then I will support you like I always do. When are you going to talk to him?"

"Most likely tonight, I don't think he sleeps much either." A few hours later and true to his word Harry walks downstairs to the living room and sits on the couch in silence.

Charlie walks out of the kitchen quietly, so he doesn't startle him. "What are you still doing up Harry?"

Harry jumps slightly but is able to mask it and turns his head to look at Charlie. "Oh, um I just couldn't sleep."

Charlie hums and stays where he is. "You seem to do that a lot don't you?"

Harry is shocked at this question. "I-I don't know what you mean."

Charlie looks at him and slowly starts to make his way closer to him. When he gets into the room, he sits down in a near by chair. "I'm pretty sure you do Harry, I'm a dragon tamer so I'm pretty observant. Do you want to know what else I have noticed about you?"

Harry doesn't know what to do about this situation. No one has ever noticed anything his sleeping habits, so he is afraid to know what else Charlie has noticed about himself.

Charlie waits for him to respond so when he doesn't, he decides to continue. "I've noticed that you have barely eaten anything since you got here, you don't eat lunch at all either. You have this air of sadness around you, you never initiate a conversation with anyone, your friendly but quiet, you look like you are silently suffering and refuse to ask for help."

Harry starts to tear up and makes fists in this lap and looks down to hide his oncoming tears. He can't say anything because he doesn't want to admit to anything and any excuse he could make would just look like an excuse.

Charlie notices this behavior and takes a deep breath before asking. "Harry, are you being abused?"

Harry stops breathing and looks at Charlie. The tears that he was valiantly holding back stream down his face, and he starts to sob. Charlie gets out of his chair and kneels in front of him. "Harry, I will ask again are you being abused?"

"Y-yes."

Charlie brings him into his lap on the floor and holds him tight. Harry still his hands in fists in his lap but he moves his face to hide in Charlie's neck. Charlie brings one hand to rub up and down Harry's back while the other one holds him tightly to his body. "Shh Harry, you're going to be okay." Harry doesn't settle down and continues to sob. "Shh, I promise you are safe here." At this Harry finally moves a bit and wraps his arms around Charlie's back. Charlie continues to rub his back and attempts to calm him down, so he doesn't go into a panic attack. "I'm right here, I won't let anyone hurt you, but I need you to breathe, okay?"

Harry nods against his neck and tries to take a few deep breathes. "H-How?"

"How did I figure it out?" Harry nods against his neck again. "I just knew what to look for. Sometimes we get dragons who act the same way, and we were told they were previously abused by handlers of the reserve they came from. I work with them personally on the reserve." After a few more minutes he feels Harry's sobs slowing down into quiet crying. He slowly gets up with Harry in his arms and takes him up to his room. When they get there, he tries to place Harry into the bed but he refuses to let Charlie go so he sits down on the bed with Harry on his lap. "Can you tell me about it?"

Harry tenses up for a second but a hand at his back helps him relax a bit. "I want to tell you, but I don't know if I can trust you."

Charlie's heart breaks even more. "It's okay Harry you can tell when your ready or if you decide you never want to tell me that's okay too. I'm still not going to leave you alone either way. You're stuck with me now."

Somewhere deep in his heart Harry knows he can trust this man with his life, so he takes a deep breath and quietly tells Charlie everything he has gone through so far. It takes close to an hour to tell Charlie everything and once he is done, he is exhausted.

Charlie notices this once Harry finishes his story. "Why don't I take you back to your room Harry?"

Harry tenses and holds onto him tighter. "I c-can't."

Charlie grows concerned. "Why can't you Harry?"

"I get really bad dreams and I keep hearing a maniacal laugh and see a green light."

Charlie squeezes him tighter. "Oh, Harry I am so sorry that you see that. Your parents were killed by the killing curse which is green in color once it's cast."

Harry's tears start up again after hearing this. "Can I stay with you please?"

Charlie bits his lip knowing how this will look in the morning but he can't subject this boy to anymore pain, so he nods his head. "Of course, you can. You can sleep in the bed, and I will keep watch over you to make sure you sleep."

Harry automatically wraps his arms around him at tightly as he can and shakes his head no. However, he falls asleep only minutes later wrapped up in Charlie's safe arms.

Charlie looks down at the precious bundle in his arms and knows he will do whatever he can to protect him. Bill comes into his room the next morning and stops at what he sees. "Charlie."

Charlie looks up at him. "Help please." Bill walks over and together they get Harry to let go, and they are able to lay him down in bed and pull the covers over him.

They walk out of the room as quietly as they can and close the door. "What did you learn?"

"He is going through somethings and I'm going to help him."

Bill just looks at him and decides against pushing for more answers. "So, you were then, something is going on at home?"

Charlie nods his head and Bill takes a deep breath. "Okay. Then we need to be there for him."

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The rest of that summer passes by and everyone noticed that Harry slowly becomes more animated with everyone. Charlie and Bill left a few weeks later but Charlie made Harry promise that he would write to him and to tell him when something was bothering him. He also told him he would most likely see him again at Christmas time. Harry keeps his word and writes to Charlie letting him know what's going on in his life. It isn't until a month or so after the school year starts that thing start to take a turn and not for the better.

Harry writes to Charlie about what is going on at the school and how he is feeling about everything because Charlie made him promise that he wouldn't just write what was going on but how he was feeling as well. Charlie writes back to him and tries his best to reassure him that he will be okay. Due to what was going on at the school they don't get to see each other during the winter break. Harry gets a bit depressed about this but knows its going to be okay because Charlie told him so.

By the end of the year Harry had never felt more alone in his life because after saving Ginny from the chamber he knew he would have to go back to his 'family' and wouldn't be able to see the Weasley's till the middle to the summer again. Harry does go back once the year is over and the abuse starts as soon as his uncle picks him up from the train station. He doesn't know if he is going to be able to make it out of it unscathed. They confiscated all of his belongings, so he wasn't able to write to anyone. His loneliness just continues to grow because of this.

Harry ends up spending the entire summer cut off from everyone and he can feel himself slipping back into his depression. He ends up blowing up his Aunt Marge in a fit of anger and runs away afterwards. He doesn't know where he is going, he just knows he needs to get out. Then he hears it.

"Harry."

He stops walking and slowly turns around and drops everything to the ground. Then he starts running as fast as he can and wraps his arms tightly around their body and starts sobbing."

"Shhh Harry your okay, your safe I swear." They wrap their arms around him tightly. "Come on lets get you out of here." Neither of them had notices a large black dog watching them.

The man then apparates them away from there and to the Leaky Cauldron. "I got you Harry, can you look at me please?"

Harry shakes his head briefly and tightens his arms. "N-no."

"Please Harry, I need to make sure you are okay." Slowly Harry loosens his hold on him and looks at him. "There you are." He smiles at him.

"Why are you here?"

"You didn't think I wasn't' going to come get you after not hearing from you all summer, did you?"

"I didn't think anyone cared."

"Oh, Harry that's not anywhere close to the truth. I wanted to come get you weeks ago but I only got permission today. I came as soon as I could. I swear to you I have never once stopped caring about you. I also apologize that I missed your birthday."

Harry finally gives him a small smile. "I missed you so much and its okay."

He ruffles his hair and pulls him into another hug. "I won't miss another one I swear to you."

After this Harry is able to spend the last week in peace surrounded by his friends and Charlie. Before they get on the train to go to Hogwarts Charlie threatens him.

"If you don't write to me, I will come to you and hunt you down."

Harry smiles and laughs. "Okay Charlie whatever you say."

"I'm serious."

"I know."

That year was relatively quiet compared to the last two if you don't count the escaped convict that everyone thinks is out to get Harry. He wants nothing to do with this, so he keeps his head down. After one of his potion classes however the professor asks him to stay behind.

"Potter you stay everyone else can leave." Harry looks at his friends and gives them a shrug and slight smile. They take this as an okay and leave the room. Harry turns his attention back to Snape. "Potter when were you going to tell an adult that you are being abused?"

Harry freezes and looks at him wide eyed. "W-What?"

Snape raises an eyebrow at him. "Do I really need to repeat myself?"

Harry tries to play it off. "Um. I'm fine, not sure where you got that idea from professor."

"Is that really going to be your answer Potter?"

"I'm fine and nothing is going on. Can I go now?"

Snape folds his arms in front of his body. "No."

"No?"

"You won't be leaving this room until you tell me the truth."

Harry starts to get upset. "Why do you care what happens to me? No one else does and not to mention that fact that you hate me remember?"

"First of all, I don't hate you Potter, I hated your father. Secondly I will not sit back and do nothing when one of my students is being abused."

Harry's walls start to crack. "I can handle it on my own, I always have."

"That will stop now Potter. You are not alone, and I will not allow you to continue your self-sacrificing ways."

Harry is floored and doesn't know what to do. He can't trust adults but maybe this once it would be okay to try. "I don't know if I can do that professor."

Snape moves closer to him so Harry can see him and won't get startled. He puts his hands on his shoulders and looks him straight in the eyes. "Yes, you can because I am going to help you."

"H-How are you going to help me?"

Snape knows he is finally getting through to him. "You will meet me outside of my quarters once a week and we will talk. That is where we are going to start."

Harry just nods his head and holds back his tears.

That was the beginning Harry and Snape's relationship moving in a positive direction. The year continued like this with Harry writing letters to Charlie and visiting Snape weekly along with him playing quidditch and befriending Cedric Diggory. At the end of the year Sirius was revealed and his true motives were revealed as well. Pettigrew got away to Sirius had to go into hiding until they got enough evidence to clear him the crimes he was wrongly thrown into jail for.

Harry found himself another ally in Sirius. He was also able to make one in Remus as well, but he had to leave the school due to being found out about his lycanthropy. Overall, it was a good year for Harry but then his mood fell once he realized he would have to go back to his own personal hell for the summer. Snape put his foot down and absolutely refused to allow him to go back and fought with Dumbledore over it.

Snape won to no one's surprise. It was decided that he would stay with Snape for the summer since his home was under protections and would keep Harry safe.

Meanwhile both Charlie and Harry continued to grow closer to each other through letters and visits in the summer. They also went to the quidditch world cup and Harry finished his summer with the Weasley's.

Harry realized the more time he spent with Charlie the more his feelings for him grew. He didn't want to freak him out, so he kept his feelings to himself and continued to act like nothing had changed between them. Little did he know that the red head had already fallen for him.

Harry went to school without telling Charlie how he felt about him. They continued on like even though nothing would ever be the same.

The end