A Match Made at the Ministry

Chapter 3: Numbers

The queue to get into the ballroom was very long. It was only through a massive amount of magic that the ballroom and the grounds could be kept hidden from the Muggles, and Ministry officials and Aurors were stationed around to keep order. The Aurors were also there to keep protesters away, but that was something not mentioned. Noticed, obviously, but one didn't mention those things. Best not to think of it.

Charlie stood in line with Tracey, watching all the different people lined up. Some looked happy but most looked nervous and some even seemed almost distraught. It was while looking at the witches and wizards in line, and a couple of wizards, that he felt Tracey tap him on the arm.

"Yes?"

"Have you ever grown a beard?"

"Once or twice. Why?"

"I think you'd look good with a beard. Can I try?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm crap at household spells but good at other stuff." Tracey gave him a very serious look. "Not a big bushy Hagrid one, but...hmmm...hold still."

She took out her wand and with a wave Charlie felt his face grow warm and then it stopped. He put a hand to his face and felt a full beard. "How's it look?"

"Wonderful. Some of my best work."

"Are you doing a matching one?" He gave her an appraising look. "The mustache was good, but..."

"Nah. I have these, though." She reached into her small purse and took out a very large pair of spectacles. "Nicked them from my Gran. Her old spare ones." After putting them on she looked at him. "What do you think?"

Charlie stifled a laugh, as she looked like some of the old Romanian Muggle women he had seen in the market. "Dead sexy."

From a ways off a female voice said "Charlie?"

They turned and Charlie swallowed hard. In her official Auror robes Tonks was walking towards him. "Hiya Tonks."

"Wotcher, Chuck." She came over and stood by them. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"Tracey Davis." Tracey stuck out her hand.

"Tonks, nice to meet ya." Tonks shook her head. "Not sure about the beard, Chuck."

"I like it." Tracey nodded. "Without my glasses I'm as blind as a bat, so I feel around in bed to find the beard. Keeps me sure I'm with 'Chuck' instead of some other bloke."

"Right." Tonks wasn't sure how to respond. "Ok, you two have a good time, I'm off to find Remus."

After she left Charlie looked over to Tracey. "That was brilliant."

Tracey gave him a look. "I know who she was. Percy told me about her at the Burrow."

It was at that moment that Daphne and Oliver joined them, accompanied by a small blonde woman and an equally short wizard. "Sorry we had to...what the hell, Tracey?" Daphne shook her head. "Have you started drinking?"

"Nah, just having a bit of fun. Hello there, Mr. and Mrs. Creevey."

As the women began to talk to the newlyweds Oliver looked over to Charlie. "Nice beard. Is this queue moving at all?"

"Not much, and thanks, mate." Charlie looked over to the others. "Your sister and brother-in-law to be?"

"Yeah. Seem nice." Oliver squinted a bit. "Is she wearing glasses? She looks like my Nan."

"Does your Nan look like that in a dress?"

Oliver shook his head. "Now I need a drink, I dinnae want to think of that. That's no a good image."

The small talk continued as the line slowly made its way towards the entrance of the ballroom. Eventually, though, they were all at the entrance. A wizard in official Ministry robes stood next to one of the Department of Mysteries lot, and as the couples stood there the witch/wizard from the Department of Mysteries took an envelope out of a box and handed it to the Ministry wizard. After ticking the names off of a list the wizard handed the couple their envelope and shuffled them off into the ballroom.

Oliver stood there, nervous, and saw Daphne tense up when he accepted the envelope. By previous agreement they walked into the ballroom, threaded their way through the masses until they found a less crowded spot and then both of them were silent for a moment.

"If you don't want to do it I'll do it." Daphne reached towards the envelope.

"No, I'll do it." Oliver opened the envelope, pulled out the parchment and let out a whistle. "Bloody fucking hell. Ten. We're number ten." He held out the parchment towards her.

"So that means..." Daphne took the parchment. "Next week. We're getting married next week?"

"Apparently so." He looked at her. "Listen, I know we don't know each other that well, and we'd talked about dating, but this changes things. The Wizangamot's still no in session, so why don't you come with me? I'll get you your own hotel room, we're playing Harpies next week. Dinnae what the gaffer'll say about this, and my parents...shite, your parents. I haven't even met them yet..."

Daphne felt her stomach drop to her feet. It had always been in the future, marrying Oliver, and she'd resigned herself to that fact. She had hoped they'd get the chance to know each other more, but now it was real. There was a date. It was really happening. "I need a drink."

Oliver nodded. "Agreed. Shall we?" He held out his arm to her.

She took his arm, somewhat in a state of shock. "Yes."

"Hey, Daph!" Tracey came towards her, Charlie right behind her. "What number? When?"

Daphne blinked and eventually managed speech. "Ten. Next week."

"Holy shit." Charlie ran a hand over his new beard. "That's quick. Ninety-seven for us, two months out. Ollie, breathe, mate."

Oliver nodded and took a series of deep breaths. "I still haven't met her parents."

"We need alcohol." Tracey looked around and then repeated it emphatically. "We need alcohol. Large quantities. And maybe a smoke, Zabini's got to be here and he always has a packet of fags on him. Come on." She grabbed Daphne's arm, pulling her away from Oliver, and headed towards the ballroom.

Oliver stood there for a moment and then looked over to Charlie. "I like her, so far I really do, and never thought...but next week?"

"What can you do? Wanna lose your magic, never fly again? There's worse things in the world than..."

"No, no, she's fit and smart and funny and seems unlike any Slytherin I've ever met but..." He paused and then reached into his sporran and brought out a very tiny flask. "My brother gave me this, said it was for emergencies. I think this qualifies." He unscrewed the cap and took a swig; smoke poured out of his ears a moment afterwards as he handed Charlie the flask.

"Don't mind if I do, thanks, mate." Charlie took a drink and after the burning stopped and the smoke ceased he coughed for a bit. "Bloody hell, I've had firewhisky before but what in Godric's name was that?"

"My brother makes his own. What am I gonna do?"

"Looks like you're getting married in a week. Come on, let's go find the girls."

-ooo-

Just as at Hogwarts several circles of friends gathered together, sometimes gravitating towards those of their particular house but sometimes not. The table of Weasleys was obvious to all, mostly because of the red hair but also because of the size. Several tables had been pulled together and also like Hogwarts most of the women seemed to gather together, leaving the men sitting around drinking.

Questions about certain Hogwarts classmates and friends were answered; Neville Longbottom had been matched with Hannah Abbot which both of them found hilarous as they'd been dating for a year but hadn't made anything official. Everyone laughed as Neville told them that his Gran had remarked that it took the Ministry to make her grandson 'get off his arse and ask the poor girl.' Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan compared notes, as they'd been matched with older witches they'd never met, and in Seamus' case the witch was almost old enough to be his mum. But everyone stopped when Lee Jordan stopped by the table with a very elegant looking witch in her mid-forties and introduced his new match, Leigh Jordan.

It was also when everyone discovered that out of everyone at their table Daphne and Oliver had the earliest wedding date. Hermione had overheard one official and found out that the first wedding would be Pansy Parkinson, who had been matched with a man whose family ran a successful chain of fried chicken restaurants in the Muggle world. Charlie remembered the man, as he was a sixth year Hufflepuff prefect when Charlie was a first year Gryffindor.

The music changed from the staid, boring wizarding 'classic' music to Muggle music, causing everyone to start. It was obvious the Ministry was going out of its way to make the Muggleborn feel included, but Hermione groaned.

"At least they could play something more current. This is my grandparents' music!"

"Hey." Charlie leaned across the table. "Don't talk bad about Bing Crosby."

Tracey's head snapped around. "You know Bing Crosby?"

"One of the old keepers out at the Reserve has all his records. Charmed a Muggle player to play them with magic. How do you know Bing Crosby?"

"My Gran loves him, listened to him when I was little. Have you seen the 'Road To' movies? Oh fuck it. Come on, let's dance."

As they left the table everyone looked stunned. Finally Oliver looked over to Daphne. "I have no idea who Bang Cosby is and my mum's a Muggle."

"Like I would? I had no idea about that. She never said anything to me." She saw Oliver's eyes widen as he stared at something above her shoulder. She turned and...there, standing in their best robes, were her parents.

"Hello, Daphne." The rather thin blonde witch with a severe hairstyle looked down her nose. "Were you ever going to speak to us?"

Daphne stood up and looked at her parents. Her mum was in one of those moods, that was obvious from her expression, but there was something in her father's eyes she couldn't quite read. "Mummy, Daddy...I was going to tell you in person, I didn't want to send an owl..."

Harold Greengrass looked at the men at the table and waved a finger around. "So which one of you is my future son-in-law?"

Oliver swallowed hard and stood up. "That would be me, sir." He stuck out his hand. "Oliver Wood."

Daphne saw her mum's eyes widen when she saw the kilt. "Mummy, Daddy, this is Oliver. We're to be married next week."

"Next week?" Lucina Greengrass paled. "Next week? Sweet Hecate, Daphne, how am I to plan a wedding in a week? And Mister Wood, who are your family? Do you have a job? Please tell me you have a job."

"Behave, Luce." Harold put a hand on his wife's arm. "Mister Wood has a job. If his manager were smart it'd be a permanent spot in the starting lineup." He turned to his wife. "He's a professional Quidditch player, dear."

Oliver felt himself ease slightly. "Thank you, sir. I'd like to start but I trust the Gaffer."

"Quidditch?" Lucina closed her eyes and seemed to be fighting the desire to say something. Eventually she blinked and smiled. "Well, it can't be helped. At least you didn't run off to Gretna Green like some children. I'll expect you on Monday for tea so we can plan things, Daphne. Now if you'll excuse me I need a glass of wine."

After she left Daphne stared at her father, who was grinning like the kneazle that ate the pixie. "Sorry, I couldn't help it. Stori told me the other day. Next week, eh? Well, just put up with her for a bit and then it'll be over." Turning to Oliver he gave him an appraising look. "I didn't get to give this speech to Dennis but you'll treat her right or else. We are a Slytherin family after all. Right. Have a good night." He focused back to Daphne. "Now I'd better go see to your mother before she does something horrible or says something she'll regret more than usual."

Daphne sank down into her chair in a heap. "Merlin's pants."

Oliver sat down and scooted closer to her. "That didnae go so bad."

"Oh, it's not over. We were in public." She reached forward and took the first glass of anything off the table and drank it, causing Ron Weasley to say 'hey!' "Oliver, I feel like I should apologise now for what she'll say. Maybe we should go to Gretna Green."

"And have my mum join yours in the yelling? No thank you."

Daphne still had a shocked look on her face. "I had no idea whatsoever that Daddy follows Quidditch.

Tracey and Charlie made their way through the dancers and arrived back at the table. Tracey saw Daphne's face and tapped her friend on the shoulder. "What'd we miss? What happened?"

"I met her parents." Oliver unscrewed the small flask and offered it to Daphne. "Here, it's a wee bit strong."

"Don't care." Daphne took the flask and drained it before Oliver could warn her. As it burned and the smoke rolled out of her ears she wondered if Oliver's suggestion of going on the road with him wasn't such a bad idea.

-ooo-

As the night wore down many couples left, the shock of the wedding dates forcing reality upon them. It was a shared shock, though, which led to many discussions. Several themes had developed regarding how to deal with the law. Some couples planned on marrying only in name, producing the one required progeny and then either living separate lives or divorcing. Most seemed set on making the best of things as they could while a few more vociferous pairs planned on making their solicitors quite a bit of Galleons with consulting fees and suits against the Ministry. For the existing couples there as spectators there was an overwhelming feeling of relief of having been omitted from that particular legislation.

That was the topic of conversation at one table, where Charlie sat with his sister and Harry. Charlie listened as Harry related some of the things he'd had to deal with as an Auror as a result of the marriage law.

"He thought the potion would make him sterile, to keep him out of the pool, but I think the potion maker gave him instructions that tip us off on purpose. Those ingredients are on the prohibited list for a reason, and every sale is reported. According to the Department it wouldn't make him sterile, just rather uncontrollably itchy in very sensitive areas."

Charlie laughed softly and reached for his drink. "Never underestimate the stupidity of people. See it all the time out at the Reserve, mostly with the tourists."

"Speaking of the Reserve..." Harry leaned forward. "You've been here for quite a while. Counting this as a holiday?"

"I wish." He shook his head. "I'm on 'unpaid leave' until this all gets sorted. I owled my boss as soon as I found out about this and he wasn't happy, that's for sure. I was on holiday when I went to the match in Bulgaria, though. I'll probably be working every Christmas and Easter to make it up to the poor sods covering my shifts."

"So you're not leaving Romania, then?" Harry adjusted his glasses. "You know Molly's hoping that this makes you stay in Britain. The law and Tracey and everything. She told Ginny that the other day but..."

"Oh, I'm not surprised. I hear about it all the time. Mum's not going to change." He paused. "And to be honest we haven't really talked about it. It's always been somewhere off in the future, right now we're just having a good time."

Harry gave him an odd glance. "Ok, I'm not even married yet and I don't think that's a good idea. Ginny and I talk about everything."

"Yeah, well..." He trailed off. After a sigh he turned to his future brother-in-law. "I guess we'll have to talk about it now that we've got the date and all. We were supposed to go with Oliver and Daphne to meet her parents, and they were going to do the same with Tracey's folks, but it just didn't work out. Still haven't met them yet."

"Keep the beard. Looks good."

"Thanks, think I will. Dunno how long the spell will last, though. Not looking forward to the itchy week or so growing it the slow way. And since all anyone can talk about is weddings what about you two? Mum got it all sorted? I think she's got George's sorted, poor kid. Poor Susan, actually. I don't know her, how's she doing?"

"Not well." Ginny sat down on Harry's lap, causing Charlie to bite his lip. "Shocked would be an understatement. Sue's rather shy, smart, good job at the Ministry...you know, just George's type. It's a good thing they got 184 for their wedding number, maybe by then George will stop being a prat. It's like he's skipped the 'getting to know you' phase and moved right onto baby names." She gave him a smirk. "So have you and Tracey picked out yours?"

"Um, no. Hasn't come up." Charlie leaned forward. "And what about you, Gin-Gin?"

Ginny fixed him with a look. "We're not on a schedule."

"I like James if it's a boy, and maybe..." Harry stopped as Ginny had turned to look at him. "Uh..."

Charlie took that as his cue. "Right, good luck, Harry. You'll need it."

After leaving the table as fast as possible, as his sister's temper was on par with his Mum's, Charlie ambled through the thinning crowd. Occasionally he'd see one of his former housemates and stop for a quick chat, but in reality he wanted to find Tracey and get out of there. The conversation with Harry and his sister was playing on his mind, especially some of Harry's comments. He'd never talked to Tracey about real plans after the wedding, as they'd both been caught up in finding someone to have fun. And it had been fun. As usual Charlie had let it just kind of happen, going with the flow, but he knew that eventually hard questions would have to be asked. He also knew that he'd have to meet her parents. Living in Romania and going down to the villages on occasion gave him some exposure to the Muggle world, but that was Romania. This was Britain. He would have to go to...and that's when he realized he didn't know anything about Tracey's family. At all.

"Hello Charlie. Are you having fun?"

He looked up to see Luna Lovegood in a bright yellow dress holding a wineglass. "Hi Luna. I guess I am. You?"

"Oh it's been quite the night. My feet hurt though, the cushioning spells wore off a bit and I can't quite get it right. Can we sit?"

"Sure." Charlie saw an empty table close by, covered in drinks debris. "That work?"

"Yes, thank you." She sat down and slid off her shoes. "Much better. I hope going barefoot doesn't attract miggieflips." With a very serious look she stared at him. "They affect balance, your inner ear. Very hard to get rid of."

He paused for a moment and then nodded. "I'll take your word for it. Listen, what does Percy say about things like mig..."

"Miggieflips. Well, he wasn't very receptive at first." Luna pulled her dress up almost to the point of something embarrassing and then pulled her legs up to the chair and let the hem fall down, making it look as if she didn't have any legs. "He tried to tell me that things like Nargles don't exist because you can't prove it, but I told him that many things exist you can't explain. I could tell he didn't believe me but then I asked him to prove to me where magic comes from. Daddy laughed at that, it's an old one he uses on skeptical readers."

"Good point." Charlie nodded. "So what's your number?"

"Forty-two. I told Percy it was perfect because it's not too early but it isn't too long. I think it'll be just right to start to get to know each other." She paused. "I'm not sure where we're going to live. His flat is very tiny and I've been at the Burrow often enough to know it's rather crowded. I don't think it would be a very good place to make babies with Molly around."

Charlie half-choked on his drink. "Yeah, you got that right. Always a lot of Weasleys about."

"And now I'm going to be one." Luna beamed. "I always wanted to be a part of your family." She paused and seemed introspective. "I'm not sure about your future wife, though. She wasn't very nice to me at school..." Hurriedly she added "...but not as bad as some of them, including my roommates. Tracey didn't do much but she did call me 'Loony' a lot."

"I'll speak to her about that. Sorry to hear." Charlie found himself wondering yet again if he really knew who he was getting involved with. "I'd better go find her. Where's Perce?"

"He's talking with someone about policies at the Ministry. I think he saw his boss. Or maybe it was his boss' assistant..."

"Try and get him to think of something more than work, ok? All right, I'm off to find Tracey. Have a good night."

Once again Charlie made his way through the crowd, more sparse than before, and found Tracey sitting at a small table with Daphne and Oliver. They didn't look happy. He sat down next to Tracey and took a deep breath. "What's wrong?"

"Her parents." Tracey leaned over towards him. "I don't think they're looking forward to tea with Lucina an' Harold. Don't blame them. Lucina hates me."

Daphne shook her head. "She doesn't hate you. She just doesn't...well..."

"I was in Slytherin, besides that she thinks I'm just a useless Muggleborn." Tracey rolled her eyes. "My kind shouldn't work at the Ministry, blah blah blah. Heard it all before. I'm used to it. She may not hate me but I'm pretty sure she just tolerates me for your sake."

"Listen..." Oliver stood up. "I think we should be going. Daphne and I have a lot to talk about and I doubt I'm going to sleep anytime soon, no after all this. Coffee?"

Daphne looked up at him and took his outstretched hand, rising from her seat. "Can we go someplace Muggle? I don't really want..."

"Sure, sure." Oliver nodded. "Let's go."

Daphne turned back to Tracey. "See you back at the flat."

Charlie and Tracey sat there for a while, silently. After what seemed an eternity she turned to him. "So now what? It's still..."

"We need to talk." Charlie held up his hand. "Not like that, it's not the 'we need to talk' bit where someone gets dumped. That's not happening, it's just...we've had fun, haven't we? But I don't know much about you, not really. I remember you told Mum you have three brothers but that's all I know. You know more about my family..."

"Because everybody knows about the Weasleys. Not exactly a low profile, not after the war. And I didn't say much on purpose. I don't like talking about them. To be honest I don't always like them very much."

Charlie paused and then, to Tracey's shock, laughed. Seeing the look on her face he gradually stopped. "And you think I always like my family? Nobody always likes their family. Bill's a right pain in the arse most of the time, bloody eldest brother know-it-all shite with a drop-dead gorgeous wife." He saw Tracey give him a look. "Oh come on, Fleur's part-Veela for Merlin's sake. You have to admit it."

"Fine. But she's..."

"Difficult at times, and that's being nice. Mum hated her at first. And Percy's not bad but when he was a kid he was the biggest tattletale you've ever seen. Didn't help that the twins were such idiots most of the time back then. Fuck, they still are. Drive me nuts, and when they do that thing where they finish each other's sentences I want to punch them. Did on occasion, worth the punishment. Ron can be a sulky little git and Ginny was the girl so she always got away with everything. Granted, I'm a lot older than Ron an' Gin so I got to skip out on a lot of it...and don't get me started on Mum. She's been trying to marry me off for ages, always on me about my hair...Merlin she liked to cut it short. And then when I moved to Romania you would have thought I was mortally wounding her, that I did it just to spite her. The guilt trips are spectacular, especially around the holidays. Dad...well, Dad's usually brilliant but every now and then he just lets things slide when he could stop it before it got out of hand." He took a deep breath. "But mostly when I was a kid I was mad at him because we didn't have the money to buy new clothes or books or a broom. I know, dumb, but I was a kid. Nobody likes their family all the time. It can't be that bad."

"Huh." Tracey tilted her head. "I never would have guessed. To everyone in Slytherin you Weasleys were always one big happy, annoying family. Throw Potter and Granger into the mix and you were an insufferable lot."

"Still are. And you'll be a part of that soon, so that's why we need to talk. I don't want to go meet your family and feel like everyone should have on nametags, like a bloody work meeting with new dragon keepers and shit."

"You really want to know? Really?" Tracey paused. She hadn't had the best luck dating wizards in the past, not many could see past the fact that she was a Muggleborn Slytherin. "Ok. Fine. But I'm not telling you everything dressed like this. Come on. We'll go back to the flat. Daphne and Oliver will probably be out for hours."

Charlie's eyes lit up for a moment. "Um, could we do something?"

She tilted her head at him in annoyance. "They're not going to be gone that long."

"What? No. Not that. Not that I'd...never mind. It's just...I've always wanted to do something and Mum would never let us. I've done it once in Romania but..."

Tracey rolled her eyes. "For God's sake spit it out."

"I've always wanted to take one of those black cabs." He seemed to almost bounce in his seat. "I mean, I've been in Dad's car, but it's not a strictly Muggle car."

Tracey looked at him as if he'd just grown another head. "That's it? Seriously? You want to take a cab? Merlin's socks, that's...sure. Fine." She paused. "Do you have any Muggle money?"

"Yeah, I had Bill exchange some Galleons the other day just in case. Will this work?" He reached into his jacket and pulled out a wallet, opened it and handed her a thick stack of twenty and fifty pound notes. "Is that enough?"

Tracey rolled her tongue around in her mouth. "I think that'll work. If we want to go to Liverpool. Come on."

-ooo-

The morning after the ball Daphne pulled herself out of bed, thought about the last night and decided that she couldn't possibly begin to face the day without a cup of tea. She went to the loo, brushed her teeth and wondered exactly her hair could look so horrible. Probably because of the fact she tossed and turned in her sleep, she realised, and headed into the kitchen. Surprisingly the kettle was hot; that was unusual, as she always got up before Tracey. She put the teabag in the mug and poured the water over it, scratching her arse absentmindedly as the tea steeped. Her fog was abruptly cleared when she heard someone clear their throat from the other room. Someone male.

She pulled her t-shirt over her knickers and half-hid behind the kitchen table. "Who's there?" She peeked over the table. "Charlie?"

"Sorry, it's me." Charlie sat in the other room in his suit trousers and a t-shirt. "We stayed up late talking and it didn't make sense to head back to the twins' flat. And there was no way I was going to the Burrow."

"Can you give me a minute, please?" Daphne's voice was somewhat frantic. "If..."

"Not a problem. I'll just duck into Tracey's room for a bit."

Daphne hurried to her bedroom, still stretching the hem of her shirt over her bum as far as it would go. Once in her room she threw on the first things she could find, thankfully a pair of jeans and her bra were close by. Jamming the shirt over her head she took a deep breath and then went back into the kitchen, thankful that Charlie was still in Tracey's room, and made her tea. She sat down at the table and went to start the toast but remembered she'd left her wand in her bedroom so she went back, retrieved it and then started the toast.

It was at that time when Charlie came back into the other room to retrieve his tea. "Sorry, thought you'd sleep later since, well, everything."

"I'm an early riser." Daphne took a sip of tea and paused as she remembered what her hair had looked like. "You must think I'm a mess."

"You just woke up." He shrugged. "Who cares. You haven't had your tea yet."

"Thank you." She closed her eyes for a moment. "So you and Tracey were up talking?"

"Just talking." Charlie nodded from the other room. "Prophet's here, by the way, article on the upcoming weddings." He folded the paper and sat it down. "But yeah, just talking. I didn't want to go meet her family and have them ask questions and not know the first thing about Tracey."

"I suppose that would be expected. After all you haven't known each other that long." Daphne paused and then looked at him and nodded towards one of the empty kitchen chairs. He gathered his tea and joined her. "Listen, Charlie, I'm glad she's asleep. You should know that she hasn't had it easy."

"That's what she said."

"No, it's more than just being a Muggleborn in Slytherin. What'd she say about her family? About her brothers?"

"Not too much, just that they kind of ignored her after she started Hogwarts."

Daphne snorted. "Ignored? That's rich." She turned as the toast popped up, levitated it over to her plate and began adding the butter and jam. "Ignored would be a nice way to say they pretty much acted like they forgot they had a sister, abandoned is more like it. She tell you about Bruce?"

"He's the one in the band, right?"

"Yeah, that's him. He's the one she was closest to and initially he was happy for her. Thought it was cool. But then, well, he was jealous for the most part. Jealous and angry that she got magic and he didn't. The other two..." She shrugged. "Alec and Matt weren't too bad, but they're older."

"So you've met them, then?"

"Umm-hmm." Daphne chewed a bite of toast. "Stayed with her for a week my second year. You would have thought from my mum's complaints that I'd left for good. Staying with a Muggle family." She mimed fanning herself. "I thought it would be fun. It wasn't. It was horrible. All he family knows she's a witch, her grandparents as well, covered by the Secrecy Statues somehow, I'm not sure, but we could talk about Hogwarts. At first they were interested but then when they realised she wasn't just at school for the year, she was a witch forever, things changed. I think it was when I found things like the telly so fascinating they realised that it's a completely different world. I could come visit their world but they could never really visit ours. Well, they could, but...it's complicated. She doesn't really talk to them much anymore. Only her Gran."

Charlie nodded as Daphne took another bite of toast. "So when I go up there today..."

"You're going today? Bloody hell."

He laughed. "Yeah. Later on. I have to stop by the twins' place and change clothes."

"Oh Merlin, yes. If you showed up in a Muggle suit they'd...they're not like that. They'd call you posh, like they called me."

"You are posh."

Daphne fixed him with a pointed look. "Oh piss off, Weasley. I'm just like you."

"Nah." Charlie shook his head and got up from the table, pushing in the chair. "Nah, you're not. You'd never see me wear skimpy knickers like that."

Daphne kept her eyes directly on Charlie as she picked up her wand. With a flick the toast, covered with jam, hit him directly in the face.

It was at that moment that Tracey walked into the kitchen, took a look at Charlie and without a word pulled down a mug and made a cup of tea. "Daphne, Charlie stayed over last night."