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Discoveries and Explanations

"P … p … parseltongue?" Cat stuttered, looking at Harry with what appeared to be fear.

"Yeah." Harry was confused. Why was she so scared about talking about it all of a sudden? She'd been the one who kept bringing it up before. It didn't make any sense. "Look, it's about Ginny. Yesterday she …"

"…Understood me speaking parseltongue." Cat looked very relieved that that was what he wanted to talk about. Way too relieved. Something was going on and Harry wanted to know what it was. "Look, there are several ways to pass on parseltongue.

"The most common way is through lineage. Passed from parent to child," she clarified, for Harry's benefit. "Occasionally, a curse can pass it on, but the curses that have been known to do so have been out of use for several millennia. And finally, the least known way of passing on the gift is for two soul mates to kiss each other for the first time. That passes on the gift." Her eyes fixed on Harry's and she grinned when he blushed. "My guess is, is that the last one transferred the gift to Ginny. That's how Charlie got it."

"Soul Mates!" Harry felt like his face was on fire. God this was embarrassing. "Yeah, that sounds … ummmmm … possible. Charlie speaks parseltongue?"

"Yes," Cat mumbled her face red. "He's my soul mate."

"Oh," Harry replied, unable to think of a suitable response."

"Yeah." Cat nodded. "Anything else you wanted to ask about?"

Harry thought about the enigma that was Catherine Smith, good parseltongue speaker, powerful witch, and unpredictable woman. With hair and eyes that kept changing colour.

"No," he replied finally. "Nothing at all."

Cat grinned at him, gave him a hug and returned to the house. The others had left for various reasons, so he stayed by the lake, thinking of all that he had just learnt. Ginny was his soul mate. Soul Mate! They belonged together!

Several minutes into his thoughts, however, he was alerted by sounds of yelling in the house. Instinctively, he pulled his wand from the holster on his thigh and ran to the open kitchen door. He waited out side, one ear on the door, worried in case there was danger inside. However, the argument he overheard had nothing to do with Death Eaters.

"What did you expect Charlie, huh? What was it?" A tearful voice he recognised as Cat's was asking of her companion. "Did you think I'd be happy? Oh yes, I'm fucking ecstatic."

"Look," her companion (who must, Harry realised, be Charlie) responded, his voice that of forced calm. "Can't you at least try and be happy for me? I'll get to do something I love-"

"Obviously more than you love me." Cat interjected, her venomous voice leaving no room for interruption. "Because I won't forgive you this time. You hear me! I don't care if you're my fucking soul mate, most people live perfectly happy lives without their soul mates and I can sure as hell do without mine! I forgave you last time you left me to play with dragons, but I'm not taking you back.

"So go ahead. Leave me here all alone. Just know that I won't be alone in six years when you come back!" At the last of her outburst, she ran out, her tear-filled eyes missing Harry as she ran out of the door next to him.

Taking a few deep breaths to compose himself and replacing his wand in the holster, Harry entered the kitchen to see Charlie muttering to himself about crazy girls who didn't listen and couldn't stop being "so bloody lovable", before he left the kitchen, also missing Harry's presence.

Climbing the stairs to Ron's room – where a muggle book he had recently started called "All Families are Psychotic" awaited him (A seriously good book that I recommend to anyone with a sense of humour) – Harry tried to piece together the conversation, so that he could try to work out what had happened to cause the happy couple from breakfast to become the raging couple he had just discovered.

Unable to fully piece together the argument in his already confused mind, Harry simply picked up the book and returned to Shw and the rest's bizarre adventure. In fact, that was where Ginny found him on her return from the shopping centre she had visited with Hermione.

The moment he had finished the end of his explanation – which took longer than expected due to 'snogging breaks' – Ginny smiled indulgently at him. "You honestly don't know what that all meant?" She asked, still smiling in a patronising manner that didn't annoy Harry nearly as much as he expected it should.

At the shake of his head, she explained. "Well, it sounds like Charlie's got a new job with dragons and Cat doesn't want to go so they're fighting about it."

Comprehension dawned on Harry, but it didn't really matter as his brain turned to mush seconds later when their lips touched.

Several days passed and the atmosphere between Cat and Charlie was so thick you could practically cut it with a knife. Although the Weasley's were sad that their second eldest son was to return to Romania for a six year plan, it was nothing compared to Cat, who's eyes were almost continually red-rimmed and who's temper was closer to the surface than Harry's on a bad day.

Charlie, on the other hand, was attempting to brush it off and keep happy, though the constant grins and laughter were worse than the hurt and anger of his partner. He also seemed very nervous, particularly today. The day he was due to leave.

As they stood with him at the edge of the field, standing a line, they took it in turns to say their goodbyes. The twins and Bill, gave him hugs and laughs and told him not to get too many new burns, while Ron simply shared grins with a brother he regretted not spending enough time with. Hermione and Fleur both hugged him; tear's in Fleur's eyes prominent when he engorged stomach stopped his from being close. Molly was sobbing almost hysterically, while her husband smiled at his son, meeting the young man's eyes. Harry shook his hand arm around Ginny, who through herself at him and made him promise to keep in touch.

Cat, at the end of the line, sniffled and merely said "Good Luck and goodbye."

However, that was no where near the end. After all, that was when Charlie removed a ring box from his pocket, got down on one knee and, to the shock of everyone, proposed to his soul mate.

Ooooooh. I wonder what she'll say...