A/N: Thanks to Scara1 for the reviews, and thanks to everyone still reading. Please review, if you read. Also, JKR invented Harry Potter and lots of other stuff. I don't take credit for that…
Chapter 9—The One With a New Year's Party
A week later the winter term ended and Charlie and Maya had completely made up. They took the train to London for Christmas and Charlie promised to owl her about New Year's Eve as he hugged her goodbye. Molly interrogated him on the way home. "What's going on, Charlie?" she asked.
"Not much, Mum," Charlie answered. "Term ended; we came home. And Maya's invited me for New Year's Eve."
"Why would she have done that?" Molly asked, trying to hide her happiness.
"Because she's Charlie's girlfriend," answered Percy. Charlie nearly decked him, but held back since they were with Molly. Fred and George had kept their promise not to tell her.
"And for how long has she been your girlfriend?" Molly asked.
"Since the beginning of term," Charlie answered, turning a violent shade of crimson. "Mum could we maybe talk about this later?" Molly agreed to drop the subject, but brought it up when she and Charlie were alone later. "I've known I liked her since last year and we came close to getting together before, but things kept intervening and it didn't happen until we got back to school."
"Are you happy with her?" Molly asked. She was, truthfully, thrilled for Charlie. She had noticed the signs that they were more than friends over the summer when Charlie protected her.
"Unbelievably happy, Mum," Charlie answered. Molly smiled and sent Charlie to bed after agreeing that if he was invited, he could go and visit Maya's house for the end of the break.
In London, Maya was explaining to her mother that she and Charlie had decided to date each other. She would be spending the second half of break with her father, so her mother could not approve of Charlie visiting at his house. "If it was here, love, I would allow it," Grace said.
On Christmas morning, Maya found a lovely gift from Charlie. He had bought the book that she wanted for her. She had bought him a dragon charm. Later that afternoon, Maya and Maggie went to their father's house in Hampstead. She asked him if Charlie could come for the New Year's Eve party. "Please, Dad," she said. "He's my best mate."
"You'll have separate sleeping quarters," her father ordered. "And if I even think that he's sleeping in your bed with you, I'll toss him on his arse." Maya agreed and went to send an owl to Charlie inviting him for the holiday.
Three days later, Charlie went to work with his father. Mrs. Binning met them at the Ministry of Magic and took Charlie to Maya's father's house. "Did you have a nice Christmas, Charlie?" she asked.
"Very nice, thank you," Charlie answered. "Did Maya like the present?"
"She hasn't put it down," Mrs. Binning said. "She loves it almost as much as she loves the guy that gave it to her." Charlie blushed and started to say something, but before he could answer, Mrs. Binning announced that they had arrived.
"Blimey!" Charlie exclaimed.
"It is a bit much, isn't it?" said Mrs. Binning. "I hated living here and I'm sure Maya prefers the London house, but it was her grandparents' estate. Have a good week and good luck next term."
"Cheers," Charlie replied. "And thank you, Mrs. Binning. Happy New Year."
Mrs. Binning smiled and bade Charlie goodbye when the butler, Mr. Henderson, answered the door. He showed Charlie into the study and called Maya down. She leapt into his arms when she saw him. "Thank you for the present," Maya said. "I love it."
"It was hard to find the right gift," Charlie teased. "And thank you for the gift." He pulled the charm out from his shirt.
"Come on," Maya offered. "Let's take your bag to your room." Maya showed Charlie to his room and when they were sure they were alone, he shut the door with his foot and kissed her fiercely on the mouth. He backed her up to the bed in the middle of the room and they toppled over onto it.
Pulling back, he said, "It's been too long since I've been able to do that." Maya smiled and pulled his head back to kiss him some more. Charlie's hand played with the hem of her shirt, slowly brushing his palm against the soft flesh of her stomach. This time, Maya did not gasp. Instead, she took Charlie's hand and moved it up to her breast. Charlie massaged her breast through the fabric of her bra. They continued their snogging until Maggie interrupted them.
"Maya, Dad wants to meet Charlie," she said, entering the room without knocking. "Oh, bloody hell!"
Maya threw Charlie off her and sat up very fast. "Mags, please don't tell Dad," Maya begged. "I'll make it up to you. I promise."
"I won't tell," Maggie promised. "I like having Charlie around, but lock the door next time. If Dad catches you lot doing that, Charlie, you'll be back at the Burrow before you can say quidditch."
"Cheers, Maggie," Maya said. She composed herself and brushed her hair before following Maggie to the dining room where their father was waiting with lunch.
"Maya," he said, "where have you been?"
"I was showing Charlie to his room, Dad," Maya answered. "Then, we were just talking and Maggie came and told us it was time for lunch. And Dad, this is Charlie Weasley."
"Hello, Mr. Binning," Charlie said, offering his hand. "Thank you for allowing me to visit."
"We'll be dining tonight with Ms. Ashcroft," said Mr. Binning. "And she's bringing her daughter with her. They do not know about your special talents. I would appreciate discretion."
"Of course, sir," Charlie said.
That evening, Christine Ashcroft arrived with Chloe. They both brought bags and were going to stay overnight. "Ms. Ashcroft," Maya said, through gritted teeth.
"Darling Mia, I've told you to call me Christine," she said.
"My name is Maya," Maya said. Charlie stood watching in awe as Maya glared at her father's girlfriend.
"Yes, of course it is, dear," she said. "And where is Meggie?"
"It's Maggie," said Maya. "Her name is Maggie. If you want us to like you so much, you should really learn our names. And this is Charlie Weasley."
"Good day, Ma'am," Charlie said, giving his most sincere smile. Christine looked at Charlie as though he was a bug that must be crushed. She clearly thought he was beneath her, and Maya glared at her.
Maya was furious to learn that Christine and Chloe would be staying for the rest of the holidays. She nearly threw a tantrum. Maggie, who was less inclined to tantrums than Maya, was also furious. They were commiserating in their study when Chloe entered. "What?" Maya shouted.
"Mum and Daddy say it's time for dinner," she said.
"He's not your Daddy," Maya said, glaring at Chloe.
"He will be," she said. "Just you wait." Maya balled her fist and was prepared to punch Chloe in the face. Charlie grabbed her hand and led her to the dining room.
After dinner, Charlie was in his room reading when Maya entered. "I'm sorry about earlier," she said. "And thank you for not letting me punch Chloe."
"Come on in," Charlie said, moving over on his bed to let her lay next to him. "You'll always be his daughter and she can't replace you."
"She's certainly trying," Maya said. "I don't even know why he wants us here. We don't match his lifestyle. By the way, I'm to take you to get a suit tomorrow for the New Year's Party. Apparently, it's going to be formal."
On New Year's Eve, Maya's father threw a party at his estate. Maya and Maggie each wore formal dresses. Maggie's was light blue and Maya's was pink with silver trim. She knocked on Charlie's door to see if he was ready for the party. He was having difficulty with his tie, so Maya offered her assistance. "You look amazing," Charlie said.
"Thanks," Maya replied. "You clean up nicely yourself. There. Are you ready to meet the wolves?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Charlie joked. He hid his wand up his sleeve and they went downstairs into the formal dining room where the party was getting started. Maya introduced Charlie to her family members and some of her father's friends that she knew. After introductions, she grabbed them a plate of food and stole him away to the den. They were talking and laughing when Mr. Binning entered.
"You're supposed to be at the party," he said. "What are you doing?"
"We were talking, Dad," Maya said. "I don't like your friends and the family looks at me as though they want to spit on me. We're not hurting anyone here."
"Come back to the party now, Maya," Mr. Binning ordered. "Maggie is still there and she seems to be getting along with everyone just fine."
"No, Dad," Maya argued. "She's just better at hiding her distaste than I am."
"You're coming to the party, Maya," he ordered. He glared at Maya and Charlie until they got up from their places on the sofa and followed him into the hallway. Before rejoining the party, he turned to them and said, "Behave or you're not going back to school, Maya, and you'll be going home, Charlie."
"Fine," Maya said, biting back tears. She refused to let him see her cry.
Upon returning, Maya started drinking whatever she could reach. Charlie stayed sober to make sure she didn't do anything too bad. At one point, a muggle boy that Maya didn't know invited her to dance. "I'm sort of with someone here," she said, indicating Charlie. The muggle boy wasn't going to take no for an answer and Maggie intervened to keep Maya from hexing him with Charlie's wand.
At midnight, Maya and Charlie kissed. Her father announced, immediately after, that he and Christine were engaged to be married. Maya broke the glass she was holding, cutting her hand. Charlie took her upstairs to clean it up. "Are you o.k.?" he asked.
"No," Maya said. She started to cry, and then she started to sob. Charlie led her into her room and sat her on her bed. "Why aren't we good enough?" she yelled. Charlie sat next to her and pulled her into his arms. He toed his shoes off and helped take hers off. Then, he laid them back on her bed. She put her head on his shoulder and cried. "I'm sorry," she said. "I've got your shirt all wet."
"Don't worry about that, love," he said. "It doesn't matter. Mum taught me a few good cleaning spells and I'm old enough to do magic outside of school now."
"I want to go home," she said, sniffing. "This isn't my home and my life went to hell when we had to move in here."
"We're going back to school in 2 days," Charlie whispered. "You're tougher than this. You can make it for 2 days."
"I don't want to," Maya cried. "I want my mother and I want to go home." There was a knock on the door and Maya shouted, "GO AWAY!"
"Maya, it's Maggie," she said. Maya opened the door and let her sister inside. "Are you alright?"
"Peachy," Maya said. "Did Dad send you on a recon mission?"
"Yeah," she answered. "He wants you to come back to the party."
"It's not going to happen," Maya replied. "Tell him I'm sleeping or that I just don't give a flying fuck what he wants right now. I'm not coming back to the party and he can't make me. You might also want to tell him that if he forces me, he'll be explaining my special talents to his friends." Maggie nodded. She knew better than to try to talk Maya down. She left Maya and Charlie alone.
Charlie waved his wand and locked the door. "That way, they won't be able to get in even if they have a key to the door," he said.
"Thanks," Maya sniffed. "I still want to go home. I don't ever want to come back here again."
There was another knock on the door, followed by Christine saying, "Maya, it's your new mum. Please open the door." Maya and Charlie ignored her and stayed in her bed, still cuddling. Her Dad came by a few moments later and demanded that she open the door. She continued to ignore him. He tried the key, but Charlie's spell held and they couldn't get in.
"Charlie," Maya whispered, scooting closer to him on the bed, "Kiss me, please." Charlie did as she asked and rolled them over so that he was lying on top of her. He pulled back and Maya begged, "Don't stop."
"We have to stop, love," Charlie said, rolling off her. "It shouldn't be like this." Maya was crying, but Charlie continued, "I want our first time together to be something that you remember in a good way. I don't want it to be because you're trying to get back at your father."
Maya climbed out of her bed and sat in the window seat, watching the snow fall outside. Charlie followed her and put his hands on her shoulders. "It's not that I don't want to sleep with you, love. I just want to do it right."
"I know," Maya said, wiping a tear from her cheek. "You said so." They sat quietly watching the snow fall for a few long moments. Maya finally said, "Why doesn't he love us anymore?"
"He loves you, sweetheart," Charlie answered.
"No, he loves the idea of all his friends thinking how good a dad he is," Maya replied. "He doesn't love us." Charlie sat behind Maya and let her sink against his chest. He didn't know what to say to try to soothe her, so he just held her as closely as he could. "Will you take me home later?"
"I'll take you anywhere you want," Charlie promised. "We should get some sleep, though."
They returned to her bed and slept for a few hours. When they woke, Charlie snuck back to his room to collect his things. Maya packed her bag and waited for Charlie. "You're sure about this?" Charlie asked when he came back.
"Yeah," Maya said. "This isn't home to me. I want to go home."
They were leaving her room when her father entered. "I see you've opened the door," he said. "How did you lock it?"
"Charlie used his wand," Maya answered. "And I opened the door so that I can go home."
"You ARE home, Maya," Mr. Binning (Gareth) said.
"No, Dad," Maya replied. "I'm not home. Home is in London. Home is at the Burrow. I've never felt at home here. I hate this house and I want to go home."
"Your mother and I would like you to stay," he said.
"My mother is in London. Christine is NOT my mother," Maya screamed. New tears were stinging her eyes.
"What about your sisters?" Gareth reasoned.
"Maggie can come with me if she wants. Chloe is not my sister and she can go to hell with her whore of a mother," Maya said plainly. "Now, I'm going home."
Maya's father tried to protest as she stopped by Maggie's room. "I'm going home," Maya said. "If you want, you could come along."
"I'm going to stay," Maggie said. "I don't mind it here. But you should go. I'll see you on the train."
"I'll tell Mum," Maya said. Maggie nodded and hugged Maya. Then, she led Charlie through the house and out the door. They walked to the front gate and into the street where they found a bus back to London.