Disclaimer: Neither I nor Queen owns anything Harry Potter affiliated, with the exception of Storm and the plot. We ask you not to steal either of them, thank you.
Warnings: Angst, basically.
Sorry for the long delay, everyone! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, which was written by Queen. Please, we'd love for you to read and review! Thanks again!
Chapter Four
"I don't know why you're making me go here, Charlie. You know I don't ever feel comfortable around the dragons, especially not after the Tri Wizard Tournament." Harry said thrusting his bottom lip out. He couldn't believe that they were going to Romania. Things were going so well in their relationship, he felt like something big was going to happen soon.
" I know you don't like them, Raven, but we promised Draco and Hermione that we would take them to Romania so they could meet an old family friend of Draco's. We can't rightly recant on that promise now." Charlie said walking across the room to his love; he smiled as he lifted up his face and nipped at the protruding lip.
Harry squeaked; he still wasn't used to the strange ways that Charlie showed affection for him. He was playful and kind, always thinking of anything and everything that would make his lover smile. That thought alone made the corners of Harry's mouth curl up into the brightest smile he could muster, that wasn't with Charlie buried deep inside him.
Charlie pulled back, looking deeply into the emerald green spheres that made up his lover's eyes. Nothing could take away the joy he felt when he looked into such beautiful eyes, eyes that only ever showed love for him. He couldn't believe that he was worthy of such an all consuming love, but he knew that this love was going to be important if he intended to ask for Harry's hand in marriage. While he was pondering this thought, Harry's eyes and face light up with the most beautiful smile and Charlie himself couldn't help but smile in return.
"That isn't fair you know." Charlie mused as he brought one of his hands up to cup Harry's face.
"What isn't fair?" Harry asked, pretending to be clueless; he knew that he could drive Charlie crazy with a smirk let alone his full-blown smile, but he couldn't help it. He was so happy he couldn't contain the smiles anymore. Things were finally going right.
"You know all too well what I'm talking about, Raven." He said pulling his face closer so that he could savor the ruby colored lips that he loved so much. Harry smiled, feeling his knees go weak as his lover partook of his lips in the most intimate fashion.
"Cha…Charlie." Harry barely breathed as their lips finally parted. He could feel his knees give way under him. He buckled, and fell into Charlie's broad chest, and breathed deeply.
"Are you alright Raven?" Charlie asked pulling him back up to his feet, smiling at him.
"Of course I'm alright, I'm with you." Harry said snuggling back into his lover's chest putting his arms around him holding on like life depended on it. He didn't know why but he felt like he had to hold on like this otherwise something bad was going to happen.
Charlie woke up the morning after their passionate embrace; he kissed the end of his lover's nose trying not to wake him just yet, but to give him a hint that Charlie was leaving their bed. The two lovers had a long night ahead of them. They had to fly to Romania with Draco and Hermione, and Charlie was doing everything in his power not to tell Harry about the meeting he had with a certain Hungarian Horntail. He slid out of their bed and walked into the bathroom; he turned the shower to its hottest setting and stood under the spray absorbing all of the heat that he could. He was nervous, his whole body felt like shaking. Tonight was the night he asked Harry to marry him; god he felt like he was going to be sick.
Harry awoke in their bed, he heard the sound of the shower going and smiled knowing his love was in there, things were going to be alright if he could wake up like this every day. Things could never be bad as long as he could hear the routine sounds of his lover's morning every day. Nothing could ever go wrong. He liked the idea of things going right, he'd spent so much time having things go wrong that he couldn't bear to think of things going wrong again. He smiled to himself as he slid out of their bed and swished his wand in the air, making their bed. He shimmied into the kitchen and started to cook them breakfast. He knew Charlie's favorite was eggs, bacon, and pancakes so he set out on the task of making it.
"This isn't going to be hard at all; I used to do this all the time." Harry thought to himself as he set the table and then flipped the pancakes, moved the bacon around, and moved the eggs. He smiled at the food and the thought of his love's surprised face when he came out of the shower and breakfast was already done.
Charlie stepped out of the shower and was instantly greeted with the smell of cooking bacon, nothing except the smell of Harry's skin compared to that smell. He took a big whiff of the bacon and hurried through getting dressed and pulling his hair back. He looked at his reflection in the mirror before leaving the bathroom, "Charlie old boy, today could be the best or worst day of your life…lets hope for the first one."
"Love come on, we have to meet Draco and Hermione in fifteen minutes." Charlie called up the stairs to Harry, who had been in their room for a while now. He felt in his pocket to make sure the ring box was there, he smiled to himself. Tonight was the night, but he felt nervous…nothing could be more nerve racking than asking someone to marry you.
"I'll be down in a minute." Harry called back as he grabbed his Firebolt and his old school scarf. He wrapped the scarf around his neck, and pulled on a heavy wool cloak. He stepped into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. An unsettled feeling had set into his stomach at six pm that evening and had only gotten worse as the night went on. He didn't know what could possibly be causing it, but he was stalling as much as possible to try and get it to go away before they left. He sighed knowing he couldn't waste much time, otherwise Charlie would get really suspicious and come upstairs looking for him. He couldn't risk that, otherwise all of their plans would be called off on his account, and he didn't want to feel bad for it. He glanced at himself in the mirror again and walked down the stairs.
Charlie watched him come down the stairs thinking that something looked off, but he couldn't put his finger on what. He shrugged it off and grabbed their brooms ushering Harry out the front door.
"About time you two love birds got here!" Draco said coming out from behind a tree when Harry and Charlie walked into the clearing where they would be starting their journey with a port key.
"Sorry Draco, it's my fault." Harry said looking down at the tattered hat that would be used to take them from London to Romania. He didn't like the look of the port key at all, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. Flying to Romania was just out of the question it was too cold out and too far away for them to make the journey in one night if they flew.
Hermione came out from behind the same tree Draco had been behind, wiping her mouth of a suspicious substance. She smiled at Charlie and Harry, "Shall we go then?" She asked nonchalantly bending down towards the old hat.
Harry looked nervously at it, and then at the people around him, something inside him was screaming out against touching that portkey. He felt his whole body almost shut down as he leaned forward to grab the brim of the hat, he closed his eyes tightly and waited.
The portkey spun them all around and around for a few minutes until they were in an almost identical clearing in Romania. Charlie looked around and recognized automatically where he was, he smiled fingering the ring box in his pocket for the hundredth time.
"I've got to pull myself together and ask him soon; preferably before I have to do some work." He thought to himself as he hid the portkey in some tall grass and moved back towards the rest of the group.
"Storm said he will be meeting us closer to our final destination." Draco said looking at Charlie unsure of whether or not he had told Harry about getting close to the horntail again.
"That's fine, better he meet us there anyway. We have one pit stop on the way." Draco and Charlie looked at each other and nodded, they both knew what was coming.
"Let's get going then, tonight could be a long night." Draco said and followed Charlie as he led the way out of the clearing and towards the lake where he would be proposing to Harry.
They set off on an hour long hike; they traveled in near silence making sure to not get lost in the forest. Charlie broke through into a clearing and looked at the lake. In the moonlight it was even more beautiful than he had imagined, the moonbeams shimmered off the top of the water in such a way that it was impossible to not feel inadequate next to its beauty.
The rest of the clan followed and all stared at the lakes beauty as well. A comfortable silence crept around them as the two couples moved so that they were next to each other. Charlie smiled and grabbed Harry's hand. He turned so they were facing each other and his smile only widened as he saw scarlet creep from his love's ears to his cheeks.
"Harry, I love you more than anything or anyone in my life. I hope you know that." Charlie said through a huge smile watching the scarlet creep even further across his love's face.
"Of…of course I know. You show me in little ways every day, and through your smile. How could I not know you love me that much?" Harry asked looking nervously from Charlie to his two friends.
"I'm glad you know. I'd be upset, and have to rethink what I'm about to do if you didn't."
"Oy! Just get on with it would you!" Draco egged from the tree line. He knew it would be the only way to get them to move forward so they could get to the Horntail's cave.
"Have some patience Draco; this is a very important moment for them. This is something they will always want to remember, and right now we're intruding." Hermione said grabbing his hand and pulling him into the trees.
"Well now we have some privacy." Charlie said grabbing Harry's hand and kneeling before him "Harry James Potter, will you do me the extreme pleasure of marrying me?" He asked taking a deep breath looking up into those green eyes that he loved so much.
Harry looked to Charlie and couldn't believe what he had just heard. He thought back to the horrible feeling he'd been having all day and thought this was surely the reason why. His body was trying to get him ready for this moment. The moment when he would cease being single forever and give over everything in his life to Charlie. His head and heart soared together and he smiled the biggest smile he could, "I'd be honored to marry you Charlie." Harry said and watched as Charlie slipped a beautiful black-banded ring with an emerald set in the middle on his left ring finger. The ring was the most beautiful piece of jewelry he had ever seen. He smiled at it and played with the moonbeams on it for a few minutes.
Charlie watched him and smiled knowing that this was one of the happiest moments in both of their lives. He smiled bigger thinking of his favorite moment with his fiancé…oh showers had been good to them both. He grabbed Harry and pulled his lover into him, wrapping him into a tight hug. He couldn't believe this was happening, everything he ever wanted or needed was right here in his arms and had just promised to be there forever. He couldn't think of anything that could make this moment any better. Hell, not even having more money to give Harry everything he deserved could make this better. No matter what, Charlie knew that they could make this work. Love was the only thing they would ever need.
"Alright Charlie, we really need to get going. Storm probably thinks we got lost." Draco said coming out of the woods with Hermione in tow.
Charlie nodded and started leading them out of the area and towards the mountains. Something in the air made the night feel heavy, but Charlie ignored it. He'd been in this area so many times he could traverse it in his sleep. Nothing was going to make this night bad, he was going to check on the Horntail and then meet Storm…then take Harry home for a real celebration. Everything was in place to make this the perfect night.
He led them into the mountain pass and stopped outside the cave. He heard Harry whimper loudly behind him as the beast inside came to the entrance of its home. Harry moved back towards Draco and Hermione and the feeling inside his stomach grew to a horrible pain. He didn't know what was going on but he knew something bad was going to happen. He threw his hand out as he watched Charlie move towards the entrance of the cave.
The Hungarian Horntail moved out of the cave, she looked almost possessed, as if something were purposely bothering her making her even more volatile then she already was. The dragon watched Charlie, her eyes never leaving the fearless dragon tamer as he moved closer and closer to her. She reared up almost as if she wanted to trample him. Harry saw the outline of wings on top of the cave, and watched in complete horror as the Horntail reared up a second time and devoured his lover whole.
"CHARLIE NOOOO!" Harry called out as he jerked violently waking himself from his tortured sleep again. He looked around and recognized that he was in the room he'd been using at Ron's house. He looked over to see his best friend standing in the doorway looking worriedly at him. It had only been two months since Charlie died, but to Harry it still felt like yesterday.
"You ok, Harry?" Ron asked fidgeting in the doorway a bit. He was looking on nervously; he had noticed the effects of his brother dying more than anyone. Harry'd ended up at his house at 3 in the morning two days after it happened, soaking wet and crying like he'd never seen before.
Harry stood up and nodded, he hadn't said much since that night, save for his screams when he was violently ripped from his nightmare. He walked over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror and felt the urge to punch his reflection. He wouldn't be looking at himself anymore, not if he could help it. He looked at the edge of the sink; he had put his engagement ring there. It was still there glinting up at him like always, but he wanted it to be gone. All of his reminders of Charlie needed to go away; there was nothing he could do to get him back. Charlie was only a memory now. He realized how unfair this turn of events was, how unfair it was for him to lose the only person who could ever understand him, but he knew that life wasn't fair. Loosing Charlie was just another notch in his belt of unfair occurrences in his life.
"Looks like another day in hell, Potter." He said to himself as he ran his fingers through his hair and walked out of the bathroom and towards the closet. He looked over and saw that Ron had left the room, he sighed in relief. He loved his best friend dearly but right now he needed space from all of the Weaseley's and that's why he was planning on moving out, and to where he didn't know yet but every time he saw red hair he felt a piece of himself die.
He dressed in a black turtleneck and jeans, threw on his boots and looked at the rest of his clothes. Nothing in there looked very important to him. His robes and muggle clothes were all replaceable. His shoes were as well. All of the things that had meaning to him were still in his and Charlie's apartment. He knew that even though it would kill him to walk into that place, where so much love had surrounded him. He needed to sort things to keep. Give away, and never see again. The thought of touching all of those things and making those kinds of decisions threw him into a fit of tears. It had to be done, but not so soon. He grabbed the jacket of Charlie's he brought with him and brought it to his nose laying back down on the bed curling up against it.