A/N - Oh dear. I really don't know what to say. How about... we tried??
We're sorry?? Severe cases of writers block and lots of late nights with no
productivity took their toll... a whole two weeks! Well, we hope you guys
enjoy this, and hopefully we can find our groove again! And can I just
say... WOW! We filled a whole PAGE with thank yous... I can't believe how
many people are READING this! -- Nancy (Jenni handled the thanks this time
round.. it was totally her turn.)
Zoe!!! I'll try to keep Nancy away from Snape as long as I can. No promises though! You know how she can be when she gets it in her head she wants something.(or someone!!!) :-D
Louisa!! LOL, save some of that anger!! Don't worry, the evil Death Eater will get his.oops!! Don't want to give away the plot. Glad to see you still enjoy reading our story!!
Ellie - Yo yo yo! (so this one Jenni didn't do) Yeah so this took a while. And I like to tease. Ha. So there. And Jenni would stick her tongue out at you too, but she doesn't really know you well enough. ;)
Heather! sigh You see, that's the big problem with writing this story. Nancy and I spend many a late night wishing we had Bill and Charlie. Are there any guys out there that are really like that??? Me personally, I'm still looking! (ps from Nancy - THANKS so much for reviewing my little R/H fic. And yes, it's a country song.. a very pretty one)
Carrie! Are you kidding me??? Of course I'll be alright!! I'm not going to let some crazed Death Eater keep me down! And you have Nancy to thank for the Red and Redder part of that chapter! Bloody Brilliant wasn't it??
Imp! Thanks for reading.although, you may have to wait a little longer for Bill to finally admit his true feelings. And Jenni too for that matter. (Not that I'm hard headed or anything!)
Ronsspawn! Yummy!! I couldn't agree with you more! Glad you enjoyed that chapter!! (I actually broke my chair one night just sitting on it while working on Ch. 16. True Story!!) So, I wouldn't worry about falling off the chair if I were you!
Little Wolf! Aw exams are a bit of a bother aren't they? Hope you did well, and thanks so much for reading!
Psiana! I must say, I think you have got to be my favorite person when it comes to reading all these reviews! I've been keeping that can o' whoop ass near by for future use! Thanks for the encouragement!!
Gohansfollower! A new reader! Excellent! Glad you're enjoying the story! It's great to get new readers.
Karen!! Bruise!!! Um.how embarrassed would you be if we told you that these reviews are public??? But, don't worry about it! We appreciate any and all helpful, constructive criticism we get from all of our fans!!
Anaxandra! AW!!! Your reviews are so honest. I'm really glad you take the time to point out what some people might think are little details and want us to make the story better! Hopefully we've portrayed our characters more as individual characters instead of paralleling each other like before. Thanks for reading!
LILY!!! HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT ME!!!! I was being tortured by a Death Eater and you go and laugh at me because I levitated a chair??? Humph. But you melt into a puddle with Charlie being all sweet and caring. WHAT ABOUT BILL??????? He was sweet, and kind.. Honestly! Just joking!!
Empress Genevieve! Another new reader! WOW!! We keep getting more and more! It's so good to know people are enjoying this story!
Anora! Wow!! It's been a while since we've heard from you! So sorry you've been busy, but we all know how that can be! Thanks for popping in and reading!
Christine. LOL!! Damsels in distress! The typical girly thing we've tried so hard to avoid! Now on the other hand.Smart, spunky, and capable.well, capable of finding trouble!! :-D
Margaret. We apologize for taking so long with this chapter. And we would never abandon our faithful readers! We do know how hard it is to be patient when you're waiting for a new chapter. But thanks for the complements. This story is really fun to write.. the goop with the serious and the funny with the serious (as you put it!) Enjoy!!
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It was the crick in his back that woke Charlie up. As he lay there, trying to figure out the best way to move without irritating his muscles even more, he became dimly aware of his surroundings. A dark room, unfamiliar... a couch, uncomfortable... and, was that a small woman on top of him?
Glancing down, he felt a rush of tenderness despite the pain in his back and the numbness in his right leg. The poor thing had cried herself to sleep in his arms last night, he remembered sadly, and he hadn't known where to put her, so he'd camped out on the couch and tucked Nancy in right next to him.
He sighed. How did she do it? How did one woman manage to be such an intoxicating blend of silliness and strength all wrapped up in the cutest brown eyes he'd ever seen? Charlie lay there, letting his mind wander over their talks and the crazy situations they seemed fated to stumble into.
Nancy sighed, interrupting his thoughts, and turned over in her sleep, changing the pressure that had been cutting the circulation off from his leg all night. As the blood rushed through his veins the entire leg flamed up with a monstrous case of pins and needles; Charlie couldn't hold in a groan. Nancy stirred a bit more, shifting uncomfortably, and in the process managing to kick his aching leg in four different places. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.
"Holy MERLIN," he gasped out as he forced his leg to bend and the pain increased dramatically. Gritting his teeth, he raised his knee up until his rather numb foot was flat on the couch, and sent Nancy sliding towards him. She landed sprawled out on his chest.
She raised her head then, blinking sleepily. "G'mornin' Charlie..." He had to hold his breath as she attempted to sit up, obviously not yet realizing that she was on HIM and not the couch. Really, it was immensely unfair that there were two other people in the apartment and that his mother had raised him to know better than to take advantage of the helpless... because his imagination was running wild, and if she moved another inch...
"What're you doing on my couch?"
He blinked. That was NOT what she was supposed to say. She was supposed to smile and lean in and...
Nancy poked him in the chest, just above where she was seated. "Charlie Weasley, why are you sleeping on my couch?"
Charlie grabbed her finger and smiled lazily up at her. "Well, SLEEPING wasn't really the first thing on my mind all night..." His smile widened as her face turned bright pink. Then she started moving again, this time obviously trying to find a less suggestive position, and Charlie decided that he'd better take control of the situation before she wiggled him into doing something that he'd prefer not to do with Bill and Jenni in the next room.
"Nancy..." he reached up and grabbed her shoulder, trying to hold her still. "Nancy, for the love of... stop MOVING!" When she didn't obey, Charlie brought the leg that WAS still functioning up to trap hers, wrapped his other arm around her waist and flipped them over, trapping her underneath him.
"Um... Charlie?" Nancy had frozen, not that it did much good at this point. SHE had been trying to get out of the way and now... well... now there was quite a lot of Charlie and it was rather on TOP of her.
"I did try, you know." Charlie propped himself on his elbows and looked down at her.
"Tri-tried what?" Suddenly her mouth seemed to be very dry; Nancy stumbled over her rather inane question and tried to inconspicuously moisten her lips.
Charlie stared. Didn't she have ANY sense of what she was doing to him? Dragging his mind back from the path that little gesture had sent it down, he tried to find his voice. She did it again, and he groaned, giving up. "I don't think even Mum could hold this against me..." he rasped, leaning in.
They had kissed a few times before. They'd even found themselves kissing in some unusual situations. But Nancy was quite sure that there'd never been this much fire behind it. At least, she was sure of that until one of Charlie's hands wound itself around her back and pulled her up to him, at which point she promptly stopped thinking in any capacity whatsoever.
Neither one of them could say how long it was, because both were so lost in the moment that they didn't hear the doorknob turn, or the creak of the hinges. Nancy guessed later that it was closer to mere seconds than it was to a small eternity, if only because she - thankfully - was still fully clothed. Honestly, the kiss they'd been sharing was the kind which caused your clothes to run away of their own free will... if given enough time. Which, she realized as she burrowed underneath Charlie to hide her very red face from the man standing in the doorway to the bedroom, would have been a VERY embarrassing story to tell.
Silence reigned for a moment, as Charlie tensed and turned to see just WHO Nancy was hiding from, and as a rather smug Bill took in the whole situation.
"Hey, Charlie..." his voice was glaringly normal, "if you... see Nancy around, could you ask her where the breakfast food is kept?"
As he watched, Charlie flushed slightly and glared at him, while the quivering shape UNDER Charlie extended a hand and pointed to a far corner of the room. Grinning he started over towards the cabinet she'd indicated. When neither Nancy or Charlie said anything, Bill decided that it would be fun to see how red his brother could get.
"Was I interrupting something? Because I could go back in the room with Jenni and start on breakfast later."
A low and menacing growl from the direction of the couch told Bill that he had hit a nerve, but rather than let he go he continued. With a huge grin plastered on his face he continued rummaging through the cabinets. "I wonder where Nancy keeps her pots and pans?"
When he didn't hear any response, Bill turned to see the same small hand move from under a now VERY red-faced Charlie and point towards another set of cabinets. One more try, he thought devilishly.
"You know Charlie, if you weren't going to lock the doors or anything, you could have at least put a 'Do Not Disturb' sign out."
The menacing growl from earlier was now a full-fledged roar and Bill knew he had pushed his limits. With an instinct born of years of fighting with his brother, Bill ducked just as a jet of colorful sparks came from Charlie's wand. It took only a matter of seconds before Bill turned to face Charlie, wand in hand ready to return the favor.
Bill was surprised to see that Charlie had removed himself from the couch and was standing only a few feet away from in. His grin widened as he noticed his brother was still extremely red in the face. Breakfast forgotten for the moment, Bill twirled his wand and pointed it towards Charlie just as an equally red and embarrassed Nancy stepped between them.
"There will be NO dueling in MY apartment."
Bill raised an eyebrow at Nancy. She was glaring at him, and at the same time trying to avoid catching Charlie's eye. "No one will be casting any hexes, OR curses. This place was messy enough after last night. I will not have a repeat performance. Is that understood?"
Nancy waited with her arms crossed for an answer. She was satisfied with a nod from both Bill and Charlie and waited patiently for them to put their wands away. As Bill turned back to the kitchen Nancy's voice caught his attention. "Where's Jenni?"
"She's still sleeping. I thought it would be best not to wake her up."
Nancy rolled her eyes. "Best not to wake her? So instead you were going to start shouting hexes? I'm sure she would have gotten a lot of rest that way."
Bill slowly turned around and glared at Nancy. "He started this you know. He shot off the first hex." He pointed at Charlie who had retreated back to the couch. "Why aren't you yelling at Charlie for being loud?"
Just as Nancy was about to answer, the bedroom door opened and Jenni made her way slowly to the couch.
Nancy glared back at Bill. "Now look what you did. You woke her up." Not waiting for a reply, Nancy turned and sat near Jenni. "How are you feeling this morning?"
Jenni grimaced, "I have a headache."
"I'm not surprised, with all the yelling going on this morning." Nancy shot a glance towards Bill's back.
Jenni raised an eyebrow. "What was all that yelling about?"
Charlie mumbled something about finding his shoes and turned a lovely shade of crimson. Nancy turned just as red and began stuttering. "Oh. That was nothing. Just Charlie and Bill having a fight."
Bill leaned against the doorframe. "Lets get this straight. I walked in to fix breakfast and there was a bit of a scuffle on the couch."
Jenni noticed the grin on Bill's face and looked back and forth from Nancy to Charlie. "What sort of scuffle?"
"There was no scuffle." Jenni turned her head slowly to the opposite end of the couch where Charlie was sitting and saw him catch Nancy's eye briefly.
Jenni's eyes twinkled with delight. "Nance, does this have anything to do with that buddy system we were talking about?"
Nancy's jaw dropped. How dare Jenni insinuate anything! It wasn't like SHE had been caught by Mrs. Weasley, unlike other people she could name. She closed her mouth and decided that ignoring Jenni was better than trying to formulate an answer that wouldn't incriminate herself. Nose in the air, she headed towards the kitchen to begin setting the table for breakfast.
"So what's this buddy system Jenni was talking about?" Bill asked Nancy as she reached for the plates. He turned away grinning when all he got in reply was silence. "Just wondering." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"It was supposed to keep us from wandering off into dangerous situations..." she whispered, reminding both of them why Jenni was sitting so carefully on the couch.
Nancy stopped talking long enough to cast a worried look towards the other room, reminding herself that Jenni didn't wander off into the fight yesterday. The dangerous situation had been right in her own apartment.
Bill had also turned to face the other room. There was a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach as he watched Jenni. Every time he thought of what she had gone through last night he felt sick. He began placing the food on the table and took a deep breath. At least she had slept through the night. He on the other hand hadn't slept at all.
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Breakfast had been a quiet affair. There was still a nervous tension as everyone avoided talking about the events of last night. Jenni sat chewing the last of her food slowly. There was still a dull throbbing sensation in her head and sudden movements reminded her that her body was still very sore. Nancy and Bill had worried her constantly asking if she was ok, or if she needed anything. And while she was thankful for their support, she was also ready to go back to her nice, quiet, apartment.
Jenni pushed her plate away slowly. She avoided eye contact with Bill, knowing full well what his reaction would be, and spoke to Nancy. "Nancy, I think it's time that I head back to my apartment. You still have a lot of cleaning to do and I would just." Before Jenni could finish her sentence, her ears were greeted with a loud resounding NO coming from everyone seated at the table. She had expected Nancy and Bill to argue the point, but she couldn't hide her shock as Charlie had also expressed his disagreement.
"I don't think either one of you needs to stay alone." Charlie spoke in an even tone. "That Death Eater may be after Nancy, but he also knows who you are Jenni."
"Charlie's right. You're not safe." Bill's voice was soft as he spoke. He almost grinned as he saw that familiar flash of anger in Jenni's eyes but his concern for her safety held him in check. "You may have just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he knew your name. You're on their list."
"And just what do you plan on doing? Are you going to stay and baby sit us for the next three weeks?" Jenni's voice rose a notch as she glared at the two Weasleys. "We have things to do. We both work you know." At the mention of work, Jenni glanced up at the clock on Nancy's wall and swallowed hard. They were both late for work.
"You are not going to work Jenni." Nancy's voice was firm.
"But, we have that article. And it's due Friday. I won't let you work on that by yourself." Jenni argued.
Nancy rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll go get our things and we'll work on it from here. But you need rest."
"But Nancy, you can't miss work just because."
"JENNI!" Nancy's sharp tone caused Jenni to stop talking. "I'll just tell them you're not feeling well. That you think you have the flu and we'll work on the article from here. It's no big deal."
Jenni sat back in her chair. No use fighting a losing battle. She glanced at Bill who had gone slightly pale. Charlie apparently had noticed as well. "What's wrong with you?" he asked.
"Work." Bill paused before continuing. "I have that yearly interview and it's scheduled for today."
Charlie, sensing the excuses about to start flying broke in. "No way are you going to skip that interview Bill. You know how important it is for your job."
"But Charlie, I can't."
"Oh yes you can. I'll stay here with Nancy and Jenni. If anything comes up you'll be the first to know."
Bill sighed. "All right then. I just have to stop by the house to change."
At the mention of the Weasley household, both men stared at each other. "MUM!" They both exclaimed.
Charlie blanched. "She's going to kill us for this one."
Bill nodded. "I bet she's already called out half the ministry to search for us."
Jenni and Nancy exchanged a look and hid their smiles. Two grown men afraid of their mum.
"Maybe I should send an owl to let her know what happened." Charlie said. And as an afterthought added, "And that we're okay."
Bill nodded. Jenni noticed he seemed slightly relieved that Charlie had offered to send the owl. "Maybe I'll just head straight to work. That way I can get back here quicker."
Jenni grinned. She couldn't hold it in any longer. She noticed Nancy holding back a smile as well and knew she was thinking along the same lines. "You're scared."
Bill turned to face Jenni. "What did you say?"
"I said you're scared." Jenni held a straight face as her eyes dared Bill to challenge her accusations.
Without hesitating, Bill responded. "Damn right I'm scared. You have no idea what she's like when she's angry. I swear, I think even some of those dragons Charlie works with would tremble at the sight of an angry Molly Weasley."
Jenni and Nancy rolled with laughter. Charlie had only backed up his brother's story causing more laughter from the two girls as they recounted numerous stories of their mother's angry outbursts.
After the laughter died down, Nancy took Charlie to her bedroom and pointed out her owl so that Charlie could write the apology to the matriarch of the Weasley clan. She came out of the room a few minutes later, blushing, and ignored the raised eyebrows she got from Bill and the wink from Jenni.
"I'm off to work, I'll be back SOON. Don't you overexert yourself, you hear?" she shook her finger at Jenni and marched out the door. Waving at her with a smile, as soon as the door shut Jenni managed to muster up the strength to move from the table and head to the couch. Bill caught up with her before she had walked more than a few steps.
"Jenni, wait." Bill wrapped his arms around Jenni. "Are you going to be okay? I should only be gone for a couple of hours." He knew she didn't like all the extra attention that last nights events had given her. He admired her strong will and the courage she had shown. But the truth was, deep down he could see just how scared she really was and the idea of leaving her for only a second was pure torture
Jenni smiled. "I'll be fine. Besides. Nancy will be back in a few minutes. We have a lovely profile piece to write on everyone's favorite potions professor from Hogwarts." She held back the urge to argue that she didn't need captain dragon to baby sit her for the few minutes that Nancy would be gone. Instead she rested her head on Bill's chest and let the strength and safety of his embrace surround her.
Bill sighed, not wanting to let go of Jenni. Not yet anyway. He knew this interview was important, but he also knew they would probably inform him that his stay in London was over. He had been assigned to Gringotts in London temporarily and he had a sneaking suspicion that he might not see Jenni for a very long time if he was sent back to Egypt. Pulling away slightly, Bill looked at Jenni. He ran a hand through her hair and smiled. "I'll see you in a little bit." He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips before leaving.
Jenni waited until Bill left before heading toward the couch. She was gingerly touching her eye as she walked. Overnight it had turned several shades of blues, purples, greens and yellows and was still extremely sore.
"I hope the other guy looks worse..."
She spun around, wincing at the sudden motion to see Charlie watching her carefully. Suddenly, without Nancy or Bill as a go-between, she felt rather uncomfortable in the presence of this relative stranger.
"I just sent off the owl... sweet little thing Nancy has. That should save us all from the wrath of Mum." He grinned, not looking uncomfortable in the least, she noticed.
"Yeah, we picked him out for her sixteenth birthday..." she smiled at the memory, ignoring the pain in her face as she did. "He was the rattiest owl I'd ever seen... but she insisted that she was in love and she took him home and within a month he was just as sleek as he is now." The strain of standing for this long was getting to her, and Jenni looked around for the nearest chair, only to find that Charlie was bringing one over from the table for her. "Thanks."
"No problem. I'd have two very scary people to deal with if you fell over on my watch." His gentle words were offset by a silly grin.
Jenni couldn't resist the opportunity to tease. It felt nice to be treated like an adult for a little while, and not a breakable object. "Scary, eh? So when Nancy asks me what you think of her, THAT is what I say?"
Charlie had the good grace to flush. "Well... no of course not. But they have both gone off the deep end a bit, wouldn't you say? Understandable of course, although I saw those death glares you were passing around the table at lunch." Jenni smiled unrepentantly. Charlie grinned back and launched into a story about his family's owl, Errol.
Jenni was valiantly fighting back giggles by the time he was done. "He fell down the CHIMNEY? Like... like a santa-owl!"
"Took Dad three days to find him... we can't figure out why he's not DEAD after all of this. But no, he lives on to embarrass Ginny and Ron by falling out of the sky at school, and to take three times as long to inform the rest of us of ANYTHING..." he shook his head. "Ah, the joys of being a Weasley."
"So... um..." as the laughter died down, Jenni cast about for another topic of conversation. "He has his yearly interview today, hmm? Big deal?"
Charlie looked up, "Not especially, Bill's great at what he does. Although..." he trailed off. Both men had asked that they be transferred back to England after the end of the last Hogwarts school year.
What had happened was not common knowledge, and even he had only a vague understanding of it all - a portkey, You-Know-Who regaining human form, some poor Hufflepuff and Harry Potter being dumped right in the middle of it. The details his mother had written to him had been hazy, and even when he'd questioned her, she would only say with certainty that times would be getting darker. Bill had been there, but he kept quiet about it too, only promising that he'd fill his brother when he could. Charlie had noticed her paying special attention to Ron and his friends, Harry and Hermione, this summer. Those kids just seemed to have the damnedest luck, but he knew it was foolish and unfair to assume it would hold forever. He wanted to be close enough to help, next time his little brother found himself in need.
Jenni was watching Charlie's face. He had been smiling as he answered her, but as his voice trailed off, his eyes went distant and strain showed on his face. For a moment, she felt panic swell inside of her. What could possibly happen at this meeting that would make Charlie look so worried?
"It's not... not some kind of test, is it? He'll be ok, won't he?"
Charlie was yanked out of his thoughts by her question. Test... his mind touched on the Tri-Wizard tournament one last time, reminding him of one other detail before he forced it back to the conversation at hand.
"No... nothing like that," he smiled reassuringly, weighing his next words carefully. Jenni visibly relaxed, waiting for him to continue.
"Do you remember anything about what happened at Hogwarts last year?"
She shrugged, looking confused. "I... well, we at the paper were all thoroughly embarrassed by the Skeeter's articles on it. Come to think of it, she must have gotten fired... hasn't been seen around the office since. The Tri-Wizard Tournament, right? And... didn't a boy die?"
He nodded slowly. "Cedric Diggory... had a lot of promise as a Quidditch player." After a moment, he pulled himself out of his dark thoughts and back to the subject at hand. Jenni was watching him carefully, sensing the weight of what he was trying to explain, whatever it was. "Well... Harry was right in the middle of it all. And, since HE was, so were Ron and Hermione, and Ginny wasn't too far out either."
"Sure, I met him while we were at your family's home..." Jenni ventured carefully, not really understanding the point he was headed for. "He's quite the normal young living legend. And he seems quite close to your family."
"Exactly. He is. And... well, because of that, we older Weasleys are trying to stay closer to home. That's what Bill went to find out... whether or not they approved his transfer request."
Jenni blinked, confused as to how this all tied together. The reporter in her could sense that there was much more to the story... but she just didn't have the energy to grill Charlie Weasley, especially when he was obviously humoring her by telling her ANY of this. And then her sluggish mind finally caught up with the end of his sentence. "Transfer? You mean... they might NOT approve it? But... where else would he be?"
"Egypt for the last few years... before that, he'd been sent to Poland. Hated that with a passion," Charlie grinned, remembering. "He said the food was worse than even England's, and that it was too cold to be interesting."
She just blinked at him. "E-Egypt? Well that's... far." Charlie sighed, and then smiled at her. "But I wouldn't worry too much. That's our job... in the Weasley blood, you know. Besides, Bill's about the most convincing chap I know. As I'm sure you're aware..."
Jenni blushed almost on reflex, but her heart was sinking. Bill might be sent back to Africa? It figured... she finally got used to having him around, to letting him under her defenses, and BAM - he would be gone just like that. But this wasn't something she should bother Charlie with, she realized, making an effort to continue the conversation.
"Well... what about yourself? I mean... are you headed back out to Romania?"
Charlie glanced at her, but hesitated. He'd wanted to talk to Nancy about it first, since he was hoping that he'd get to see her on a more regular basis now that he was going to be living in England. Still, he supposed it couldn't hurt to tell Jenni. It would probably cheer her up a bit. Turning back to look at her, he found himself caught in the accusing brown eyes of Nancy, who was standing just inside the door, papers piled in her arms.
"I..." his words dried up in his throat as he tried to figure out why she was looking at him with such obvious anger.
"Jenni, I'm back! Lets get started, if you're feeling up for it. I'm sure Charlie has OTHER PLACES to be."
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A/N - Yes, we're leaving it there. *evil cackle* No, seriously. We're OUT of gas, and wanted to post SOMETHING up for y'all. Now review and we'll work on not posting for another month. *innocent look* Did I just say that out loud?
Zoe!!! I'll try to keep Nancy away from Snape as long as I can. No promises though! You know how she can be when she gets it in her head she wants something.(or someone!!!) :-D
Louisa!! LOL, save some of that anger!! Don't worry, the evil Death Eater will get his.oops!! Don't want to give away the plot. Glad to see you still enjoy reading our story!!
Ellie - Yo yo yo! (so this one Jenni didn't do) Yeah so this took a while. And I like to tease. Ha. So there. And Jenni would stick her tongue out at you too, but she doesn't really know you well enough. ;)
Heather! sigh You see, that's the big problem with writing this story. Nancy and I spend many a late night wishing we had Bill and Charlie. Are there any guys out there that are really like that??? Me personally, I'm still looking! (ps from Nancy - THANKS so much for reviewing my little R/H fic. And yes, it's a country song.. a very pretty one)
Carrie! Are you kidding me??? Of course I'll be alright!! I'm not going to let some crazed Death Eater keep me down! And you have Nancy to thank for the Red and Redder part of that chapter! Bloody Brilliant wasn't it??
Imp! Thanks for reading.although, you may have to wait a little longer for Bill to finally admit his true feelings. And Jenni too for that matter. (Not that I'm hard headed or anything!)
Ronsspawn! Yummy!! I couldn't agree with you more! Glad you enjoyed that chapter!! (I actually broke my chair one night just sitting on it while working on Ch. 16. True Story!!) So, I wouldn't worry about falling off the chair if I were you!
Little Wolf! Aw exams are a bit of a bother aren't they? Hope you did well, and thanks so much for reading!
Psiana! I must say, I think you have got to be my favorite person when it comes to reading all these reviews! I've been keeping that can o' whoop ass near by for future use! Thanks for the encouragement!!
Gohansfollower! A new reader! Excellent! Glad you're enjoying the story! It's great to get new readers.
Karen!! Bruise!!! Um.how embarrassed would you be if we told you that these reviews are public??? But, don't worry about it! We appreciate any and all helpful, constructive criticism we get from all of our fans!!
Anaxandra! AW!!! Your reviews are so honest. I'm really glad you take the time to point out what some people might think are little details and want us to make the story better! Hopefully we've portrayed our characters more as individual characters instead of paralleling each other like before. Thanks for reading!
LILY!!! HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT ME!!!! I was being tortured by a Death Eater and you go and laugh at me because I levitated a chair??? Humph. But you melt into a puddle with Charlie being all sweet and caring. WHAT ABOUT BILL??????? He was sweet, and kind.. Honestly! Just joking!!
Empress Genevieve! Another new reader! WOW!! We keep getting more and more! It's so good to know people are enjoying this story!
Anora! Wow!! It's been a while since we've heard from you! So sorry you've been busy, but we all know how that can be! Thanks for popping in and reading!
Christine. LOL!! Damsels in distress! The typical girly thing we've tried so hard to avoid! Now on the other hand.Smart, spunky, and capable.well, capable of finding trouble!! :-D
Margaret. We apologize for taking so long with this chapter. And we would never abandon our faithful readers! We do know how hard it is to be patient when you're waiting for a new chapter. But thanks for the complements. This story is really fun to write.. the goop with the serious and the funny with the serious (as you put it!) Enjoy!!
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It was the crick in his back that woke Charlie up. As he lay there, trying to figure out the best way to move without irritating his muscles even more, he became dimly aware of his surroundings. A dark room, unfamiliar... a couch, uncomfortable... and, was that a small woman on top of him?
Glancing down, he felt a rush of tenderness despite the pain in his back and the numbness in his right leg. The poor thing had cried herself to sleep in his arms last night, he remembered sadly, and he hadn't known where to put her, so he'd camped out on the couch and tucked Nancy in right next to him.
He sighed. How did she do it? How did one woman manage to be such an intoxicating blend of silliness and strength all wrapped up in the cutest brown eyes he'd ever seen? Charlie lay there, letting his mind wander over their talks and the crazy situations they seemed fated to stumble into.
Nancy sighed, interrupting his thoughts, and turned over in her sleep, changing the pressure that had been cutting the circulation off from his leg all night. As the blood rushed through his veins the entire leg flamed up with a monstrous case of pins and needles; Charlie couldn't hold in a groan. Nancy stirred a bit more, shifting uncomfortably, and in the process managing to kick his aching leg in four different places. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.
"Holy MERLIN," he gasped out as he forced his leg to bend and the pain increased dramatically. Gritting his teeth, he raised his knee up until his rather numb foot was flat on the couch, and sent Nancy sliding towards him. She landed sprawled out on his chest.
She raised her head then, blinking sleepily. "G'mornin' Charlie..." He had to hold his breath as she attempted to sit up, obviously not yet realizing that she was on HIM and not the couch. Really, it was immensely unfair that there were two other people in the apartment and that his mother had raised him to know better than to take advantage of the helpless... because his imagination was running wild, and if she moved another inch...
"What're you doing on my couch?"
He blinked. That was NOT what she was supposed to say. She was supposed to smile and lean in and...
Nancy poked him in the chest, just above where she was seated. "Charlie Weasley, why are you sleeping on my couch?"
Charlie grabbed her finger and smiled lazily up at her. "Well, SLEEPING wasn't really the first thing on my mind all night..." His smile widened as her face turned bright pink. Then she started moving again, this time obviously trying to find a less suggestive position, and Charlie decided that he'd better take control of the situation before she wiggled him into doing something that he'd prefer not to do with Bill and Jenni in the next room.
"Nancy..." he reached up and grabbed her shoulder, trying to hold her still. "Nancy, for the love of... stop MOVING!" When she didn't obey, Charlie brought the leg that WAS still functioning up to trap hers, wrapped his other arm around her waist and flipped them over, trapping her underneath him.
"Um... Charlie?" Nancy had frozen, not that it did much good at this point. SHE had been trying to get out of the way and now... well... now there was quite a lot of Charlie and it was rather on TOP of her.
"I did try, you know." Charlie propped himself on his elbows and looked down at her.
"Tri-tried what?" Suddenly her mouth seemed to be very dry; Nancy stumbled over her rather inane question and tried to inconspicuously moisten her lips.
Charlie stared. Didn't she have ANY sense of what she was doing to him? Dragging his mind back from the path that little gesture had sent it down, he tried to find his voice. She did it again, and he groaned, giving up. "I don't think even Mum could hold this against me..." he rasped, leaning in.
They had kissed a few times before. They'd even found themselves kissing in some unusual situations. But Nancy was quite sure that there'd never been this much fire behind it. At least, she was sure of that until one of Charlie's hands wound itself around her back and pulled her up to him, at which point she promptly stopped thinking in any capacity whatsoever.
Neither one of them could say how long it was, because both were so lost in the moment that they didn't hear the doorknob turn, or the creak of the hinges. Nancy guessed later that it was closer to mere seconds than it was to a small eternity, if only because she - thankfully - was still fully clothed. Honestly, the kiss they'd been sharing was the kind which caused your clothes to run away of their own free will... if given enough time. Which, she realized as she burrowed underneath Charlie to hide her very red face from the man standing in the doorway to the bedroom, would have been a VERY embarrassing story to tell.
Silence reigned for a moment, as Charlie tensed and turned to see just WHO Nancy was hiding from, and as a rather smug Bill took in the whole situation.
"Hey, Charlie..." his voice was glaringly normal, "if you... see Nancy around, could you ask her where the breakfast food is kept?"
As he watched, Charlie flushed slightly and glared at him, while the quivering shape UNDER Charlie extended a hand and pointed to a far corner of the room. Grinning he started over towards the cabinet she'd indicated. When neither Nancy or Charlie said anything, Bill decided that it would be fun to see how red his brother could get.
"Was I interrupting something? Because I could go back in the room with Jenni and start on breakfast later."
A low and menacing growl from the direction of the couch told Bill that he had hit a nerve, but rather than let he go he continued. With a huge grin plastered on his face he continued rummaging through the cabinets. "I wonder where Nancy keeps her pots and pans?"
When he didn't hear any response, Bill turned to see the same small hand move from under a now VERY red-faced Charlie and point towards another set of cabinets. One more try, he thought devilishly.
"You know Charlie, if you weren't going to lock the doors or anything, you could have at least put a 'Do Not Disturb' sign out."
The menacing growl from earlier was now a full-fledged roar and Bill knew he had pushed his limits. With an instinct born of years of fighting with his brother, Bill ducked just as a jet of colorful sparks came from Charlie's wand. It took only a matter of seconds before Bill turned to face Charlie, wand in hand ready to return the favor.
Bill was surprised to see that Charlie had removed himself from the couch and was standing only a few feet away from in. His grin widened as he noticed his brother was still extremely red in the face. Breakfast forgotten for the moment, Bill twirled his wand and pointed it towards Charlie just as an equally red and embarrassed Nancy stepped between them.
"There will be NO dueling in MY apartment."
Bill raised an eyebrow at Nancy. She was glaring at him, and at the same time trying to avoid catching Charlie's eye. "No one will be casting any hexes, OR curses. This place was messy enough after last night. I will not have a repeat performance. Is that understood?"
Nancy waited with her arms crossed for an answer. She was satisfied with a nod from both Bill and Charlie and waited patiently for them to put their wands away. As Bill turned back to the kitchen Nancy's voice caught his attention. "Where's Jenni?"
"She's still sleeping. I thought it would be best not to wake her up."
Nancy rolled her eyes. "Best not to wake her? So instead you were going to start shouting hexes? I'm sure she would have gotten a lot of rest that way."
Bill slowly turned around and glared at Nancy. "He started this you know. He shot off the first hex." He pointed at Charlie who had retreated back to the couch. "Why aren't you yelling at Charlie for being loud?"
Just as Nancy was about to answer, the bedroom door opened and Jenni made her way slowly to the couch.
Nancy glared back at Bill. "Now look what you did. You woke her up." Not waiting for a reply, Nancy turned and sat near Jenni. "How are you feeling this morning?"
Jenni grimaced, "I have a headache."
"I'm not surprised, with all the yelling going on this morning." Nancy shot a glance towards Bill's back.
Jenni raised an eyebrow. "What was all that yelling about?"
Charlie mumbled something about finding his shoes and turned a lovely shade of crimson. Nancy turned just as red and began stuttering. "Oh. That was nothing. Just Charlie and Bill having a fight."
Bill leaned against the doorframe. "Lets get this straight. I walked in to fix breakfast and there was a bit of a scuffle on the couch."
Jenni noticed the grin on Bill's face and looked back and forth from Nancy to Charlie. "What sort of scuffle?"
"There was no scuffle." Jenni turned her head slowly to the opposite end of the couch where Charlie was sitting and saw him catch Nancy's eye briefly.
Jenni's eyes twinkled with delight. "Nance, does this have anything to do with that buddy system we were talking about?"
Nancy's jaw dropped. How dare Jenni insinuate anything! It wasn't like SHE had been caught by Mrs. Weasley, unlike other people she could name. She closed her mouth and decided that ignoring Jenni was better than trying to formulate an answer that wouldn't incriminate herself. Nose in the air, she headed towards the kitchen to begin setting the table for breakfast.
"So what's this buddy system Jenni was talking about?" Bill asked Nancy as she reached for the plates. He turned away grinning when all he got in reply was silence. "Just wondering." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"It was supposed to keep us from wandering off into dangerous situations..." she whispered, reminding both of them why Jenni was sitting so carefully on the couch.
Nancy stopped talking long enough to cast a worried look towards the other room, reminding herself that Jenni didn't wander off into the fight yesterday. The dangerous situation had been right in her own apartment.
Bill had also turned to face the other room. There was a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach as he watched Jenni. Every time he thought of what she had gone through last night he felt sick. He began placing the food on the table and took a deep breath. At least she had slept through the night. He on the other hand hadn't slept at all.
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Breakfast had been a quiet affair. There was still a nervous tension as everyone avoided talking about the events of last night. Jenni sat chewing the last of her food slowly. There was still a dull throbbing sensation in her head and sudden movements reminded her that her body was still very sore. Nancy and Bill had worried her constantly asking if she was ok, or if she needed anything. And while she was thankful for their support, she was also ready to go back to her nice, quiet, apartment.
Jenni pushed her plate away slowly. She avoided eye contact with Bill, knowing full well what his reaction would be, and spoke to Nancy. "Nancy, I think it's time that I head back to my apartment. You still have a lot of cleaning to do and I would just." Before Jenni could finish her sentence, her ears were greeted with a loud resounding NO coming from everyone seated at the table. She had expected Nancy and Bill to argue the point, but she couldn't hide her shock as Charlie had also expressed his disagreement.
"I don't think either one of you needs to stay alone." Charlie spoke in an even tone. "That Death Eater may be after Nancy, but he also knows who you are Jenni."
"Charlie's right. You're not safe." Bill's voice was soft as he spoke. He almost grinned as he saw that familiar flash of anger in Jenni's eyes but his concern for her safety held him in check. "You may have just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he knew your name. You're on their list."
"And just what do you plan on doing? Are you going to stay and baby sit us for the next three weeks?" Jenni's voice rose a notch as she glared at the two Weasleys. "We have things to do. We both work you know." At the mention of work, Jenni glanced up at the clock on Nancy's wall and swallowed hard. They were both late for work.
"You are not going to work Jenni." Nancy's voice was firm.
"But, we have that article. And it's due Friday. I won't let you work on that by yourself." Jenni argued.
Nancy rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll go get our things and we'll work on it from here. But you need rest."
"But Nancy, you can't miss work just because."
"JENNI!" Nancy's sharp tone caused Jenni to stop talking. "I'll just tell them you're not feeling well. That you think you have the flu and we'll work on the article from here. It's no big deal."
Jenni sat back in her chair. No use fighting a losing battle. She glanced at Bill who had gone slightly pale. Charlie apparently had noticed as well. "What's wrong with you?" he asked.
"Work." Bill paused before continuing. "I have that yearly interview and it's scheduled for today."
Charlie, sensing the excuses about to start flying broke in. "No way are you going to skip that interview Bill. You know how important it is for your job."
"But Charlie, I can't."
"Oh yes you can. I'll stay here with Nancy and Jenni. If anything comes up you'll be the first to know."
Bill sighed. "All right then. I just have to stop by the house to change."
At the mention of the Weasley household, both men stared at each other. "MUM!" They both exclaimed.
Charlie blanched. "She's going to kill us for this one."
Bill nodded. "I bet she's already called out half the ministry to search for us."
Jenni and Nancy exchanged a look and hid their smiles. Two grown men afraid of their mum.
"Maybe I should send an owl to let her know what happened." Charlie said. And as an afterthought added, "And that we're okay."
Bill nodded. Jenni noticed he seemed slightly relieved that Charlie had offered to send the owl. "Maybe I'll just head straight to work. That way I can get back here quicker."
Jenni grinned. She couldn't hold it in any longer. She noticed Nancy holding back a smile as well and knew she was thinking along the same lines. "You're scared."
Bill turned to face Jenni. "What did you say?"
"I said you're scared." Jenni held a straight face as her eyes dared Bill to challenge her accusations.
Without hesitating, Bill responded. "Damn right I'm scared. You have no idea what she's like when she's angry. I swear, I think even some of those dragons Charlie works with would tremble at the sight of an angry Molly Weasley."
Jenni and Nancy rolled with laughter. Charlie had only backed up his brother's story causing more laughter from the two girls as they recounted numerous stories of their mother's angry outbursts.
After the laughter died down, Nancy took Charlie to her bedroom and pointed out her owl so that Charlie could write the apology to the matriarch of the Weasley clan. She came out of the room a few minutes later, blushing, and ignored the raised eyebrows she got from Bill and the wink from Jenni.
"I'm off to work, I'll be back SOON. Don't you overexert yourself, you hear?" she shook her finger at Jenni and marched out the door. Waving at her with a smile, as soon as the door shut Jenni managed to muster up the strength to move from the table and head to the couch. Bill caught up with her before she had walked more than a few steps.
"Jenni, wait." Bill wrapped his arms around Jenni. "Are you going to be okay? I should only be gone for a couple of hours." He knew she didn't like all the extra attention that last nights events had given her. He admired her strong will and the courage she had shown. But the truth was, deep down he could see just how scared she really was and the idea of leaving her for only a second was pure torture
Jenni smiled. "I'll be fine. Besides. Nancy will be back in a few minutes. We have a lovely profile piece to write on everyone's favorite potions professor from Hogwarts." She held back the urge to argue that she didn't need captain dragon to baby sit her for the few minutes that Nancy would be gone. Instead she rested her head on Bill's chest and let the strength and safety of his embrace surround her.
Bill sighed, not wanting to let go of Jenni. Not yet anyway. He knew this interview was important, but he also knew they would probably inform him that his stay in London was over. He had been assigned to Gringotts in London temporarily and he had a sneaking suspicion that he might not see Jenni for a very long time if he was sent back to Egypt. Pulling away slightly, Bill looked at Jenni. He ran a hand through her hair and smiled. "I'll see you in a little bit." He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips before leaving.
Jenni waited until Bill left before heading toward the couch. She was gingerly touching her eye as she walked. Overnight it had turned several shades of blues, purples, greens and yellows and was still extremely sore.
"I hope the other guy looks worse..."
She spun around, wincing at the sudden motion to see Charlie watching her carefully. Suddenly, without Nancy or Bill as a go-between, she felt rather uncomfortable in the presence of this relative stranger.
"I just sent off the owl... sweet little thing Nancy has. That should save us all from the wrath of Mum." He grinned, not looking uncomfortable in the least, she noticed.
"Yeah, we picked him out for her sixteenth birthday..." she smiled at the memory, ignoring the pain in her face as she did. "He was the rattiest owl I'd ever seen... but she insisted that she was in love and she took him home and within a month he was just as sleek as he is now." The strain of standing for this long was getting to her, and Jenni looked around for the nearest chair, only to find that Charlie was bringing one over from the table for her. "Thanks."
"No problem. I'd have two very scary people to deal with if you fell over on my watch." His gentle words were offset by a silly grin.
Jenni couldn't resist the opportunity to tease. It felt nice to be treated like an adult for a little while, and not a breakable object. "Scary, eh? So when Nancy asks me what you think of her, THAT is what I say?"
Charlie had the good grace to flush. "Well... no of course not. But they have both gone off the deep end a bit, wouldn't you say? Understandable of course, although I saw those death glares you were passing around the table at lunch." Jenni smiled unrepentantly. Charlie grinned back and launched into a story about his family's owl, Errol.
Jenni was valiantly fighting back giggles by the time he was done. "He fell down the CHIMNEY? Like... like a santa-owl!"
"Took Dad three days to find him... we can't figure out why he's not DEAD after all of this. But no, he lives on to embarrass Ginny and Ron by falling out of the sky at school, and to take three times as long to inform the rest of us of ANYTHING..." he shook his head. "Ah, the joys of being a Weasley."
"So... um..." as the laughter died down, Jenni cast about for another topic of conversation. "He has his yearly interview today, hmm? Big deal?"
Charlie looked up, "Not especially, Bill's great at what he does. Although..." he trailed off. Both men had asked that they be transferred back to England after the end of the last Hogwarts school year.
What had happened was not common knowledge, and even he had only a vague understanding of it all - a portkey, You-Know-Who regaining human form, some poor Hufflepuff and Harry Potter being dumped right in the middle of it. The details his mother had written to him had been hazy, and even when he'd questioned her, she would only say with certainty that times would be getting darker. Bill had been there, but he kept quiet about it too, only promising that he'd fill his brother when he could. Charlie had noticed her paying special attention to Ron and his friends, Harry and Hermione, this summer. Those kids just seemed to have the damnedest luck, but he knew it was foolish and unfair to assume it would hold forever. He wanted to be close enough to help, next time his little brother found himself in need.
Jenni was watching Charlie's face. He had been smiling as he answered her, but as his voice trailed off, his eyes went distant and strain showed on his face. For a moment, she felt panic swell inside of her. What could possibly happen at this meeting that would make Charlie look so worried?
"It's not... not some kind of test, is it? He'll be ok, won't he?"
Charlie was yanked out of his thoughts by her question. Test... his mind touched on the Tri-Wizard tournament one last time, reminding him of one other detail before he forced it back to the conversation at hand.
"No... nothing like that," he smiled reassuringly, weighing his next words carefully. Jenni visibly relaxed, waiting for him to continue.
"Do you remember anything about what happened at Hogwarts last year?"
She shrugged, looking confused. "I... well, we at the paper were all thoroughly embarrassed by the Skeeter's articles on it. Come to think of it, she must have gotten fired... hasn't been seen around the office since. The Tri-Wizard Tournament, right? And... didn't a boy die?"
He nodded slowly. "Cedric Diggory... had a lot of promise as a Quidditch player." After a moment, he pulled himself out of his dark thoughts and back to the subject at hand. Jenni was watching him carefully, sensing the weight of what he was trying to explain, whatever it was. "Well... Harry was right in the middle of it all. And, since HE was, so were Ron and Hermione, and Ginny wasn't too far out either."
"Sure, I met him while we were at your family's home..." Jenni ventured carefully, not really understanding the point he was headed for. "He's quite the normal young living legend. And he seems quite close to your family."
"Exactly. He is. And... well, because of that, we older Weasleys are trying to stay closer to home. That's what Bill went to find out... whether or not they approved his transfer request."
Jenni blinked, confused as to how this all tied together. The reporter in her could sense that there was much more to the story... but she just didn't have the energy to grill Charlie Weasley, especially when he was obviously humoring her by telling her ANY of this. And then her sluggish mind finally caught up with the end of his sentence. "Transfer? You mean... they might NOT approve it? But... where else would he be?"
"Egypt for the last few years... before that, he'd been sent to Poland. Hated that with a passion," Charlie grinned, remembering. "He said the food was worse than even England's, and that it was too cold to be interesting."
She just blinked at him. "E-Egypt? Well that's... far." Charlie sighed, and then smiled at her. "But I wouldn't worry too much. That's our job... in the Weasley blood, you know. Besides, Bill's about the most convincing chap I know. As I'm sure you're aware..."
Jenni blushed almost on reflex, but her heart was sinking. Bill might be sent back to Africa? It figured... she finally got used to having him around, to letting him under her defenses, and BAM - he would be gone just like that. But this wasn't something she should bother Charlie with, she realized, making an effort to continue the conversation.
"Well... what about yourself? I mean... are you headed back out to Romania?"
Charlie glanced at her, but hesitated. He'd wanted to talk to Nancy about it first, since he was hoping that he'd get to see her on a more regular basis now that he was going to be living in England. Still, he supposed it couldn't hurt to tell Jenni. It would probably cheer her up a bit. Turning back to look at her, he found himself caught in the accusing brown eyes of Nancy, who was standing just inside the door, papers piled in her arms.
"I..." his words dried up in his throat as he tried to figure out why she was looking at him with such obvious anger.
"Jenni, I'm back! Lets get started, if you're feeling up for it. I'm sure Charlie has OTHER PLACES to be."
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A/N - Yes, we're leaving it there. *evil cackle* No, seriously. We're OUT of gas, and wanted to post SOMETHING up for y'all. Now review and we'll work on not posting for another month. *innocent look* Did I just say that out loud?