Here's the next one- Thanks everyone who reviewed, please do so again and let me know if you like the way the story is going, or anything that you'd like to see in it.
Enjoy:)
Chapter 12 – Temper and Secrets.
2 years later.
Charlie sat in McGonagall's office with her head lowered to hide the smirk that she was currently wearing.
"Miss Black this is completely unacceptable! You are just like you're father and uncles!" She said exasperated and Charlie smiled more.
"Thank you." She whispered and looked back down when McGonagall glared at her.
"I honestly had a good reason for it!" Charlie said defending herself.
"Well Miss Black pray tell what did Mason do this time that made you transfigure his entire head into a snake's?"
Charlie's smiled faded from her face and she fiddled nervously with her fingers that were resting in her lap.
"Charlie?" McGonagall sighed and Charlie knew that this was her family member talking, not her professor.
"Mason winked at me and told me to have sweet dreams and then he whispered in my ear, if you can." Charlie told her quietly.
"Charlie! Does he know?" McGonagall asked nervously.
"I don't know, when I had my nightmare last year I was walking down the corridors talking to myself trying to remember everything and I was saying the prophecy out loud, I thought I saw someone but I wanted to get to Professor Dumbledore, plus I was walking fast so I didn't see who it was." Charlie said referring to the nightmare from last year which had added 'Tired onto the list of her prophecy.
McGonagall stood up "Come on, we're going to talk to the head master and find your father."
"My dad will kill him if he thinks he's a threat to me!" Charlie told her.
McGonagall sighed "Professor Dumbledore won't let that happen."
Charlie shook her head "Besides we don't even know if it was him." She said.
"Charlie you know we aren't going to take any chances with you." She told her, stern and very motherly.
Charlie sighed but nodded "Okay then."
McGonagall smiled sadly at the girl, knowing how hard it was for to deal with her gift from such a young age.
Charlie walked with McGonagall to the office and caught Mason watching her intently from the corner of the corridor. She glared back at him and carried on walking to Dumbledore's office.
Dumbledore smiled when she walked in and stood from his chair "Ahh Miss Black."
Charlie smiled at him and went over to Fawkes and stroked his feathers "Hi Professor." She smiled as Fawkes nuzzle her hand.
"What can I do for you today?" He asked politely.
"Albus... Charlie thinks that someone may know about her gift." McGonagall said quietly even though the door was shut and warded with spells.
Dumbledore's eyes shot back round to her "Who do you think knows? Have you told anyone?"
"No." She shook her head "Even Luke, Ryan and Liam don't... which by the way I still don't understand why I can't tell them, they're like my brothers, they won't tell anyone." Charlie said.
Dumbledore shook his head "I'm sorry Charlie I cannot allow it, it's too dangerous, if one of them was to be compromised they could let the information go."
Charlie rolled her eyes and sat down, knowing that her boys would never let anything happen to her.
McGonagall came back in and sat in the chair next to her "I've notified you father Charlie."
Charlie groaned and slumped in the seat. "My dad is going to go ballistic!" She said just as the fireplace roared to life and Sirius stepped out addressing the situation in front of him.
"What's going on? You said it was urgent!" He said slightly out of breath, walking over to Charlie he looked her over, checking that she wasn't hurt.
"Daddy everything's fine, probably just a misunderstanding." Charlie shrugged and smiled innocently.
Sirius frowned at her and turned to McGonagall "What happened?" he repeated and pulled his baby girl close.
"Sirius we don't want you to panic but we think that somebody may know about Charlie's gift." McGonagall explained gently.
"Curse." Charlie muttered but felt her daddy tense up next to her.
"What! Who?!" He said through gritted teeth and pulled Charlie impossible closer to him.
"Mason Bridges." McGonagall told him and watched as Sirius' face turned furious and his fists clenched in and out.
"That little..."He started but was cut off by Charlie.
"Daddy don't it's okay I already turned him into a snake." She giggled trying to make light of the situation.
"Charlie this isn't funny!" Sirius said angrily, but she could tell that he wasn't angry with her, but at the situation.
Charlie sighed and sat back down "He might not even know, he might have just said it for no reason."
"What made you think that he could know Charlie?" Dumbledore asked.
"He told me to have sweet dreams, and then whispered in my ear if you can." Charlie explained "But that could mean anything right."
"Shit!" Sirius swore under his breath "What are we going to do about this?"
Dumbledore sighed "there isn't much we can do, he's only a young boy we can't take action against him and we can't talk to him about it, in case of the off chance that he wasn't talking about it."
Sirius all but exploded, "You expect me to leave my daughter exposed to him, when he might know!"
Sirius I will put extra wards around the school to ensure that something bad doesn't happen, but I need you to trust and be on board with me." Dumbledore explained patiently.
Sirius' teeth were clenched and he ran a hand through his hair and Charlie knew that he was far from thinking rationally right now and was only thinking of ways he could protect her.
Charlie stood up and went to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest "its okay daddy." She whispered to him.
She felt his hands un- clench and his arms wrap around her. Sirius kissed his daughters head and stroked her curly hair. "I don't want to lose you baby girl"
"You're not going to daddy, I'm bad ass enough to handle stupid Mason." She smiled and Sirius shook his head closing his eyes.
"You shouldn't have to deal with any of this." He whispered holding her close.
"I have you though daddy, so it's okay."
Sirius smiled and held her close, he hadn't seen her for a few weeks and although they had talked through letters, it wasn't the same as holding his daughter.
"I've miss you sweet heart." He smiled kissing her head.
"I missed you too daddy." She said.
Sirius held her close to him for a while longer then sighed "Baby it's getting late, you should really be going to bed."
Charlie rolled her eyes. "It's half past ten."
"And an hour and a half past curfew to be wandering around the school turning people into snakes." McGonagall said sternly.
Charlie giggled "Come on Auntie Minnie, you know you're impressed." She smiled smugly and McGonagall rolled her eyes.
"Get to bed before I transfigure you into something unsavoury." She told Charlie.
Charlie laughed and gave her dad one last hug and kiss and left the office.
Sirius watched his daughter leave and then turned and faced the head master. "What are you doing to do about this?" He asked his teeth gritted together.
Dumbledore sighed and took off his glasses "Sirius I've told you we cannot take action against him, I give you my word that I will protect your daughter."
Sirius closed his eyes and took a deep breath "If anything happens to her..."
"Then I will take full responsibility that something happened to her on Hogwarts grounds, carry the burden as my own and let you retaliate against me."
Sirius nodded and breathed calmer, he knew that Dumbledore would look after his daughter but he felt that it was his job and no matter what Dumbledore said, if something happened to Charlie he alone would carry the burden and pain.
Charlie was lying in the room of requirement with her legs laid over Luke's lap, looking into the fire.
"You okay Charls?" Luke asked rubbing her leg. She shifted her gaze from the flames to face him instead.
"Yeah I'm fine." She smiled slightly.
Luke cocked his head to the side "Sure? You're pretty quiet?" He observed and Liam and Ryan who sat on the floor looked up as well.
Charlie bit her lip "Really everything's okay."
Liam scowled "No it's now, what happened, was it Mason?" He asked angrily.
Charlie closed her eyes and leant her head back "I can't tell you."
The boy's eyebrows furrowed "You tell us everything?" Ryan said confusion lacing his voice.
"I'm not allowed to tell you." She said.
"Who said you're not allowed?" Liam asked sitting up a bit straighter.
"Dumbledore ... And my dad." Charlie admitted.
Luke's eyes widened "You're not in danger are you?"
"... Not exactly." She said quietly.
"What the hell's going on?" Ryan demanded, they were all so protective over her.
Charlie sighed "Wait there I'll be back in a minute." She said and got up leaving the room and went straight to Dumbledore's office.
She knocked on the door and waited until she heard Dumbledore invite her in.
She walked in and sat down where she had been a week ago when she had talked about the possibility of Mason knowing her secret.
"What can I do for you Charlie?" Dumbledore smiled.
"I need to tell Luke, Ryan and Liam, it's not fair on them that I'm lying and I need someone to talk to, I can't keep bottling it up." She whispered the last part.
Dumbledore sighed "Charlie, I can't stop you from telling them, but you'll need to let you father know of your decision.
Charlie sighed and nodded, she knew this would not go down well with her daddy. Dumbledore let her take a pinch of floo powder and floo to her father's office at the ministry.
She walked through various offices stopping to say hello to a few people before she was stopped by mad eye in front of her.
"What in God's name are you doing here?" He asked scowling.
Charlie bit her lip "I need to see my daddy." She said and mad eye sighed and looked around before putting his hand on her shoulder, "Come on then kid."
Moody walked her to her dad's office that he shared with her Uncle James and opened the door, letting her go through.
"Black I found something that belongs to you."
Sirius still laughing from a joke James had told immediately turned around and the smile vanished from his face and he lunged up from the chair and came towards her.
"Charlie!? What's wrong?" What are you doing here?" He asked her quickly.
"I just wanted to talk to you about something daddy." She told him.
Sirius sighed in relief, smiled and hugged her "Okay baby." He watched as Moody left the room and sat back down as Charlie stood in front of his and James watched them curiously.
"Baby what's wrong?" Sirius asked watching his not normally nervous daughter shifting from foot to foot, twisting her fingers together.
Charlie took a deep breath and looked into his eyes "I'm going to tell Luke, Ryan and Liam."
Sirius watched her and immediately knew what she was talking about. "No." He told her bluntly and looked away.
"Why not daddy!" She whined angrily.
"It's too dangerous and I'm not going to take that risk." Sirius told her.
"They're not going to tell anyone! They would never hurt me!" Charlie growled out.
Sirius stood up "Charlie you are not telling them, they might not mean to tell anyone but someone might be able to get it out of them."
Charlie's anger was brewing over the top and she knew that she was about to blow and she saw James stand up out of the corner of her eye.
James stood behind Charlie and put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing gently. "Calm down sweetheart."
"No! It's not fair I don't have anyone I can talk to, I have to keep it all to myself and I'm scared!" She shouted and kicked over the bins and paper started to fly around the room as she lost control of her magic, James sighed knowing how easily Charlie lost her temper when it came to her gift.
"Charlie calm down baby." Sirius told her reaching for her hands.
"No!" She shouted and had tears going down her cheeks as she moved out of his grasp and ran out of the room.
"Charlie!" Sirius shouted and ran after her, past the rest of the aurors who were standing up, obviously they had heard the commotion. He knew it wasn't her fault that her temper got out of control and he didn't want her flooing when she was upset.
He managed to run to the fireplace just as Charlie, tears going down her face, disappeared into the flames. "Shit!" He said and ran his fingers through his hair and grabbed a handful of floo powder "Tell Moody I'll be back later." He called to James, who nodded looking worried.
Sirius stepped out of the fire place in Dumbledore's office and looked around panicked "Where is she! Please tell me she got here!"
"Sirius calm down, she came through just before you did and ran off, quite upset I might add."
Sirius sighed and left the office to go find his daughter. He checked everywhere and began o panic again when he couldn't find her, then he heard little cries coming from inside the broom closet he was standing next to.
He opened the door and felt his heart break at the sight of his little girl curled up with her arms around her legs, shaking.
Sirius shut the door and lowered himself down, pulling her close to him and closed his eyes when Charlie sobbed and turned her face into his chest.
He pulled her onto his lap and rocked her gently, stroking her hair and felt tears in his own eyes.
"Shh baby, daddy's here." He whispered to her, like he did whenever she had her nightmare.
Charlie gripped his t shirt in her fist and her crying started to slow down little by little. "I'm sorry daddy." She hiccupped between her sobs.
Sirius kept her close "No baby, I'm sorry I didn't realise how much you needed to talk to someone your own age rather than me." He told her. "I just don't want you to get hurt, if anything happened to you I don't know what I'd do." He whispered holding her even tighter.
"I love you daddy and I'm sorry you have to deal with me." Charlie cried.
Sirius scowled down at her "Don't you ever say that again. You are my daughter and I love you so much, you are never a burden to me and I will always look after and protect you." He told her.
Charlie sighed and put her face on his neck as she calmed down.
"If it will help you then you can tell them." Sirius whispered.
Charlie shook her head "No, don't want you to say I can just because I pulled a hissy fit." She told him.
Sirius shook his head "Sweetheart you know you can't control your temper when it comes to this subject, I'm not angry with you. And I want you to tell them, because I can see how much it's hurting you to have to keep it to yourself and lie to your best friends. If you trust them, then I'll learn to as well, I've know them basically their whole lives and I know they're nice boys and they want to protect you too." Sirius explained.
"Are you sure you're okay with this daddy?" Charlie asked wiping her eyes "I don't want you to be disappointed in me." She told him.
"Charlie with everything you have to deal with I could never be disappointed with you. You're my baby girl and I'm so proud of who you are."
Charlie smiled up at him "Thank you daddy."
Sirius kissed the top of her head and smiled back at her "Right go on then, go tell them but please use a silencing charm." He warned her.
Charlie nodded "I will, we're in the room of requirement as well." She said and stood up shakily.
Sirius kept his arm around her as her legs wobbled "You okay? You want me to walk you there?" He asked concerned.
"No I'm okay daddy, my legs have just gone a bit dead." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek "Bye daddy I love you." She said.
"Love you too baby." He smiled and watched her walked away.
Charlie wiped her eyes getting rid of the evidence that she had been crying, she didn't want her boys to worry more than they already were.
As she rounded the corner she saw a shadow and turned her gaze. She saw Mason leaning up against the pillar smirking at her. He was really tall for a thirteen year old, already almost six foot and looked older then he was but she glared back at him "What do you want?" She scowled.
"Nothing, just hanging about." He said smirking more "Been crying have we." He nodded towards her face.
"Screw you Bridges." She mumbled and shoved passed him as he sidled up in front of her.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"None of your goddamn business." She growled and looked down when he grabbed her arm "Get your hands off me."
"Don't go saying anything stupid Black." He whispered in her ear and Charlie narrowed her eyes at him.
"Oi get off her!" Luke shouted from down the corridor, his wand out aiming at Mason.
Mason moved away from her, his hands up and smirked "Whatever." He friend at her and winked walking away.
"You okay?" Luke asked as he reached her.
"Yeah I'm fine." Charlie said watching Mason walked around the corner, the words he'd said to her pounding in her ears.
"We were coming to find you, you've been gone ages." Ryan explained.
"I gotta tell you something." Charlie whispered to them and grabbed their arms, turning them back the way they had come from.
"What is it?" Liam asked putting his wand away.
Charlie looked around and kept walking "I can't tell you out here." She said "And you need to swear to me you won't tell a soul." She looked all of them in the eye.
They all nodded "Swear." They said at the same time.
Charlie took a deep breath and nodded "Okay then." She said and went into the room of requirement, the boys anxiously following.
"Wait let me get this straight... You're a psychic? You see the future in your dreams?" Luke asked shocked.
"Technically I only see parts and then it all gets put together and makes a prophecy which will come true someday."
"Shit, how long have you been able to do that for?" Ryan asked.
"I've been having psychic dreams since I was three, but the ability has been there all my life, it was just dormant for a while." Charlie explained to them.
"What have you got from the prophecy so far?" Liam asked.
"16, Shooting stars, Christmas, 9:00pm, and being tired." She told them.
"What the hell does that mean?" Ryan asked shocked and confused.
"I have no idea." Charlie said rubbing her forehead in frustration.
"Why didn't you tell us before?" Luke asked her.
Charlie sighed "I was told I couldn't because if any of you were compromised and forced to give up my secret, they would come and kill me. That scared the life out of my dad, as you can probably imagine." She shrugged.
Ryan wrapped and arm around her shoulders "You know we'll never tell, not even through the worst torture."
Charlie looked at all of them with tears in her eyes, which showed how much she loved them all since she never cried in front of them.
She launched herself into all of their arms and hugged them as tight as she could."Thank you." She whispered.
Liam patted her back and smiled "Careful now Black we might think you've gone a bit soft." He winked and Charlie hit his shoulder.
"There you are." He grinned and ducked as she threw a hex at him, which he retaliated with and soon they were all playing helping Charlie for once, forget about her curse.