Killing Hope

Part 1 - Casualty

Word Length: 2100

Warnings: SLASH, boyxboy, etc. kissing, implied sex (Don't like? Don't read. You have been warned.) NB: Unbetaed.

Wow. Aren't I slack... I've decided to put this first part of the main story up since I've received such an excellent response. Especially considering it was only a prologue! Thanks to Mystery-Immortal, angelkat2502, Kamerreon, Potterfan89, Sexy Kylan, fifespice, flipping pages, dazzeling diamond, Where's Boo05, GothGuyInDenial, EternalFlame105, LoveWithoutLimits and TonksandRemusforever for your reviews. Thanks also to Siludia and richgirl22 for favouriting the story and the 29 people who added it to alerts. (Wow!) They all reminded me that I really needed to write this thing! The second part will hopefully be up faster than this was. (Don't hold your breath. The story's about Killing Hope after all... :P) Enjoy!

Charlie was back in Romania. He had already settled back into the routine at the dragon orphanage, the part of the reserve that he ran. He fed the baby dragons five times a day and measured them during their afternoon nap. It was surprisingly relaxing for something so dangerous. The location was pretty scenic, all snow-capped mountains, green fields and forests. That probably helped. He really did try to not think about Harry, but decided that he could not control his dreams.

He was shocked and very embarrassed, to say the least, when Harry, completely smashed, wandered through his Floo at one in the morning. Charlie, who went to bed at 10pm at the latest so that he could actually get up at 5am the next morning and feed the dragons before they killed each other, had been involved in one of those aforementioned uncontrollable dreams.

"I'm sorry, Charlie," Harry slurred, "Thought you might still be up. It's only eleven in London."

"But, how the hell did you get here?" Charlie whispered, pulling the sheets to better cover his lap. Harry looked deliciously ruffled.

"Oh, I just asked Ron 'bout your address and I knew the Ministry wouldn't mind if I borrowed an international Floo."

"I see." He always managed to forget Harry's hero-ness and the status that it brought. "Why though?"

"Cuz I wanted you," Harry muttered, the words going straight to Charlie's groin. The dark-haired boy stumbled, tripping over his own feet, his waist hitting the side of the mattress as the rest of his torso fell forwards, his hand landing on… Charlie didn't bother to stifle his gasp.

"Oh," Harry sounded surprised, almost innocent. Too much.

"Yes, oh," Charlie growled, whipping off the sheets to reveal his tented boxers, before swiftly pulling the rest of Harry onto the bed and flipping him to lie on his back. Charlie grinned and snapped his fingers. Harry gasped, all his clothes had disappeared… Charlie smirked, pressing the entire length of his body against Harry's, before kissing him hungrily. Harry groaned, Charlie was naked too.

"How?" he gasped as the kiss broke momentarily.

"Working with baby dragons, strengthens my magic, so I can manage some wandless stuff," Charlie explained between heaving breaths. "Useful, huh?"

"Hell yes," Harry hissed, arching up into Charlie as he kissed him violently. Charlie responded with matching vigour. Slowly, the pieces of his dream began to reassemble.

*

Charlie shifted in his sleep. His arm was cold. His eyes fluttered open. Half the covers, Harry's half, had been thrown hastily back, leaving his uncovered arm lying on the mattress. He groaned and groped for his wand on his bedside table.

"Tempus," he muttered, squinting at the offensively bright numbers. 5:36am.

"Shit!" Broken dreams could wait, baby dragons wouldn't.

About fifteen days later, Charlie fished a strand of spaghetti from the pot and tested it, done! He set up the sieve in the sink, before carrying the pot full of pasta and hot water over and draining it. The bolognaise was simmering nicely, he gave it a quick stir. The Floo whooshed just as he turned off the element. Harry stumbled through, looking nervous, and Charlie wondered what could cause Harry to visit him sober.

"Harry," Charlie greeted him with a small nod.

"Charlie, uh, hi? Um… I just wanted to tell you that, um, I'm dating Ginny." He looked at Charlie nervously, as if he expected him to explode or something. Perhaps he thought that all Weasley's had ferocious tempers after knowing Ron and Ginny for so long.

"Congratulations," Charlie said quietly, but sincerely.

"You're okay with that?" Harry looked incredulous and Charlie nodded. "Cuz you know we can't… I can't do what I've been doing anymore."

"Of course not! I couldn't have you cheating on my younger sister, now, could I?" Charlie smiled kindly.

"Oh, no. Course not." Charlie decided that the disappointment in Harry's voice was all the product of his imagination.

"Want to stay a few minutes for something to eat? I've made spag bol," Charlie offered, internally condemning his selfishness.

"Sure," Harry accepted with a shy smile. Charlie returned it, trying not to think, and waved him towards the simple kitchen table. Charlie flicked his wand and the meal arranged itself onto two plates before settling on the table. Despite the fact that they were eating, the silence seemed awkward. They both avoided each other's gaze while also taking fleeting glances while the other wasn't watching. Charlie felt like things were going backwards. The last two times they had seen each other the end result had been sex, and now they were having a dinner date. Not that they were 'courting' or anything. Harry was definitely taken, by his little sister, no less. Which really didn't help the atmosphere.

They had both finished, yet still sat, waiting for the other to make the first move while trying not to stare. Charlie was starting to consider clearing up the plates, when Harry finally began to speak.

"Um, Charlie? You've, uh," he swallowed audibly, "You've got sauce on your face." Charlie roughly swept a hand over his mouth.

"Gone?" he asked. Harry sighed.

"No." He rose from his chair as Charlie continued to wipe his face in exactly the wrong spot.

"Here, let me," Harry offered, tentatively reaching out a hand towards Charlie's face. Charlie savagely bit down on his tongue and screwed his eyes shut before the look on Harry's face could undo him completely. It had almost seemed tender. He sharply inhaled half a breath when Harry gently touched his face, gently rubbing of the offending sauce.

"It's gone," Harry whispered, his voice and the slight puff of warm air on his face suggesting that the Harry was closer than before. In a moment of insanity, he opened his eyes to check and gasped. Harry's face eclipsed nearly all of his vision, those eyes demanding to be looked at. He'd never seen anyone's eyes up that close before, rays of colour extending from his iris like a strange imitation of the sun. He felt oddly disappointed when his eyelids slid down to cover the alluring green, but was quickly jerked out of it as a pair of lips softly brushed his own. He jerked back so he could see Harry better, so he could focus.

"Harry," he said, trying for a tone of gentle warning, but sounding disappointingly whiney to his own ears.

"I just," Harry whispered, pausing to breathe and solidify his crazed thoughts.

"I want you. I need… Please. Just one last time?"

"What about Ginny?" Charlie asked, his voice deliberately expressionless.

"Well, we haven't even been on a date of anything…"

"Harry, you've dated her before. For Ginny it's just a logical continuation of the past." Harry bit his lip and his gaze flicked downwards.

"You… You won't tell her, Charlie?" Harry's eyes snapped back to his as he said his name. That was definitely not fair. Charlie could tell his resolve was almost gone.

"I've already said I wouldn't tell anyone," he answered tightly.

"Well, if no one will know… Please, Charlie!" Charlie sighed, placing a gentle hand on the side of Harry's face, his finger tangling into his not-quite-neat hair. He leaned forwards slowly, swallowing hard as Harry's eyes fluttered shut, and he pressed the gentlest of kisses to the side of Charlie's mouth. Harry shifted subtly, allowing their lips to align perfectly. Everything was slower this time, the way their mouths cracked open, the near tentative ventures of their tongues, the creeping of their hands and the tightening of their holds on one another. It was so much more intense, and somehow that made it so much more sinful. Rational thoughts battled lust-filled and romantic ones, losing quickly and silently. Charlie inhaled suddenly, literally stealing Harry's breath, before dragging Harry awkwardly into his lap and crushing him painfully close. Harry's hands scrabbled around his back as to regain his balance.

"You're sure?" Charlie gasped against Harry's lips.

"Fuck, yes," Harry hissed into his mouth as he dragged him into an all-consuming kiss. Charlie moaned and savoured the taste of Harry's mouth untainted by alcohol. Free of it, the taste was as addictive as Harry himself, and Charlie couldn't decide if this was better or worse.

*

Charlie awoke in the warm embrace of Harry's arms, the ruffled brunet hair tucked under his chin. He carefully reached for where his wand usually rested, on his bedside table, but it was mysteriously absent. He found Harry's wand under his pillow and muttered a Tempus, 5:03am. He reasoned that the dragons could wait a few minutes and snuggled closer to Harry. The younger man began to stir a few minutes later and Charlie prepared himself for being pushed away and the swearing.

He felt Harry pull him closer for a split second before his entire body stiffened.

"Mornin' Harry," he whispered, desperately quelling his urge to comfort the young man. He did not reply. Instead he slid out from under the covers, collected his clothes, dressed, left the bedroom and, according to the whoosh from the kitchen, Flooed back to Britain. Charlie's heart felt like it was being slowly crushed into nothingness and he wondered idly that if his heart disappeared so too would stop the pain. But, then again, fate would never be that kind.

After that things fell into a deceptive routine. Harry began to visit him every week, always at the same time. The following mornings were always the same too. Whether Charlie was awake or asleep, Harry always left silently, his face agonisingly dispassionate. Two months slipped by that way, until one quiet Monday. Harry only visited on Friday evenings, so Charlie was certainly not expecting him. He was doing some meaningless chore that wasn't worth remembering, given the circumstance, when he heard the sound of someone calling his name cautiously. He realised half a second later just who was calling his name. He heaved a great sigh to expel the sudden, stupid rush of nerves he felt before pushing open the front door of his own house and striding into the kitchen. Harry looked decidedly awkward as he leaned against one of the benches and an unhelpful voice in Charlie's head whispered that, despite his discomfort, he looked like he belonged there.

"Harry," Charlie greeted him smoothly, his voice free of inflection. Harry seemed to be biting the inside of his mouth.

"Charlie, I... I just thought that I should let you know that... That I should tell you..." Harry trailed off looking nervous and slightly undecided, as if little angelic and demonic miniatures of himself were arguing on his shoulders.

"Just spit it out, Harry. I'm not all that scary." Exasperation had seeped into his tone and he gave a wry smile.

"Ginny and I are engaged," Harry admitted in a great rush. Perhaps he thought making the truth nearly unintelligible would also make it less painful.

"Congratulations Harry, I'm sure you'll be a great brother-in-law." Charlie made no attempt to veil his sarcasm. Harry seemed to flinch, though perhaps he had imagined it.

"But, Charlie... I don't want to lose what I have with you." Harry replied, a note of pleading entering his voice.

"Well, isn't that a little greedy? Two Weasleys? I'm sure Miss Granger will be happy with just one." Charlie countered, referring to Ron and Hermione's recent engagement.

"No! It isn't like that! I do want you, Charlie. But, everyone expected me to marry Ginny..." Harry explained.

"And since when do you conform to expectations?" Charlie asked drily.

"For once in my life, I just want to be normal, Charlie." Harry replied, nearly shouting. Charlie sighed heavily.

"You'll never be normal, Harry. You're extraordinary." Charlie whispered, surprising himself with his sudden tenderness.

"You're beginning to sound like them." Harry said darkly, "The people who think they know me because they know my name."

"If I was like them I highly doubt that you would be here." Harry gave a small smile at his words and took a step closer to him. Charlie's eyebrows furrowed immediately.

"You are marrying my sister, Harry. I refuse to hurt her this way." He wondered if it was obvious that he was avoiding Harry's gaze. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have dragons that need feeding."

With that, he swept out of the house as confidently as he could, steadfastly refusing to look back. He could tell that Harry had gone as soon as he returned. Relief, grief and guilt quickly rushed in to fill the space that he had left. He sat down heavily at the scarred kitchen table, softly tracing its pitted surface as he tried not to think.

I would love to know what you think! (hint, hint, review!) Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!