The following day Charlie received quite a shock at breakfast. The usual flurry of owls burst into the Great Hall for breakfast and Charlie saved a plate of bacon from being hit by a crash-landing Errol. Charlie paled as he saw what the ageing owl had delivered. In Errol's beak was a red envelope – a howler.
'Grab it and run.' Buck advised, leaning away from the envelope as though it was going to explode.
'Why? What is it?' Annie asked, peering at the envelope curiously.
'A howler,' Charlie jumped up from the bench, grabbed the letter and ran from the hall. The envelope began to smoke around the edges. Charlie threw himself into the first floor boys' toilets and ripped open the envelope before it opened of its own accord.
'CHARLES WEASLEY!' Charlie's mother's voice echoed around the chamber. 'HOW DARE YOU INSTIGATE A FOOD FIGHT?' Charlie wondered whether the sound was carrying to the Great Hall. 'I AM ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED! I NEVER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE SO FOOLISH! AND THROWING FOOD AT A TEACHER! IT'S OUTRAGEOUS! I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU DISLIKE PROFESSOR SNAPE; YOU DO NOT THROW TRIFLE AT ANYONE! YOU AND BILL ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SETTING AN EXAMPLE TO YOUR BROTHERS AND GINNY! I AM FORBIDDING YOU FROM PARTICIPATING IN ANY MORE SILLY PRANKS WITH NYMPHADORA TONKS! YOU'RE PUTTING YOUR OWN ACADEMIC FUTURE AT RISK AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR YOU TO WASTE YOUR TIME LIKE THIS! I EXPECT YOU TO DEDICATE THE REST OF THE YEAR TO QUIDDITCH PRACTICE AND STUDYING! IF I HAVE ANOTHER LETTER FROM PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL YOU WILL BE SORRY!'
Charlie's ears were ringing as the letter burst into flames above the sink and crumbled into ashes.
A cubicle door creaked open and third year Slytherin Mundungus Fletcher emerged, looking shaken.
'What the bloody hell was that?'
Charlie wasn't sure what to make of the Slytherin now on his radar. Scabior was pretty much an anomaly in Charlie's perception of all things Slytherin.
Firstly, you had Thorfinn Rowle. He was thick-necked and blond with a mean streak matched by his buddy, Gibbon. Robert Gibbon was quiet and surly, and he didn't take kindly to jokes made about his last name.
'Hey Gibbon!' Buck had called as they queued outside Defence class. 'I think you dropped something!' Buck dangled a banana skin from his hand and waved it towards Gibbon's furiously red face.
The only thing that saved Buck from being beaten by Gibbon's own ape-like hands was Professor Birch letting the class into his lesson. The new Professor was wearing an amusing jumper with a black cat on the front.
'Nice jumper, sir,' Charlie had complimented, trying desperately to keep a straight face.
'Thank you Weasley!' he had replied with an oblivious skip in his step.
The third Slytherin was Boris Zolinski, nicknamed Bozo because no one could be bothered to say his last name. Bozo was short, with a messy afro of black hair that looked like pipe cleaners. He also wasn't particularly bright, making his nickname all the more relevant. He hung around Rowle and Gibbon like a rather dull shadow that laughed when nothing was funny and couldn't even do their homework for them. It seemed that the only thing Bozo was good for was creating and spreading gossip.
He'd recently gotten into trouble with Ravenclaw sixth year John Dawlish by spreading rumours that he was cheating on his girlfriend with fifth year Agatha Timms.
Bozo's sudden attack of boils was just subsiding after that encounter.
Then there was Stan Shunpike. Thin and lanky, with a strong cockney accent and even stronger acne, Charlie had often wondered how Shunpike had been Sorted into Slytherin. He and Tonks had even confronted Shunpike about it.
'How did you get into Slytherin?' Charlie had asked him. 'I thought Slytherins were meant to be cunning and ambitious.'
'Yeah,' Shunpike had answered, his wide eyes flitting about in their sockets, 'maybe I'm so cunnin' I'm makin' you fink I'm not cunnin'!'
Charlie and Tonks shared a look of consideration.
'Nah,' they both shrugged. Shunpike looked disappointed.
The only Slytherin Charlie didn't know much about was William Scabior. Charlie saw him hang back in the queue for lessons, away from his Slytherin house-mates. Charlie had pointed it out to Annie and Buck more than once.
'So they guy's a loner, not our problem,' Buck had shrugged unhelpfully.
So when Scabior had thrown that fruitcake at Snape, at the same time Charlie had thrown the trifle, Charlie was more than a bit curious to find out why he did it.
His opportunity to investigate came a few days after the food fight when packing up after Potions.
'Weasley! Scabior! Stop dawdling or I'll take twenty points from Gryffindor!' Snape barked as Charlie hurriedly stuffed his textbook into his bag. He decided not to enrage Snape further by pointing out that Scabior was, in fact, in Slytherin, and therefore some points should be taken from Snape's own house. It was just as well Charlie had stayed quiet or his head might well have ended up pickled in a jar upon the many shelves around the Potions classroom.
Charlie had already told Buck and Annie that he'd meet them in the Great Hall, so it was just Charlie and Scabior making their way back up the dungeon corridor.
'Hey, Scabior,' Charlie called. The boy with long black hair paused and turned so Charlie could catch up with him.
Charlie stuck out his hand. 'We haven't really spoken before so, uh, I'm Charlie Weasley,' he said by way of introduction.
Scabior shook it. 'Will Scabior.'
'I was just wondering why you threw that cake at Snape the other day.'
Scabior gave Charlie a sideways glance.
'I could say the same for you.' Charlie noticed a North London inflection in Scabior's voice, pronouncing his 'th's as 'f's.
'I didn't want my best friend to get detention on her own,' he told the Slytherin as they climbed the dungeon staircase.
'A noble gesture,' Charlie couldn't tell if that was sarcastic or not. He was pretty sure it was though.
'As well as Snape being a git,' Charlie continued. To his surprise, Scabior laughed.
'That's more like it,' the Slytherin chuckled.
'So why did you bulls-eye Snape?' Charlie asked again.
'Same reason you just said – I don't like the guy.'
Charlie stopped, 'I thought all Slytherins liked Snape? He doesn't take points off you for no reason.'
'Well this Slytherin doesn't like him,' Scabior halted next to Charlie. 'I just don't like people who think they're better than me for no good reason.'
They continued walking.
'It was good talking to you Scabior,' Charlie said as they entered the Great Hall. 'We should throw stuff at Snape more often.'
'Don't tempt me Weasley,' Scabior smirked, heading over to the Slytherin table.
'What took you so long?' Buck demanded as Charlie reached the Gryffindor table.
'I was talking,' he replied vaguely, tucking into a roast dinner.
That evening, Professor McGonagall came around asking for the names of those staying for Christmas.
Charlie signed up right away with Buck, Annie, Tonks and Don. Bill decided to go home for Christmas.
'It's been too long since I had a Christmas dinner at home,' he told Charlie, 'three years is a long time to go without Mum's Christmas pudding.'
So Charlie's 13th Birthday came and went with a bucket of home-made fudge, some joke shop supplies, Chocolate Frogs and a new Wizard's Chessboard. But then it was time for Bill and half the school to get their bags packed and head out to the carriages that would take them to the Hogwarts Express and back to London.
Just like that the halls of Hogwarts were empty and Charlie and Buck had their dorm to themselves.
'So what are we going to do this Christmas?' Charlie asked the gang as they walked the halls a few days before Christmas Eve.
'Maybe we should explore the castle a bit more now it's empty?' Tonks suggested. 'Do you guys mind if I invite Scabior along? He's been really nice to me since the food fight.'
No one had a problem with that, though Buck did point out that 'he's a Slytherin,' which Tonks completely ignored.
So the six of them searched Hogwarts from top to bottom to find more secret passageways and disused rooms than they had before. They found a disused Prefect's bathroom on the third floor, just off the Gunhilda of Gorsemoor corridor, which contained a portrait of Valeria Myriadd that lead to Gryffindor Tower when given the password 'pig snout'. Then there was the portrait of Circe on the fourth floor landing that hid yet another passageway to the Entrance Hall side-room.
'Do you guys go exploring the castle a lot then?' Scabior asked as they snooped around the sixth floor corridor.
'All the time,' Tonks informed him as she scrutinised a portrait of Bridget Wenlock. 'This one looks promising,' she called to the gang, but before they could properly investigate Filch wheezed along and shooed them away.
Charlie woke early on Christmas Day to find a pile of presents at the foot of his bed. According to his bedside clock it was four am. The rest of his dorm was asleep so, ignoring the presents, he quietly slipped on some clothes and a cloak before making his way out to the grounds for an early morning walk. To his surprise, he found Tonks out by the lake, her hair a sky-blue colour.
'How come you're here so early?' he asked her, settling down beside her on a rock along the icy shore.
Tonks shrugged, 'I couldn't sleep. You?'
'I felt like a walk,' Charlie confessed. 'So why can't you sleep?'
Tonks picked at a chip in the rock before replying. 'It's nothing really, just something Snape said after the food fight.'
Charlie thought back to that evening in Dumbledore's office and all the things Snape had said. "Just as arrogant and insolent as her cousin," Snape had sneered.
'The thing about your cousin?'
Tonks nodded.
'Why does it bother you so much?'
'You know the issues with my Mum's family. People keep saying I'm like them and I can't stand it.' She took a deep breath. 'I haven't told anyone this before, but on our first day the Sorting Hat said I was a Black. It said I had the confidence, skills and arrogance of the rest of them. It even considered putting me in Slytherin.'
'That would have been weird,' Charlie joked, trying to put a smile on her face. It didn't work.
'A few weeks ago there was an announcement in the Daily Prophet that my great aunt Walberga had died. She's my Mum's aunt, Sirius' mother. The obituary they gave wasn't kind. It went through all the anti-Muggle laws she supported and about raising two Death Eaters. She really wasn't a nice person at all, I know. But she was still part of my family. And then Snape coming out with that line about me being as arrogant and insolent as my cousin. It just got to me.'
Charlie wasn't sure what to say. He knew who her cousin was – Sirius Black, who had been arrested for the murder of twelve Muggles and a wizard four years ago. 'Is there any chance Snape was talking about another cousin?' It was a slim chance, and Charlie instantly regretted saying it.
Tonks forced a laugh, 'Nope, all my cousins in the Wizarding world are either in prison, were Death Eaters or are Malfoys.'
'I'm not sure which is worse.' That got a chuckle out of her at least. 'Come on, let's go for a walk. You're not them, no matter what other people say.'
He offered her a hand getting up from the rock. Just as well, because she almost slipped right off it onto the icy covering of the lake.
'Thanks Charlie,' she smiled.
They took a walk around the shore of the lake chatting about more cheery things, like their six month detentions and what pranks they could pull over the next few months.
'You know, we haven't actually explored the forest yet.' Tonks pointed out as they rounded the curve of the lake.
Charlie snorted, 'good luck getting Buck, Annie and Don on side with that.'
Tonks' grey eyes sparkled, 'We could just go ourselves if they don't want to come.'
They walked to the edge of the forest. Icicles hung from the outermost branches of the trees and a blanket of snow layered the tops of the vast forest. Charlie became distracted by a small clump of frosted red berries hanging from one of the trees. They looked so delicate. Each individual flake of ice that cocooned the berries refracted the rising sunlight.
'Look at it Tonks, it's amazing,' he breathed. Tonks came over and rested on his shoulder as they both stared intently at the shining berries.
They were jolted from their fascination by Hagrid emerging from his hut.
'What are you two doin' up so early?'
'Walking,' Charlie told the giant gamekeeper.
'Fancy a cup o' tea?'
There was still plenty of time before the rest of the school awoke for Christmas breakfast so Charlie and Tonks graciously accepted Hagrid's offer.
'You realise we just spent five minutes staring at some berries, right?' Tonks whispered to Charlie as they entered Hagrid's Hut. Charlie shrugged with a smirk.
Hagrid's massive boarhound, Fang, drooled all over Charlie's cloak hem while Hagrid bustled about making tea.
'Enjoyin' yer second year?' Hagrid asked. 'Apart from gettin' into food fights?' His beetle black eyes glittered as he shot the pair a quick smile.
Charlie told Hagrid all about his Quidditch practices, and Tonks spoke about Duelling Club. Then it was time to head back up to the castle for breakfast, accompanied by Hagrid.
'Tonks! There you are, we didn't know where you'd gone!' Robin squealed when she saw them. 'Hi Charlie.'
'I'll leave yeh to it,' Hagrid excused himself, shuffling over to the staff table where Professor Dumbledore was waving to him.
Charlie sat with Tonks and the other Hufflepuff second years until the rest of the Gryffindors came downstairs.
'Don't forget about the forest thing,' Tonks reminded him as he left. 'I'm holding you to it Weasley.'
*The berries part was inspired by this post: post/16419374092/writers-block-a-picture-says-a-thousand-words
