Charlotte was still unable to find Quirinus a nickname, so to start things off, she had taken to calling him by his surname upon realizing that this actually meant a great deal to him, through his knowledge of when she called on by their last name, they meant a great deal to her and were one of her closest friends. Quirinus couldn't get the grin off his face when he'd told her how he felt at the Astronomy tower, now though he missed her more than ever; he was so excited when he was awoken that morning; Quirinus expected Charlotte to not react too badly when he told her about the attack; he didn't even really expect a reply until...

Quirinus was woken by a tapping sound coming from his early in the morning. He groggily rolled out of bed and looked at the window only to find an owl tapping it trying to get in. Quirinus beamed from ear to ear, it only meant one thing; Charlotte had replied! He quickly opened it and let the owl in; it flew in and landed on his bed. Quirinus gave a bit of a chuckle, took the parchment from its leg, fed the owl and sat on his bed to read:

Quirrell-

WHAT! WHO! I'll sort them out!

As Quirinus read the first line, he could tell she was angry; not at him but at Tom; he hadn't expected this reaction at all and hated to see... or hear her sound so angry. He smiled shyly at the thought that someone cared for him this much and read on:

Thanks :) I think you're brilliant as well;

You're not a Ravenclaw for nothing!

Well... word spread around; I didn't exactly broadcast it.

They have their ways of finding out, for instance,

Chase Hawthorne somehow knew my first time at Hogwarts.

The camp's in a few days,

I'll owl you the details as soon as I know something more.

P.S. You can come with me silly! :p

~Char

Quirinus couldn't help but laugh at her P.S. he could just imagine Charlotte poking her tongue out at him as she had done in the letter. He beamed from ear to ear as he realized that he would be going camping with Charlotte; perhaps then he could meet the marauders. He could only wonder though whether she would soon grow tired of being around him; not all good things last forever, could they? He grabbed his quill and scrawled through his own excitement of receiving yet another owl from her:

Charlotte-

Tom... someone... I think his name was Tom anyway.

I'm not brilliant;

I'm just Quirrell; stuttering Quirrell who is very awkward, socially.

Books and things only show me the little I do know.

That's great they accept it- I don't like the concept of blood status hate.

Brilliant! Thank you Char lotte

~Quirrell

He read over his note; unamused about the space in Charlotte's name but he really liked her name and didn't want to shorten it or anything. He loved owling her as much as he missed her; he knew he wouldn't get a reply back this time; there was virtually nothing he had written that she could reply to. All he could do was to wait for her owl with the details for camp. Excitement burned through him at that thought. He quickly rolled the parchment up and tied it to the owl's leg. Owling Charlotte had just made his entire week. He headed down to the hall for some breakfast, shyly grinning from ear to ear.

Hours passed and Quirinus' excitement grew intense as he waited upon her owl; he had no idea when it would arrive; of course he had spent the past four hours studying for Potions and Defence against the Dark Arts; two of his favourite subjects; he continued to avoid those who would pass him; he didn't want to make himself known since the run-in with tom; he would possibly say hello to a few when he was with Charlotte at the camp; for now though, he was on his own, strangely enough, this was the first time he had never felt lonely; he felt as though Charlotte were with him. He could only put it down as she was in his heart and that's where she would stay; she was a truly great friend to him and he couldn't have wished for anything more. He made his way outside of Hogwarts and sat by the lake, as he gazed into the water feeling rather peaceful, he heard a flapping sound that could only be described as wings. He looked up and sure enough the shadow of a bird flew towards him.

"S-s-s-she ow-ow-ow-owled!" he beamed out loud to himself, his heart pounded with excitement; he knew the camp was in a few days and now it seemed more official than it had when he'd heard about it because now; he had directions. He waited for the owl to land before taking the parchment from its leg once again. He sprawled out on his stomach in the green grass, facing the lake at a slight angle and read:

Quirrell-

Here's the address to the camp.

Please come if you can!

There he saw a very detailed sketch of how to get to Hogwarts to the camping sight.

It's not as far as it looks but you will be coming with me,

So you won't get lost in the bush once you climb the hill;

It's a steep one but once you climb it; it's fun to run or roll down ;)

If you do go before me, remember.

When you reach a dirt road, don't follow it without me.

Muggles are suspicious creatures and will wonder what you're doing out there alone.

~Char

Quirinus chuckled under his breath timidly, he was more excited than before; he had never been as far as the description; he loved the sound of the bushland and the lake. Quirinus had a thing for the outdoors; he loved all nature as much as he loved the darker side to life also; he loved his Dark Arts and black cloaks, scary movies, skeletons, everything of the sort but he also loved the lake, the bright green grass, sky gazing, everything else. His theory was there is no good and bad; the two work together. He was a clear example of it. He looked up at the lake and grinned shyly; he couldn't help but feel scared at the same time, wondering how he would fit in with the others, before replying to Charlotte:

Charlotte-

Thank you!

I will be there really soon I promise.

Ignore that mistake; I'm sorry.

I'm excited right now.

~Quirinus

He felt stupid for his mistake; he hoped Charlotte wouldn't take a dim view of it; he really wasn't as bright as she said he was; he only wished he could erase it completely but that would make him to be a liar and she would have reason to call him brilliant. He tied the parchment to the owl and sent it off to her after feeding it a treat. Fear and excitement crept through him as he gazed at the lake for a few hours thinking of Charlotte and how great it would be when he finally got to see her again.