Beginnings

Charlie Weasley didn't suffer from the same affliction as most other first year students. He wasn't small, quiet and easily overlooked like the others and he certainly didn't blend into the background. No, Charlie Weasley stuck out from the crowd like a sore thumb. He was abnormally tall for his age, towering over the other 'ickle firsties' but he hadn't yet grown into his height and so he was thin and gangly. His skin was covered in prepubescent spots and he was so pale that it was almost translucent even the weak Scottish sun was deadly to him. However his most noticeable feature was the Weasley badge of honour: a full thick head of carroty hair. Charlie couldn't go anywhere without turning heads.

Unfortunately for Charlie he didn't make it through his first year completely unscathed and he ended up with that common first year affliction of being completely unable to talk to people. For some reason that Charlie didn't understand the sorting hat had placed him in Gryffindor with his brother Bill, but he certainly wasn't brave.

Every night Charlie would play out the same routine. He would make his way back to the Gryffindor common room, he would give the fat lady the password and step into the common room glancing around. There were clumps of Gryffindor students scattered around, his brother was always holding court in the corner with his own friends talking and laughing and for a brief second Charlie would consider going over to the fire with the other first years and making some friends. But just as he thought he might actually have the courage a swarm of doubts would enter his mind and he would duck his head and rush straight through, up the stairs and into bed. He barely shared more than three words a day with the boys in his dormitory.

This lonely farce continued for nearly a month. Bill tried hard to include his brother, invited him to talk to his friends, but it never stuck. Every missed opportunity only made him regress even further into himself until one day fate intervened.

Everything started as it normally did; he hesitated in the doorway considering his options before deciding against doing anything and he had just begun to make his trek across the common room when he was confronted by a small, pink haired girl with a bright, urgent smile. She seized his wrist and, without a single word of explanation, she dragged him over to two big chairs in the corner which were nearly hidden by an alcove. Charlie thought he recognised her from the sorting ceremony, but before he had the chance to summon her name from his memory she changed.

Her long, pink, slightly curled hair began to shorten and morph into a cute blonde pixie cut. The previously bright green eyes became a clear, rich, sea blue colour but apart from that she remained the same. His face must have been a picture, he could feel his jaw hanging loose in shock, and a wicked, cheeky smile curved her pretty face.

"Nymphadora Tonks," she declared, thrusting her small pale hand in his direction, "and in case you hadn't noticed I'm a metamorphose." He automatically reached out to grasp it, years of manners answering, but he was shocked as her grip tightened into something almost bone crushing. Her smile turned into something threatening and she levelled a steely glare at him, "but you must call me Tonks. I hate Nymphadora and I would really like us to be friends, not enemies."

"C-Charlie Weasley," he stammered, nodding in mindless agreement to her terms. He tried to give her a shaky smile, Bill had told him jokes helped make friends, "decidedly average."

"Oh Charlie," she said, releasing his hand and sitting back with another smile, "I think you're anything but average."

X

Charlie had successfully made his first friend at Hogwarts, and they very quickly became inseparable. Of course once he had made on friend others followed, but that first little quirky pink haired girl would always be his very best friend. They shared every class and started studying together in the library where once Charlie had studied alone. Something still felt off though, he felt that something hadn't quite clicked yet. He shared his concern with Tonks.

"I don't know what it is," he said as they worked on a Transfiguration essay together, "I just don't feel like I have found my thing. I mean you love potions, and I know Bill is really good with charms, but I just don't feel a particular affinity for anything. I don't know, maybe it's me."

"What do you mean by that? What's wrong with you?" she asked, not looking up as she scribbled away, only pausing to glance at the open text book beside her.

He sighed and sat back, letting his own quill fall limp in his hand. "You know what I'm like. I didn't make a single friend until you dragged me away to hide in the corner from that creeper McLaggen. What's a 5th year doing hitting on a 1st year anyway? But I'm just not good with people, I'm far better at dealing with animals. I wish I could do that instead."

He looked at his best friend who had, for once, stopped working and was now looking at him curiously. Her eyes were hazel today, almost gold, and they narrowed at him; he could practically hear the cogs turning in her mind.

"What?" he asked cautiously. That look on her face usually meant trouble.

"Oh nothing," she replied, smirking as she got back to work, "I just think I have the perfect thing for you."

X

"Oh! Hello there Tonks, it's nice to see yeh. Who's yer little friend?"

"This, Hagrid, is Charlie Weasley, surely you could tell?"

The half giant peered down at the two young first years and smiled, although it was mostly hidden by the mass of hair he called a beard. "Well, now tha' I look a' him, it's clear he can't be anything but a Weasley. I knew yer mam and dad when they were at school."

"You did?" Charlie asked, looking up at the huge man in a strange mixture of fear and awe. How could he be so old?

"Oh aye, we was friends. Now, to what do I owe the honour?"

"Well Hagrid we have a problem and I think you are the perfect man for the job. Young Charlie here has a better time with animals than humans and I happen to know you're the same. Do you think you have something that could help him out?"

This time Hagrid's answering smile was so big it could be clearly seen through the mass of hair. "Oh aye, I think we'll get on just fine. Come on in Tonks, Charlie, I think you'd love to meet my dog Fang."