The next day was spent traveling to the Burrow. Once they got onto the hill just right of the Burrow, Rachelle looked around.

"So this is where he lives when he's not at the facility," Rachelle thought to herself.

She took in the appearance of the house. It looked as though it would fall over at the slightest breeze. THere was a steady stream of smoke coming out of the chimney since it was only the beginning of January. Rachelle could smell something cooking, and she remembered that she hadn't eaten much of anything these last few days. She had been busy trying to make sure that she didn't do anything that would make Charlie testy to trust her.

"Well, this is home," Charlie said. He absent mindedly ran a hand over his badly burnt arm that was covered in a white bandage. He looked over at Rachelle and smiled.

"Don't worry. They won't eat you alive. They really are nice people. You don't have to be afraid of them." Rachelle gave a weak smile, and he reached for her hand.

His had was at least two times bigger than hers. She smiled up at him. he was the most handsome, caring man that she knew. He cared about his family, and about the dragons that he worked with.

Rachelle felt Charlie pull her arm gently along down the hill. Silently, she blessed him for getting hurt so they had this chance to meet and spend some time together.

Charlie watched his mother walk out of the house as he and Rachelle came down the hill hand in hand. She stood with her hands on her hips. in her defensive mode, but Charlie could tell she was happy that he was back.

Charlie felt Rachelle's grip tighten in his as they got closer to the house. He reassuringly squeezed her hand and this caused her to smile slightly up at him.

"Charlie!" Molly cried. She ran the rest of the way to meet him. "I'm so glad that you are back!" Her tired eyes scanned his figure. She gasped when she came to the bandage wrapped around his arm.

"You're hurt! How did this happen?" Charlie managed to get away from her grasps by telling her that he would explain later.

"Who's this, Charlie?" Molly asked turning her attention to Rachelle instead of Charlie's arm.

"Mum, this is Rachelle Blanchard. She's a really good friend." Charlie squeezed Rachelle's hand again.

"Well, Rachelle, I'm glad both of you made it here safely. It's a long trek from the facility home. Come on into the house," Molly said. She turned toward the Burrow and walked off.

Rachelle looked toward Charlie for guidance. He nodded toward the house. They walked to the house hand in hand, and Charlie just hoped not everyone in his family was there at that point.

"Dinner was delicious, Mrs. Weasley. Thank you," Rachelle said after they had all eaten.

"Please, Dear. Call me Molly," Rachelle nodded. She was happy that Charlie's mother hadn't begun asking questions yet, but she may have spoken too soon.

"Charlie, tell us what happened at the facility," Molly said as she turned toward her second oldest son.

"Mum, I don't know if this is the right time..." Charlie started, but was cut off again by his mother.

"Now is the perfect time."

Charlie looked at Rachelle and she nodded. That wasn't comforting.

"Well, we were moving the dragons, and everything was going smoothly, but one of the dragons got away from its handlers, so I got hurt." Charlie rubbed his arm with his free hand. His other hand was too busy holding Rachelle's under the table.

"I was out for several hours, but when I came to, Rachelle had bandaged up my arm, and all of the dragons had been secured in their padlocks." Charlie smiled at Rachelle and hoped with all his might that his mother had not seen the look that they shared.

"He had very severe burns, so I was to travel home with him to make sure that he didn't do anything that could hurt him worse than he already was," Rachelle explained to Arthur and Molly.

Molly nodded as if she didn't believe Rachelle's story.

"So, we've been traveling home on thestrals, since I couldn't apparate with my arm in this condition, don't want to splinch, you know," Charlie finished.

"Well, I guess that I have to thank you for getting my son home safely," Molly said to Rachelle. Rachelle smiled and mumbled about it not being a big problem. "How long will you be staying with us, Rachelle? We have plenty of room for a couple of days. After that, everyone will be coming over for Sunday brunch, but you are more than welcome to stay as long as you want."

"Thank you, Mrs., I mean Molly. That's very kind of you to let me stay as long as I want, but I think that I will be able to leave by Sunday. I don't want to cause you too much trouble," Rachelle said.

"It's no trouble to us, Dear," Molly replied, so Rachelle accepted her offer to stay until Sunday brunch was over.

Charlie walked up the familiar stairs to Ginny's old room. "Will this room work for you to sleep in the next couple nights?" Charlie asked.

Rachelle looked around the room at the posters of Quidditch teams and pictures of who she assumed were Ginny and Harry together at Hogwarts.

"This will be perfect, thank you," Rachelle replied.

Charlie smiled at her and turned to leave when he heard his name. "Charlie?"

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering, why were you so tense down there at dinner? Your parents are amazing people, and they are very proud of you. I can tell," Rachelle asked.

"Mum has wanted me to bring home someone for a while now, and when I brought you home... well... I think that Mum thinks we are dating," Charlie explained.

"Would you ever date someone like me?" Rachelle asked.

"Actually, I've been wondering if you would ever date someone like me!" Charlie said. He hadn't noticed it, but there used to be almost six feet between him and Rachelle, but now there was only two.

She reached out to take his hand in her own. "Of course I would date you, Charlie Weasley! You are so dedicated to your family, and your dragons. You are one of the most caring people I know."

Charlie smiled down at her. "Would you like to go on a date with me to Hogsmead tomorrow? Say elevenish?" Charlie asked.

Rachelle smiled. "It's a date then!"

Charlie leaned down toward her face. He brushed a lock of blonde hair out of her face. She smiled at him. Charlie pulled her into a deep kiss that he never wanted to end. Unfortunately, Molly was walking up the stairs at just that point in time and caught them snogging in Ginny's doorway.

"I've seen many a couple get caught snogging in that doorway," She said with a smile. "Time for bed." They smiled at each other as she passed and went their separate ways for the night.