Chapter fifteen

Harry was again at his desk, doing some work, when Charlie stepped out, smiling hugely, 'I thought you would have taken longer.'

'I never really unpacked everything, then I just told George I got a job. He's curious, but I said I will tell everyone next Saturday when we're at the Burrow.'

'Well, I explained to Binns while you were gone, so come on, I'll show you to your rooms,' Harry and Charlie headed down to the third floor, through the classroom to the door at the back, 'You need to think up a password and it's better to pick something that no one would guess, like your brother and sister.'

Charlie grinned, tapped the door, 'Raven.'

'Okay, you're going to need to explain that one. Well, you don't have to but I am curious. Now, let's get you settled.'

Charlie smirked but he stepped into his room and pulled out a dozen small boxes and suitcases out of his pocket, then resized them.

'Nice, we even have a small kitchen, I didn't expect that.'

'As Minerva explained to me, some nights the teachers work on marking papers or class schedules and like a snack or a cup of tea. Why call a house elf when it's something you can do yourself. Now as staff, yes you can have alcohol but you are not allowed to drink through the day when you're working, or the nights you're on duty and of course you can't be drunk.'

'I like the odd drink of a night, usually just one before I head to bed. So is my bedroom through there?'

'Yes and your own bathroom. Now since you had no idea there was a kitchen you probably don't know much about the rooms the staff use.'

'No, I just knew they were behind their classroom.'

'Okay, I think you'll get a kick out of the bed,' Harry smirked then opened the door allowing Charlie to walk through. He did and instantly started laughing, 'Fantasies or experiences coming back to you Charlie.'

'You could say that, but this, there exactly the same as the dorm bed, just bigger. Is your bed like this?'

'Yes, I even have red curtains but you can change the colour to your liking.'

'I will later, but how did Binns take the news?'

'He never really said much, just stared at me then disappeared through the wall. He hasn't turned up in the classroom again but if he does, let me know. See if you can handle him first though, it is your class Charlie.'

'Blimey, it's still hard to believe I'm a teacher at Hogwarts.'

'Imagine how I feel. I've known for a couple of months now and I'm still not sure if this is real.'

'I get that, I've had a few dreams of teaching here, I never thought it would happen. Anyway, about my password and the reason behind it.'

'Yeah, do you like ravens?'

'There okay, but it's not the reason,' Charlie stepped closer to Harry than ran his fingers through Harry's raven hair making him laugh, 'I loved doing this when you're on your knees.'

'At least it's a password no one will pick up and even though I would love to get on my knees right now, sorry to say but I have a lot of work to do.'

'I'm going to hear that a lot; aren't I…Headmaster?'

Harry chuckled, 'You will use the same excuse when you start Charlie. You might not realise it but teachers do get very busy. Apart from marking homework and assignments, you have to organise your classes, then you have night duty of patrolling the corridors. There's also detentions. Two teachers are out every night, but I have organised that I will be patrolling the same nights you are.'

'So maybe there might be a few quickies in some dark corner.'

Harry chuckled, 'Maybe, but I have to get back to my office and you have to unpack and set up how you want your classroom to look. I'll probably see you at dinner in the great hall,' Harry stretched up and kissed Charlie, 'See you later.'

'You will Harry.'

On Saturday Harry arrived at the Burrow but this time he wore some robes that belonged to Albus Dumbledore, colourful and very flamboyant. He thought if word did get leaked at least he looked the part. He knocked and stepped inside, the looks from his friends and a few others made Harry laugh before he was hugged by Molly Weasley.

'What's with the robes, you hate robes?' Ron asked.

'My knew job requires I look the part, but I'm getting used to them.'

'Charlie said that your job is restricted, I think we need to talk Harry,' Ginny scowled.

'There's nothing for us to talk about Ginny. I love my job and nothing will ever make me give it up. The contract I signed is unbreakable and I can only leave if I want, I can't even be sacked and I never want to leave.'

'But what about us?'

'There is no us, there hasn't been for a long time, I told you I was not interested. But this job is perfect for me in every way, including the fact I can't marry or have kids, which I don't want. I've told you this before Ginny, I don't think of you that way, I haven't for a long time.'

'You're wrong and you will see we belong together.'

'I told you she was stubborn,' Charlie shrugged.

'I think you should hear something that Albus did that you won't like. I had no choice like a lot of my life; he planned so much without even consulting me. Now at the beginning of my fifth year I used to meet Albus in his office whenever he had time. During one of these meetings he explained that I needed to make everyone think I'm just the same as other boys. I needed to get everyone to stop thinking of me as the-boy-who-lived and like the following year, the chosen one even though I was. We both knew the whispers, the stares, the talk was becoming a distracting and it was also hard for me to hear. When Voldemort returned and people started believing everyone, and started to think I was the one, then hearing it, knowing everyone was looking at me to save them, that's a lot to put on someone who was only fifteen and sixteen at the time. So Albus told me I needed to have a girlfriend, he chose you as I spent a lot of time here. So even though I thought you were nice, you're not really my type Ginny for a lot of reasons. One is personal, one is your temper pisses me off and another reason is every time I looked at you I thought of my mother, not really the incentive for a relationship. I never wanted to do this, but like with my life, Albus had everything planned and if I was going to defeat Voldemort I had to listen to him, plus he was my magical guardian, so he did use blackmail sometimes. So you see, we will not be together and I did tell you that months ago, I just didn't tell you the full reasons.'

'So you used Ginny?' Arthur asked stiffly.

'Yes, but not my doing. You know what Albus said to everyone at Grimmauld place one night. Every person, whether they were fighting for the light or just standing on the sideline will have to make sacrifices if we were going to win this war. Some like Kingsley; he basically gave up on any chance at a relationship so he could concentrate on the fight that would come. Severus gave up everything so he could keep me safe so I could fulfil the prophecy. Albus gave up his life to concentrate on finding anything that would help him defeat Voldemort, then that information was given to me. I gave up my free will to make my own decision and had my choices also taken away from me. So basically, I had no say in my life, until recently, I accepted that even if I didn't like it.'

'Why all of a sudden do you say a lot when it was hard to get you to say more than two words?' Ron asked.

'That will be explained soon Ron, a lot will be explained soon. Look though, I am sorry that Albus picked Ginny for this, but he made sense. I did spend time here, Ron is my best friend, so Ginny was around a lot and she was also close to my age. He had a few others picked, Hermione being one, but I explained that Ron and Hermione always liked each other. I didn't want to use Ginny that way but I figured since I was going to die then she would have some nice memories of me,' Harry shrugged.

'What do you mean you were going to die?' Bill asked.

'Either will die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. I never expected I would survive when I was barely of age and untrained, not to mention Voldemort used dark magic. So that night I spoke to my parents and Sirius because I truly believed I would die. I did die for about twenty minutes, I just never let Voldemort know I was alive.'

'I still don't believe it; I've always known we're meant to be together, I felt it.'

'Fine, I'll say one more thing which I then hope you realise we will never be together. Albus knew this but instead of picking someone I am more suited for he chose you so I would not stand out even further. I happen to be gay and I've known that since I was nine years old. I've been seeing a man, causally for a while now, but even then we're taking things slow because both of us are used to being alone. If you hate me, then hate me, it's me, it's how I was born and it's something Albus and Sirius knew about me the moment they met me. Albus was gay, he's been telling me all about his partner, how was killed during the first war. All it really takes is seeing the robes he wore to know he was gay, that's why my robes are similar in a lot of way. Now I know some people do not accept same sex relationships, that's your choice and your right, but we have the law on our side as it's legal for gay's to even marry, which I don't want to. So you see Ginny, I could never sleep with you when I want a man, someone with a hard body and the right attributes,' Harry laughed at Ron's red face, but he had to smile at his friend who seemed to have accepted the fact he was gay. Hermione just smiled but it was the look that told him that she knew all along.