Chapter Twenty Five: Spoon

Regan waited patiently, her arms crossed with Ginny at her side. She finally sat down, letting out a small huff of frustration. Charlie had been in there with Ron for what seemed like an eternity, but Regan knew that it had only been ten minutes.

"You look worried." Ginny quietly commented as she leaned against the same table that Regan was sitting at.

"I'm not," Regan said with a firm shake of her head. "Just...tired." Ginny slowly nodded, but both knew that she didn't believe her.

"It's just...you're frowning and you look like you're about to beat somebody." Regan sighed, shaking her head again.

"No...sadly, that's just how my face looks." Regan cracked a smile. She didn't mean to make a joke, but clearly Ginny thought that it was funny when she laughed. She slowly sat down next to her, keeping her eyes on the door and listening for any parts of the conversation to be heard through the thick pine.

After a moment, Ginny finally said "I'm sad to see you go." It caught Regan off guard honestly. After their last encounter, she just assumed that Ginny didn't want to know her, but perhaps she had been wrong.

"I'm sad to leave as well." She told her. "To be honest...I haven't felt this comfortable around so many people since I was a child." Ginny smiled slightly.

"That's wonderful, Ron will be so happy to hear that."

"I've been meaning to ask...how exactly did Ron come to be in charge?" She had been wondering for a while, actually. From all the stories that she had heard about Ron Weasley, he didn't exactly seem like the leader type. Then again, what did Regan know? She had been stuck behind stone walls all her life; her concept of leadership was associated with malice and cruelty...and Ron was none of those things.

"It's hard to explain," Ginny began. "But, things changed after Harry died...Ron changed. It was like one day he woke up and the light was gone from his eyes...like somebody had sucked the life from him."

Regan continued to stare at the rough pine door, pondering the man on the other side. She could sympathize with him, which made her feel oddly close to him.

"And Charlie is just a whole different story." Ginny muttered. "When Angie died, it really messed him up. He was so desperately in love with her." Ginny bit her lower lip, peering over at Regan. "I worry...I worry that he might be trying to replace Angie with you." Regan's eyes widened, her shoulders stiffening. "I mean, you two are so similar...you could almost pass as her sister."

The door suddenly swung open and the Weasley brothers appeared, both looking upset with whatever had been said between them. Charlie and Regan instantly locked eyes. While he looked relieved to see her, she kept her face and eyes cold. Was that all she was to him? A replacement? She wanted to scream at him; scratch at his face and prove that she was so much more than a dead girl.

Regan stalked away after a moment, thankful that he didn't follow after her. She wanted to be alone; she wanted so desperately to just be away from people forever. She should just take a sack of supplies and run away. They had her hair; they could make all the polyjuice potions that they wanted to continue on with their plan. She could hide somewhere far away where nobody would ever know her and where nobody would ever come close to her. Any affection that Charlie had for her would simply disappear and they would both be better off.

When she reached Narcissa's room, she was glad to see that the room was empty. She rested on the couch, letting out a heavy sigh as she just stared at the wall. Regan felt as if she might lose her mind and she almost wanted it to happen. She felt as if it might be best if she just forgot everything and let her mind slip away into nothingness. Oh how she wanted to forget, but when there was a knock on the door, she realized that she would never be able to forget any of this. Charlie walked in, shutting the door behind him.

"He's not thrilled about us, but he can't really do anything since you leave tomorrow." Regan continued to stare at the wall even when he sat down beside her. There was no 'us'; they weren't even remotely close to a couple. "Would you like to stay with me tonight?"

"Why?" The question sort of just tumbled out and she didn't mean for it to sound cruel or demanding, but her blunt attitude didn't seem to bother Charlie.

"I want you to…and this might be the last bit of time that we get to spend together totally alone." Regan quirked an eyebrow, finally looking his way.

Did he just want sex?

Is that why he wanted her to stay the night?

"Both of us are wearing pants and they're going to stay on the whole night." She said with a straight face. Charlie smirked, but quickly nodded in agreement. "And don't get any ideas about cuddling and kissing me just because I'm in your bed…don't want you getting the wrong idea." Charlie smirked, kissing her cheek despite the stern look on her face.

"All right, anything you say…now will you please get whatever you need for bed? I'm very tired and I would like to sleep very soon." Regan nodded, standing up and going to her suitcase to retrieve her pajamas and then to the bathroom to get her toothbrush. When she returned, she felt the color drain from her face. Charlie was awkwardly standing in the middle of the room with Narcissa in the doorway. Judging from her expression, she did not look pleased.

"Hello Regan," she said with forced pleasantry. "Are you going somewhere?"

"She's spending the night with me." Charlie answered for her.

"You know the rules." Narcissa insisted, pursing her lips together. Regan shifted uncomfortably, slowly coming to stand beside Charlie.

"We do, and we don't intend to break them." Regan assured her. Narcissa quirked an eyebrow.

"If you don't intend to break the rules, then you should stay here," Narcissa told her. "Ron won't stand for you running off and doing what you want just because you're his brother." She said, her comment aimed at Charlie.

"I have never asked for special treatment!" Charlie told her through a clenched jaw. "I have always pulled my weight around here and I deserve this!" Narcissa fiercely stared him down, her hands clenching into fists.

This would not end well…

"If Ron's going to get mad, then I'll make sure that he knows that you did everything in your power to stop us from leaving." Charlie quietly assured her as he fought to keep his cool. Narcissa stiffened under his stare, but finally relented and stepped aside to allow Charlie and Regan to pass. Charlie quickly grabbed Regan's arm and dragged her from the room without another word. Regan didn't dare to look because she didn't need to. She knew that Narcissa was watching them and she knew that she was positively enraged, though she couldn't really understand why. What Regan did was her own business and she could care less about what Narcissa told Ron. She wasn't too keen about spending the night with Charlie, but she defiantly went with him to defy what Narcissa and Ron wanted her to do.

When Regan stepped into Charlie's room, she took a long look around while remaining completely still. Unlike Narcissa's room, Charlie just had one large room with all his amenities in one large space, save for the bathroom that was shut away in a very small room. It sort of looked like a college dorm room expect for the small stove and the fridge that sat next to it. Charlie scrambled around to pick up food wrappers and a few pieces of clothing scattered around his room, glancing to Regan with a nervous smirk.

"Hadn't really expected company," he mumbled as he continued to quickly clean. He sighed when he deemed the room presentable, offering Regan an accomplished smile as she continued to stand in the doorway. He almost chuckled, but resisted when he saw how uncomfortable she looked. "You can change and brush your teeth in the bathroom, would you like some tea?" Regan quickly shook her head, disappearing into the bathroom and leaning against the door. She instantly began to question her choice of coming here, but she couldn't go back to Narcissa now; that would just be too embarrassing.

So, despite the fact that her mind was just nagging at her to stop and run away, Regan brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas. She slowly braided her hair, momentarily wondering what Charlie was doing out there. When she had deemed herself presentable in her shorts and snug tee shirt, she slowly opened the door and stepped out to see that Charlie was already in bed with the lamp on the bedside table providing the only light in the room. Thankfully, he was fully dressed as Regan sat down on the bed and allowed Charlie to pull the thick blankets over her legs and entrap her in the welcoming warmth.

"Does your mother make everything around here?" Regan asked, her hands going across the carefully made quilt that topped at least two more knitted blankets.

"That and she cooks every meal…she's very good at the domestic."

"So in other words she spoiled you for any woman?" Charlie chuckled, pulling her resistant body closer to his. She sighed, finally relaxing and letting Charlie pull her down against him and wrapping his arms around her. She only allowed it because she was actually rather cold.

"It's not like I'm going to expect you to cook and clean and knit…you can do whatever you want as far as I'm concerned." Regan quirked an eyebrow, holding back a snort.

"Who says that I'm going to be with you or marry you?" She asked, avoiding his gaze. The room became awkwardly quiet and Regan finally looked back over at him. She could see that he had made himself believe that he cared about her more than he probably did. He was delusional, but still…for some reason Regan didn't like to see him so upset. "But…I suppose it could be a possibility…maybe." That brought the light back into his eyes.

"Admit it: you like me." He teased, gently nudging her. Regan just rolled her eyes.

"Stop it…" She muttered. He continued to nudge her, eventually bringing a smile to her face.

"Say it, you don't absolutely hate me…and the idea of being with me doesn't totally disgust you." Regan sighed, sinking down into the bed and shutting her eyes. Charlie chuckled, reaching over to turn off the light to submerge them both in darkness. He pulled her close and Regan allowed him to spoon against her, surrounding her body in a Weasley cocoon. After a long moment of silence where both thought that the other had fallen asleep, Regan finally spoke.

"I don't want to go back to him." Regan told him as she peered out into the darkness.

"I don't want you to go back either." Charlie quickly told her. "I thought about suggesting that Luna just continue on pretending to be you, but I figured that Lucius would somehow figure it out…but at least it would keep you here…with me." Regan softly smiled, thankful that he probably couldn't see her in the darkness. "I just don't want you to risk your life and die."

"People have already died, one more death wouldn't make a difference." Charlie glared at the back of her neck, his grip around her tightening.

"Every life matters…don't make me pull out Dr. Seuss on you." Regan furrowed her brow together.

"What?"

"A person's a person, no matter how small." Regan just rolled her eyes.

"Oh my God…"

"I know, my brilliance is astonishing." She scoffed and giggled, bringing a smile to Charlie's face.

"Aren't you a little old to be quoting a children's book?" She asked as she felt her eyes beginning to grow heavy.

"Sometimes the simplest sayings tend to be the wisest." He told her quietly. Regan sighed, closing her eyes and pulling the blankets tightly around her.

"I'll keep that in mind," she muttered. Within minutes, Regan had drifted off to sleep, but Charlie remained wide awake. He stared into her thicket of wild red hair, his mind going a mile a minute. How could he ever let her go knowing what was going to happen to her? It was bothering him and he found it difficult to shut his eyes for more than five seconds.

Regan suddenly rolled onto her back in her sleep and let out a small snore, her mouth hanging open and her arms and legs splaying themselves across Charlie and almost the entire bed. He smirked, biting back the laugh that threatened to pop out. For somebody who was so controlled, it was interesting to see her let go and just completely relax. He re-positioned himself so that she could remain sprawled out while he could hold her and suddenly he felt very tired. Sleep came quickly and both were glad for the rest.

...

A/N: I'm so sleepy...meeeeeeeeeeeh...*falls into bed*

RashaTemple: I can't stand that Regan gets the hot ginger...because I want the hot ginger...

Dragoon Dave: We've had this conversation...and now you see my reasons and such above...words not working...must rest...blarg...