Hello everyone! Once again, I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has read my story so far. If any of you have some suggestions or comments feel free to leave a review! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters and places associated with the story. I'm only responsible for my original character Alice Reed.
Chapter 3
The next few hours flew by relatively quickly and soon Charlie was back in his hut packing a bag.
Charlie emerged from his room with a bag slung over his shoulder. "Alright I'm ready to go."
"We can't floo or apparate directly into headquarters so I was thinking we'd floo to the Leaky Cauldron and then I can apparate us closer." Alice explained.
Charlie nodded. They left his hut and walked to the Dragon's Egg Tavern where Alice had flooed to just the other day.
The pair flooed to the Leaky Cauldron and then Alice apparated them to a park right near Grimmauld Place. Once they were in front of where Headquarters was located, Alice pulled out a piece of parchment with the address written in Dumbledore's handwriting from her bag and gave it to Charlie. "Memorize this. You won't be able to get inside until you do."
When they entered the building, Alice shut the door quietly behind them. "Make sure to be really quiet. There's a painting of Walburga Black just down the hall and she likes to start screaming whenever she's woken up." Alice whispered. She led Charlie down the hall and down to the kitchen. It was around dinner time so she assumed most of the house's occupants would be down there.
When they entered the kitchen, Alice found that she was right. Sirius and Remus were sitting at the end of the table closest to the door talking quietly, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny were all sitting together joking around near the center of the table, and Arthur was seated nearest to the stove where Molly was just starting to put food down on the table.
"Hello everyone! Molly, do you have enough food for two more?" Alice greeted the group.
Molly looked over to them and a large smile grew on her face. "Oh, Charlie you came!" She exclaimed and she pulled him into a bone crushing hug.
"Of course, I came. I want to help in any way I can." Charlie said once he could breathe again.
Molly stood back and looked at her second oldest son. "Your hair is much too long, and when's the last time you ate? Sit, sit. You too Alice. There's plenty of food for everyone." Molly pushed Charlie and Alice down into the chairs closest to them and placed plates piled high with food in front of them.
Charlie spent the rest of dinner catching up with his family. Alice spoke with Sirius and Remus for most of the time but she did listen in on Charlie's conversations every once in a while in hopes to hear more of what his life has been like recently.
Not long after the group finished eating dinner and the plates were cleared away, Albus Dumbledore walked into the kitchen.
"Mr. Weasley. It's nice to see that you've decided to join our cause." Dumbledore greeted.
Charlie stood up and shook hands with him. "I'm happy I can help, Professor."
Dumbledore turned to greet the rest of the occupants in the room before asking them to leave. "I have some things that I need to discuss with Mr. Weasley and Ms. Reed. We shouldn't be too long."
Everyone filed out of the room and Dumbledore took a seat across from Alice and Charlie and began speaking. "As Alice has likely told you Lord Voldemort is back and he's gaining followers daily. The Order of the Phoenix is also recruiting and we're actively working against Voldemort. We've had some members trailing possible Death Eaters. Tonight, I will need you two to be on watch at the Malfoy Manor. I have reasons to believe that there may be a gathering there tonight. You will go there and watch any activity at the house. Alice, you know what to do. I expect a full report at tomorrow's meeting. If there's even a chance of someone catching you get out of there immediately. We can't risk losing anyone."
Alice nodded in understanding. "Would you like us to leave now?"
"The sooner you leave the better. I will see you both tomorrow. Good luck." Dumbledore said goodnight and left the room.
Charlie exhaled. "Wow. My first day here and I already have an assignment."
Alice looked at him. "You think you're up for it?"
"If you're there with me I should be fine." Charlie said sincerely.
Alice smiled at him before standing up. "We should go change into darker clothes so we have a smaller chance of being seen."
She led them up the stairs to the floor her room was on. Molly was just leaving the room that was across the hall from Alice's. "Oh, has Dumbledore left already?" She asked them once they made it onto the landing.
"Yes, he's sending us on an assignment. We'll be leaving as soon as we change clothes." Alice explained.
A look of worry flashed across Molly's face. She was happy her son was back in England but the situation wasn't the best. "I've just finished cleaning out a room for you. Alice can show you were the bathroom and everything else is once you get back."
Charlie smiled at his mother. "Thank you, Mum."
"Alright I won't take up any more of your time. Be careful you two. I expect you both back in one piece." Molly said before heading downstairs.
"Let's get changed and we'll head out." Alice said before heading into her room.
A few minutes later they met up on the landing and together they walked downstairs and left the building to go on their mission.
The next few months went on much the same. Dumbledore had Alice and Charlie work together to gather information about possible Death Eaters. They ended up being some of the most up-and-coming members of the Order. Many of their missions ended up being successful and they were able to provide a lot of useful information to the Order.
As time moved forward and they spent more time together, Alice and Charlie found themselves slipping back into the familiar rhythm of friendship that they hadn't felt since their days at Hogwarts.
One day, Alice and Charlie were trailing a pair of Death Eaters in a small wizarding town out in the countryside. Alice, being a trained Auror was specially trained for such missions but unfortunately the only stealth training Charlie had was the things that Alice told him over the few months of working together. He was relatively good at staying hidden and not giving away that he was following someone but there were some days that he would slip up and give away their location. Today was one of those days.
The Death Eaters began attacking them in a secluded back alley in the town. Since it was two against two Alice fought one Death Eater and Charlie took on the other. All was going well until the Death Eater Alice was fighting managed to hit her with a disarming spell which caused her wand to fly out of her hand and land off to the side, too far for her to reach especially with the Death Eater advancing on her. She looked around, desperately hoping Charlie was somewhere close to help her but when she locked eyes on him he was in the middle of a duel with the other Death Eater. Thinking fast she threw herself behind a stack of crates for cover just as a curse flew past her.
"Do you really think some boxes will protect you?" The Death Eater asked, his footsteps coming closer to her hiding spot. "Dumbledore is really out of his depths if he thinks he can defeat the Dark Lord with amateurs like you on his side."
As the Death Eater was monologuing, Alice decided to climb up the crates. Without her wand, she figured she'd have a better chance of getting out of this alive with an element of surprise and attacking from up above would do just that. When the Death Eater got close enough to the crates she jumped down and landed on his back wrapping her arms and legs around him. She managed to knock his wand out of his hand so it was no longer a threat but the man was much bigger than her still making it an uneven match. Alice moved her arms to encircle the man's neck attempting to choke him but as soon as she tightened her arms he moved backwards and slammed straight into a wall causing Alice to lose her grip. She fell on the ground and quickly rolled away just as he made to kick her. When she got up she used her small stature and speed to avoid the punches he threw at her before she threw her fist forward and socked him in the jaw. The man stood there in shock for a moment, not believing that she hit him but that didn't last long. He threw another punch and ended up hitting Alice's face. She could feel blood spill from her lip but she didn't let up. She managed to punch him in the face and throat a few more times. The skin on her knuckles split open from the force of the punches.
At this point, Charlie subdued the Death Eater he was fighting with a full body-bind curse. He quickly looked around to find Alice and he was in shock by what he saw. She was still fist fighting the Death Eater who landed another punch to Alice's face at that moment. He ran toward her, his wand at the ready. "Alice! Get out of the way!"
Alice ducked another punch but instead of moving away like Charlie said she charged at the Death Eater. He wasn't expecting the move so she was able to knock him down. The two scrambled on the ground for a moment before Charlie got in range and shot a body-bind curse at this Death Eater too.
Once the Death Eater was still, Charlie helped Alice off him. She was panting, there was blood flowing out of her lip and her knuckles, her hair was a tangled, and her clothes were rumbled and torn in some places. Overall, she looked like a right mess.
"What the hell was that?" Charlie demanded, not understanding why a talented witch like Alice fought a Death Eater without her wand.
"He disarmed me and there was no way I could get my wand back in time so I improvised. I'd say I did a pretty good job." Alice explained breathlessly. They both looked down at the Death Eater she had fought. His face was covered in blood and it looked like his nose was broken.
Instead of starting an argument about reckless she had been, which he desperately wanted to do, he walked away from Alice and sent a patronus to Headquarters so someone could come take care of the Death Eaters since Alice wasn't fit to help him. When he was done with that he went over to Alice and apparated back to Headquarters once they found her wand. He helped her inside but she could tell he was upset with her by how tense he was. He led her down to the kitchen. A few gasps could be heard when the occupants of the room saw the state of Alice's face.
"What the bloody hell happened to you?" Ron asked.
Charlie clenched his jaw before heading further into the kitchen "Alice got into a fist fight with a Death Eater." Charlie snapped as he rummaged through the freezer.
Alice started to laugh in amusement but the cut on her lip pulled open again causing her to wince. Just then Charlie returned to her side and placed a frozen steak on the side of her face where a large purple bruise was beginning to form. Alice winced again at the cold but soon relaxed when it started to numb the pain.
"Alice, do you think this is funny? You could have gotten yourself killed!"
"I could have been killed even if I did have my wand in hand!" Alice countered. "And anyways, you saw what he looked like after I was done with him. He looked way worse than I do."
"Alright, off to bed you lot." Molly cut in before their argument got out of hand. "Alice, you stay down here, I'll see what I can do about that cut."
At that, everyone filed out of the kitchen including a still fuming Charlie. Molly used a few healing spells on Alice's face to take down the swelling on the bruise and to fuse the cut in her lip.
"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Molly asked once she was done healing Alice's face.
Alice nodded and placed her hands on the table showing the split skin and blood on her knuckles. "Some of my ribs on my right side might be bruised as well."
As Molly continued using healing spells Alice sighed and put her head in her hands. "He's really angry, isn't he?" She asked referring to Charlie.
Molly smiled gently at the young woman next to her. "I don't think I've ever seen him so angry but I think he was just worried. Just talk to him. I've been married for a long time and I know that good communication is necessary for a successful relationship. I truly believe you'll be able to work things out if you explain what happened."
Alice glanced over at Molly, "Thank you."
"Not at all, dear. I'm happy to help." Molly reassured her. "Alright that's about all I can do for tonight. Go get some rest."
Alice nodded and began to make her way up to her room. When she got up to her landing she was about to head into her room but thinking about Molly's words made her pause. Molly had been right, communication is an important part of any relationship and if they were going to continue going on missions for the Order they would need to talk through what happened sooner rather than later.
Alice turned away from her room and walked across the landing to Charlie's door. She knocked on the door a few times and softly called out, "Charlie? Can we talk?" Moments passed by and she could hear Charlie pacing in the room but he didn't move to the door. She exhaled deeply and rested her forehead on the door. "Look Charlie. I'm sorry. You were right. I should have moved back. It was reckless of me to take him on. I just got lost in the moment. I reacted instead of thinking."
A few more moments of silence passed. Alice began to turn away figuring Charlie was still too angry to talk but the door opened behind her.
"You don't need to apologize. You did the best you could in the situation." Charlie said.
Alice turned back to face him. "You think so?"
Charlie rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Yes. Honestly I probably would have done something similar if it had been me in that situation."
Alice continued to look at him. She was surprised by the way this conversation was going.
"Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier. It just scared me when I saw you fighting without a wand to protect you." Charlie continued.
A small smile made its way on her face. "It's okay. How about the next time one of us messes up we just sit down and talk about it?"
"That's probably a good idea." Charlie laughed. "You should get some rest. My mum did a good job healing the cut and bruises on your face but you must be exhausted."
"Okay. Goodnight then Char." Alice said softly.
"Goodnight, Alice. Sweet dreams."