Chapter 23: Confrontation.

Everything changed after opening that box. I could almost relate to that Pandora chit at this point, it changed my whole perception of the world. My hatred of Harry dissipated into anger, my confusion and anger at Charlie was monumental. I was confused, I was angry, I was hurt, I was in awe. I couldn't process anything that was going through my brain right now. I honestly didn't think that the reality of what I had learned had set in yet. It was surreal, like someone was going to jump out of a closet and yell "Gotcha". I was blindly going through the motions of my day without really understanding what my actions were.

I'm not sure if I slept that night at all. It felt like I had, but all I could remember was lying awake and analyzing everything I had learned. What did any of this mean? Was it really true? Would Charlie really do that? I had to know. I had to see Charlie.

Hermione and Ron's wedding was in two days and the rehearsal dinner was tonight, he had to be at the burrow. I was out of bed before seven am and on route to my mother's house to try and make sense of this. I wouldn't believe it, I wouldn't believe anything until I heard it from his mouth.

Mum was awake and in a tizzy trying to get everything sorted for the rehearsal. The dishes were washing each other in the sink, the broom sweeping the floor, and the mop swaying easily behind it. My mother the flawless captain of her own ship. With little effort she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before telling me that Charlie wouldn't be able to make it back to Romania until tomorrow night. Some emergency with his Dragon mistresses. It was always those fucking dragons.

Tomorrow night? I couldn't wait. I had to know now. Hermione had taken a room upstairs until after the wedding so I rallied my courage in order to tell her that I wouldn't make it to the rehearsal tonight. Her eyes were lit with obvious sympathy as she looked at me. I could only imagine what I looked like right now to garner such a reaction from her. I hadn't looked in the mirror before leaving my flat so I could only imagine that I looked like hell. Hermione was unexpectedly calm about my missing the rehearsal tonight. Seeing as calm, Hermione, and wedding hadn't really been known to occur in the same sentence I took it as a blessing and decided not to read into it until I could find Charlie.

Find Charlie.

It was like a never-ending beat in my brain. It was like it was the words my pulse pumped through my veins.

Like a well-practiced surgeon I had contacted my friend in international apparition and pulled every single string my name allowed in order to get the next fireplace to Romania. It had cost me a small fortune, but money had never mattered to me much. I could earn more. Within an hour and a half I was walking into the ministry, no baggage to claim, no coat, it was a miracle I was even wearing shoes. The only thing I had on my person was the letter, the letter from Charlie to Harry. I managed the meekest pleasantries at the international apparition office, answering the necessary travel questions in order to leave the country.

When would I be back? Today.

Business or Pleasure? Pleasure.

Reason for Visit? Visiting my brother.

I wanted to tell the nice lady with thick woolen sweater that I was potentially going to kill my brother but ever since the war apparition security was through the roof. I didn't fancy getting detained today.

Getting detained for possible homicide would set me up in front of the Wizengamot for sure, and not even Ron Weasley would be able to give me any sway. They'd have to resort to straight up Harry Potter showing up to get me out of holding and I wasn't ready to see him yet. I had to find Charlie first. I had to talk to Charlie.

I waited ten minutes for my departure time. I had no idea what I was going to say to my brother. I didn't know if I was going to be able to find the words to express everything coursing inside of me. It was too much. I couldn't handle any of what was going on inside of me, my body screamed to go home and hide under my blankets until some of the chaos passed but I couldn't do that this time. This time I had to get up and fight. This time I wasn't going to lie down and take it.

When my number was called I numbly walked down the brick walkway to the lit fireplace. A green blur of moments later and I was staring into the Romanian Apparation station. I quickly collected my return ticket and then headed out into the lush green countryside in search of my brother. If my memory was correct, he hadn't moved camp since the last time I had visited him a year ago. I spun on my heal and popped into a wooded glen. I walked with renewed ferocity towards the tree line. With every moment that passed my desperation grew until my walk turned into a light jog. Another few seconds passed and I was running as hard as I could rapidly gaining on the edge of the woods. I burst through, beyond relieved when I saw the familiar wooden cottages that housed the entirety of the dragon crew that Charlie directed. My body ached as I ran, my legs screaming for me to slow down. The wind stung my eyes but I pushed through the pain. It was so close; I was so close to getting answers.

It was minutes and millennium's until I weaved around the last house and flew over the last remaining meters to my brother's cottage. I barely managed to stop myself from barreling into the door and knocking it clean of the hinges. My fist pounded against the wood so hard that it hurt. Silence echoed from within and it was only then that I realized that he might not be at home. I pounded again. Panic was welling up inside of me.

I had to know.

The door swung open, the grumpy face of my brother lit up upon seeing me and then sunk back down at seeing my expression. "Ginny, What in Merlins…"

But I couldn't let him finish. "Is it true?"

I could tell at that moment Charlie had no idea what I was talking about. "Is what…"

My voice dipped down to a deathly octave. I could feel tears brimming behind my eyes. "Is it true?"

"Ginny I don't know what you are talking about?"

He seemed like he was concerned for my sanity. I had to admit I had my own worries. If this didn't make me absolutely mad, I'm not sure what could. My hand dug inside the back pocket of my jeans before finding the letter and raising it up so that he could see. I watched his face; I watched the color drain from his cheeks and the look of horrified recognition flash over his eyes.

Oh Godric. Tears spilled onto my cheeks as I let my hand fall to my side. A choked sob escaped me as I felt my shoulders start to hunch and body start to crumble. "How could you do this to me?"

"You had better come inside." His voice was calm. As if this wasn't the equivalent of Voldemort being resurrected. Rage welled up inside of me and I let my body react without restraint. I cocked back my arm and put every ounce of strength I possessed into my fist. Charlie stumbled back clutching his nose, his features twisted in severe pain. My fist throbbed but I ignored the pain. Pain I could handle, I'd carried it with me every day for years. I took the steps across the threshold kicking the door shut.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?" I roared, tears streamed down my face and I did nothing to stop them from coming.

"What the hell?" Charlie yelped as he quickly retreated from my slowly advancing steps. .

"For years, I was miserable, shattered, heartbroken. I believed that the man I loved left me without even saying goodbye and it's all because of you. He wanted me, he was going to come home, and you wrote him. YOU LIED TO HIM. I would have waited forever if I had gotten one of his letters. Forever! I would have been by his side instead of hating him. Loathing him. Cursing his existence. " Charlie's back hit the opposite side of the wall, but I didn't stop. My fists flew, my pain clouding over my senses and my sobs slurring my words. I hit anything within reach. "I could…. I could have been happy….It could've….It could've… been different."

It was too much, the thousands of thoughts and emotions I was feeling finally boiled over. My legs gave out and I sunk to the ground. My mind completely ignorant of the fact that Charlie was here let alone the fact that I was in Romania. I don't know how much time had passed until I finally calmed down. My cheeks were swollen, my nose was running.

I looked up to see Charlie squatting in front of me. His nose was fixed but there was still tell-tale traces of blood smeared on his face and shirt. He offered me the large cup of tea in his hand and I nodded dumbly before slowly shuffling to my feet and to the dining room table. Charlie busied himself making another cup while I tried to pull out a sentence from my swimming consciousness.

"I'm sorry for hitting you." I croaked.

He turned, cup in hand before taking the seat across from me. "I suppose I deserved that."

My mind fought the urge to scream, "you think?" Silence stretched between us.

"What do you want to know?" My eyes met his and he slid a box of tissue to me. I took it, cleaning myself the best I could.

"How…?" Was all I could manage. A massive sigh escaped Charlie as he raked a hand through his hair.

"I had just come home. I don't know if you remember it because you were….. well you know? It wasn't right after the war because of work but when I finally managed to get home everything was ruined. Mum was a mess, George was barely speaking, and you were even hardly a person anymore. And Fred was… Fred was gone. And Harry had just left. I was trying to fix things, I saw the letters arrive and... I just…"

"Took them?" I whispered. Charlie nodded. My stomach twisted into a tight knot. Tears glistened in my eyes once more. "Why?"

"I was angry. I didn't really believe it until I came home. It wasn't really real, he wasn't really gone. I think until I finally got there I honestly thought it was a joke and I was going to walk in and there would be Fred and George enchanting mum's knitting to insult Percy." My mind flashed at the memory from so many Christmas's ago. I wasn't capable of a smile right now, but I did manage a small tilt of my lips. Percy was such a wanker growing up. "No one was handling it well, I'd never seen Mum and Dad not be able to handle the family. I thought that it was my job to try and fix things, to take control and get things back in order since no one else could. I wouldn't let myself grieve, I just got angry."

"But, Harry…. It wasn't Harry…"

"I know. I know that. Hell the guy stood face to face with Voldemort and took a killing curse without even fighting back." He paused. "It was me. I wasn't there. I wasn't there to do my job. I'm the older brother; I'm supposed to protect you. I should have been there, I should have been there fighting with you..." I watched as tears rolled their way down my brother's cheeks. I don't know if I've ever seen Charlie cry. "I should have been there when he died. But I was here, I was here working like I always am while all those people lost their lives. I was so angry, I still don't know why it had to be Fred. I just, somehow convinced myself that if Harry wasn't around that none of what happened would have happened. It still happens, when I see him, I still look at him and get so mad I just want to knock his teeth in. When I know it's me. It's me missing Fred, that's it. I don't know if that's every going to go away. "

"And you think that's enough of a reason to do what you did?" I spat bitterly, trying to stop myself from breaking down in hysterics again.

He hung his head. His gaze fixed on the linen of his tablecloth.

"I saw you like that. You wouldn't even get out of bed Ginny. You just laid there all day, staring at the wall. We could barely get you to talk, we couldn't get you to eat. I just thought that…if I could help you, that maybe it would make up for not being there to help Fred."

A part of me was stricken with sadness at my older brother's torment over Fred's death. He had never mentioned how he felt when it happened and when I had seen him. I understood what it was like to lose a brother, he was not the only one who did. Whether or not I was able to relate to how he felt there was the all-consuming rage for what he did to Harry and I. My heart ached to know that for years I had placed the blame on the wrong person, and that it was possible that he had suffered as much as I had. Somehow it was still hard to believe that my brother would have willingly hurt me the way he had. He might not have meant to hurt me, but what I endured was torture.

My voice rose as I spoke. "That was not your choice to make."

"I know."

"No! You chose a future for me. You took away my choice. You robbed me of that opportunity. I didn't even write him to ask him why... I didn't..."

"I know Ginny. I'm sorry." I shot to my feet. Wiping my tear stained cheeks with the back of my hand and walking a few steps away from the table. I could hear the scrape of Charlie's chair as he stood as well but I couldn't look at him. "I bet you hate me now." His voice reflected the sadness he felt.

A disbelieving laugh erupted from me. "Of course I don't hate you Charlie, you are my brother. I'd love you even if you were a death eater." I let a pause fill the space between us as I searched for the courage to speak the next words. My eyes shifted over to my brother's. "But I'm not so sure if I can forgive you."

A tear leaked down his cheek and he hastily wiped it away. "I understand." He said, his voice cracking with his emotion. I fought my baser urge to comfort him, to go up to him and assure him that things were going to be okay. That's the way Mum had raised us, that it didn't matter how much money you had or how many friends you made, when there was no one else you had your family. I felt the rift between us widen like it was a rift in my soul. I had always known that things were rarely what they seemed, but until today I would never thought that that included Charlie.

A/N: I am late. I know. I am sorry. Work got crazy swamped. Like ridiculous. You have no idea. Thank you everyone who has read and reviewed! Seriously! I love you so much. You don't even understand. I wanted to do a few reviewer shout outs because I haven't had much time to respond to your words.

Stephanie O- You are amazing, thank you so much for your continued support and help with this story. I really appreciate all your help with this story and pointing out my errors, I try my best to catch them before I post but sometimes they get through. I swear once this story is finished I'll go through and edit the chapters.

speedsONEandOnly- I'm glad you called it! I wanted to put that little kernel of suspicion in there but I didn't want it to be so blatantly obvious that people right away were like, Stupid Charlie. It was totally Charlie! My confrontation with Charlie is a little anti-climactic but he is her brother, and though she's mad and upset she would never intentionally hurt someone she loves.

theJudas- You are totally right. I know there isn't a lot of flow from chapter to chapter. I hope this chapter is a little bit better with the transition, I have to admit though, I really didn't have much time to write and review it. I'm hoping after this story is finished that I'll be able to go back and re-write the whole thing and make it... Obviously better. Thanks for reading and reviewing! I will try and make the chapters transition better from now on.

Lollygirl128-You are so adorable. Seriously. Even over reviews your reactions make me want to hug you! Thank you so much for continuing to read, enjoy, and review. I always look forward to what you are going to say.

secretgangsta- Hey, thanks, That is really nice to hear. I really wanted to try and make the reason Harry left not cliche. I know a lot of people have expressed that they didn't understand why Harry would stay gone throughout this story. I would continually try and tell them to hang in there, but there's only so much you can do until the chapters are up and you're like, "oh okay, now I get it."

But seriously guys. 202 reviews. I love your face.

I am anticipating that there are only going to be three or four more chapters left.

It's coming to close!

Are you ready?

-Nurse Holliday