Hi everyone! Here is the next update! The last chapter was fluffy, but this one has some drama to it!
In a previous chapter, there was some confusion about Mrs. Weasley's rudeness, but I distinctly remember (and I also researched it again now) that she was pretty awful to Fleur, so I don't think it would be as out of character as we'd like to hope for her to be less than kind to Adair.
Anywho, hope you love it!
Chapter Nineteen
The playing tour over the holidays was nearly nonstop. The English team played a match at least every other day, including on Christmas Eve in Sweden.
The following day, Adair, Oliver, and Katie had spent the day together in a quaint boutique hotel outside of Vienna, where they would play the Austrian team the following day.
They had never discussed it, but Oliver had said very firmly that he and Katie would not be going to any family Christmases, his or hers. Adair knew it was in solidarity. It would look bad if he was able to attend Katie's family Christmas and Adair didn't attend her own.
She didn't question her brother, but tried to make him understand how grateful she was to not be alone.
The thought of Christmas with her mother after what had happened during the previous season had filled her with such an icy sense of dread that at times she had found herself unable to breathe for thinking of it.
Oliver and Katie didn't seem to mind that they were alone for the holidays. They were coming up on their first wedding anniversary and were still in a newlywed state of bliss.
Adair didn't mind watching the pair of them, so in love. It was rather endearing to see her tough brother be so sweet and gentle with Katie, who had the kindest heart of anyone Adair had ever met.
Secretly, they went out and went tobagonning. They didn't want Coach Williams to find out as he would be upset with them for risking an injury that wasn't Quidditch related.
Adair found herself quite content at the end of the day when Katie and Oliver had retired and she was left alone in front of the hotel fireplace with a tumbler of Firewhiskey.
ooooOoooo
Charlie arrived in Paris in the early afternoon on New Year's Eve as they had arranged. He had ached to join her earlier, or to have her join him for Christmas, but she had given him her thoughts on that and so he tried to respect them.
Adair opened the door to the hotel when Charlie knocked. She smiled and let him pass her by with his knapsack.
"Wow," Charlie said. "This is incredible!"
It really was. From the window in the bedroom, the Eiffel Tower could be seen.
"Pretty impressive," Adair agreed.
Charlie turned back to her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. She was still not very receptive to his touch, but he hoped to change that while they were in Paris.
"How was your Christmas?" he asked.
"It was good," she said. She briefly told him of Vienna. "How was yours?"
"Actually, the most humiliating Christmas I've ever been a part of," he said, with a smile.
Adair raised an eyebrow, preparing to be admonished for staying away.
"Yeah, all of the kids wouldn't stop asking me where you were."
Adair laughed.
"I used to be the cool uncle, you know? And then, one night at your flat, and I'm just the guy making the meals."
"It was the giant bubbles," Adair said, smiling up at him.
"Whatever it was, I've been thoroughly replaced." Charlie sat his bag on the bench at the foot of the huge bed. "Victoire was also demanding to know when she was going to get to go to a Quidditch match. She informed everyone that you promised the whole family could go to a match in the suite."
"I did indeed," Adair replied. "There's one at the beginning of March that might work. We're playing Bulgaria late on a Saturday afternoon."
Charlie nodded. "You just let me know and I'll extend the invitation."
Adair rocked up on her toes and then looked at the clock next to the bed. "I better get going. We start warming up in half an hour."
"I'll see you after," Charlie said with a warm smile. Before he could catch her, she was out the door and on her way.
With a sigh, he went to work on his plan.
ooooOoooo
The match against France was totally uninspiring. They may have been the worst team England played all year, but that was fine with Adair. She didn't want to go out with Charlie afterwards battered and exhausted.
Paris was getting to her. She was looking forward to their late dinner. Charlie had instructed her to change directly after the match and they would go from the pitch.
"What are you getting all dressed up for? You turned us down on going out," Jasmine asked.
"The dragon wrangler is here," Sienna responded before Adair could.
She gave the other Chaser a look, as if to ask how she knew.
"I overheard Oliver," Sienna replied with a shrug.
"I cannot keep up with the two of you," Jasmine said.
"Yes, well. We're testing the waters again, I suppose."
"I would be diving in with him, " Jasmine laughed. "Those arms alone."
Adair actually felt her face go red, but she hid it as she slipped into a pair of leather pants, a loose black blouse, and a faux black fur coat. She finished it off with black, pointed toe stilettos.
"I imagine your dinner won't last long looking like that," Jasmine waggled her eyebrows.
"Goodnight, ladies," Adair called over her shoulder as she exited the locker room.
Charlie was waiting a ways down the corridor so Adair was able to take him in before he saw her.
She felt herself flushing again just looking at him. He was in his well-worn combat boots, dark jeans, and a heavy black quarter-zip sweater that was rolled up on his forearms so that she could see his muscles, scars and tattoos. His fiery red hair was pulled into a bun so that she could see his face in profile. His jacket was folded neatly over one arm and he seemed almost nervous, scuffing the toe of his boot against the concrete.
Charlie looked up when he heard the clacking of Adair's heels and his heart started beating even harder.
"You look...I don't...amazing," he finally got out, taking in her sleek outfit and long, wavy blonde hair.
"You look really handsome too," she said a little more smoothly.
Charlie slipped into his coat and then held his arm out for her. "The restaurant is only a few blocks from here. Are you okay to walk?"
Adair nodded and they left the pitch, greeted by a gust of chilly winter air. There wasn't yet snow on the ground though.
"You played really well tonight," Charlie complimented.
"I'm sure you were bored to death. That was a terrible match."
"I'm never bored watching you," Charlie insisted.
Adair laughed lightly. "That's kind of you to say."
"It's true! I could watch you play every day."
"What would your students do without you?" she teased.
"They'd get along."
They walked a few more blocks and then turned a corner onto a beautifully lit side street. There were several restaurants and they were all packed.
Charlie pushed his way to the hostess booth of one of them and they were let in immediately and guided all the way to the back of the restaurant where there was a huge picture window, again displaying the Eiffel Tower.
When they were seated, Adair looked at Charlie in awe. "How did you manage this on New Year's Eve?" she asked.
"Funnily enough, I had a mate at the sanctuary whose family owns this place. I wrote and called in a favor."
"This is breathtaking," she said, staring out the window at the glowing Eiffel Tower. "I never get to do stuff like this on playing stops," she said quietly. "Thank you."
"I would be happy to make it happen more often."
Adair merely nodded, looking down as she laid her napkin in her lap.
Charlie studied her as she studied her menu. The hunger for her was rapidly turning into a raw aching. He wasn't sure he would make it through dinner and he knew he wouldn't survive if she turned him down again.
Charlie ordered a bottle of red wine and deferred to Adair when the waiter came back to let one of them sample it.
She swirled it around in her glass, inhaled deeply, and tasted it. "It's perfect," she said, setting her glass down to be filled.
Charlie had watched the whole thing. "How do you know how to do that?"
"I watched my parents for years. Being in places like this, it's part of the job. I was wined and dined a lot when the national teams realized I was ready to move on from Texas," she said. "You just get used to it."
Not often, but occasionally, Charlie felt out of his element around Adair. She had been easily able to shapeshift when she had come to the sanctuary, The Burrow, and to Hogsmeade. He felt as though he might not be able to fit so succinctly into her life.
"Most of the time I just fake it though," she giggled, swallowing from her glass. "The stuff I buy at home comes from the middle supermarket shelf."
Charlie laughed as well, feeling more at ease. She wasn't pretentious. She had had to live life a very certain way, was all.
Later, their very aromatic meals were set in front of them. Charlie had ordered the beef bourguignon and Adair, the coq au vin.
"This is heavenly," she said when she took the first bite. "You've really outdone yourself tonight, Charlie."
"I just found the place," he said, smiling across the table at her. He couldn't take how beautiful she looked in the candlelight. Her hair shimmered almost gold and her eyes were dancing from the flames and the wine.
"I thought we could go watch the fireworks from our hotel room," Charlie said, when they were through and waiting on the bill.
Adair hesitated. She had hoped to stay out for a while longer. Not from any love of being in the public eye, but she still wasn't prepared to be alone with him.
"Um...sure," she said quietly. "Let me get this," she said, when the bill was laid down. She knew it would be terribly expensive. "You came all this way."
Charlie shook his head. "No," he said simply. He laid a handful of Bezants, the French currency, on the table. "Ready?"
Adair didn't say anything. If they continued on, at some point they would have to talk about money and the huge disparity between their incomes, but he had wanted to do that and so she let him.
Her heart beat nervously and her palms sweat as they entered their hotel once more. Charlie led the way to the elevator and then down the corridor to their room.
"After you," he said quietly.
Adair's breath caught in her chest when she stepped into the room. Dozens of candles were lit, there was champagne and chocolate covered strawberries on the table, and as she walked further into the room, rose petals on the bed. She was overcome with emotion, but instead she did the unthinkable.
Adair scoffed at Charlie's effort, rolling her eyes slightly as she turned to face him. "How romantic," she muttered.
"Don't be like that, Adair," Charlie said, trying to hide his hurt. "Don't be a cynic. It doesn't suit you, no matter how hard you try to force it."
Adair turned her back to him and folded her arms across her chest.
Charlie approached her and slipped her coat off. "Why don't you just enjoy this?"
"I'm scared," she replied, not turning to look at him.
"Of me?"
"Of what happened," she whispered rawly.
"It won't happen again," he promised. "Not if you don't want it to."
"How do you know?"
"Because I'll take something too." Charlie turned her around by force and used two fingers to guide her chin so she was looking up at him. "I brewed a potion for myself. That shouldn't have ever been your entire responsibility. It takes two. And from now on, it will take two to make sure we're safe."
At that moment, Adair melted into his arms. It hadn't been just the baby that had Adair on edge. She hadn't been entirely convinced that Charlie really wanted her more than the family he had created in his head. But if he were willing to take some responsibility, that proved to her that she was what he wanted the most.
Her arms wrapped around his waist as his hands went into her hair.
"You have no idea how much I've missed you," he murmured against her exposed neck, bending over to press kisses from her collarbone to her neck to her jaw.
Adair's hands went under Charlie's sweater, bumping over scars and muscles as they went. Soon she was kicking out of her heels and pulling Charlie's sweater over his head, as she kicked her heels off.
Charlie's fingers were surprisingly nimble as he undid the buttons on her blouse one by one. He slowly pushed it off of her shoulders and kissed from them to the swell of her breasts in her black bra.
She moaned against the crown of his head when he unclasped the bra and took her breasts in his hands, quickly replacing them with his mouth.
Adair's grasping hands quickly took Charlie's bun down and then moved down to the button and zipper of his jeans. He kissed her mouth hard and groaned as she shoved the jeans and boxer briefs down to take him in her hands.
Charlie lost focus then and so Adair undid her own pants, wiggling out of them.
Adair pressed herself as close as she could get to Charlie. "I need you. Now," she moaned.
There was not a stitch of clothing between them. Charlie lifted her up, her legs wrapping around his waist. He found it closer and more convenient to pin her between the wall and himself rather than going to the bed.
They had not been intimate for well over a year, but it was as though time hadn't passed at all when Charlie pushed into Adair. Her back arched and her legs tightened around him, seriously hampering his mobility, but drawing him deeper into her.
One of his huge, rough hands tangled back in her hair and pulled hard so that he could bury his face in her neck.
"Yes," she whispered, urging him to drive even harder into her.
Adair's nails scored his back. "Fuck, Charlie," she ground out. Her insides felt like warm liquid and with every movement from him her body pulsed in reaction. Blood rushed in her ears and then there was the delicious crash that had her crying out and tightening around him.
"Adair!" Charlie spent himself as well and stayed holding her to him for a moment, even as her weak legs dropped from around his waist.
His forearms framed either side of her head as he stood panting above her.
She nipped at his thick pectoral muscles with her teeth before slipping under his arm and disappearing into the lavatory to freshen up.
When she came back, Charlie had made a picnic on the bed with the strawberries and champagne and he patted the spot beside him. "It's almost midnight." He kissed her hungrily and then offered a strawberry. He couldn't take his gaze away from her lips that were swollen and red as they closed around the chocolate covered delicacy.
"I meant to lead into everything with the strawberries and champagne," he said with a chuckle.
"Patience has never been my strong suit," Adair replied, resting her head on his shoulder and sipping from her champagne flute.
All of a sudden, she felt like weeping. It had been such a difficult road for them and she hoped, silently, that the New Year could be a fresh start. The whole day had felt perfect to her; from Charlie being at her match, to the romantic dinner, to making love, to being so close to him afterward.
"Are you alright?" Charlie asked quietly.
Adair decided to be honest. It was a personal policy she had taken up after everything had gone so horribly. "I am deliriously happy."
Charlie pressed a long kiss to the crown of her head. "So am I." He rearranged the pillows behind them and then laid back, pulling Adair so she was under his arm with her head on his chest.
Lazily, her fingertips trailed over his abdomen, but they stopped on the newest scar. The lasting damage from the dragon's spiked tail covered most of the left side of his stomach from his ribs to his hip. Gently, she laid the palm of her hand flat against it.
Charlie covered it with his own larger, rougher hand. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you," he murmured just as fireworks began to go off behind the Eiffel Tower.
ooooOoooo
As promised, two months later, the entire Weasley family filled Adair's suite on the English pitch.
"I've already been here before," Victoire said to anyone who would listen. Eventually, Bill had to tell her that the family understood and that she was making her cousins jealous. The little girl huffed and went to plant herself in the front row of seats so that she could have the best view for the match.
Charlie had been nervous about the match all week. His mother had not been around Adair since he was in the hospital and there were still some hard feelings there.
The food and drinks were plentiful and everyone got what they wanted before taking their seats.
"I also rode around on the pitch, you know? On Adair's super fast broom. Only professionals get to do that," Victoire said.
"Rather reckless of Adair, don't you think?" Molly asked Charlie.
"I don't think a professional Quidditch player would drop my daughter off a broom. Safest she could've been probably," Bill said amicably before Charlie could retort.
He gave his older brother a grateful look.
"Hmm," was all Molly said in response.
Charlie swiped a hand over his face before he stood and went to pour a Firewhiskey. His resolve had worn down even faster than he had thought it would.
Twenty minutes later, the announcer was booming through the stadium. There was raucous cheering from within and outside the suite as Adair was announced.
Adair kicked off from the ground and flew near to her suite before going back to the middle of the pitch. She had told Charlie that she wanted to play really well since his entire family, but mostly Victoire, was going to be there.
From the outset, she played with aggression and strategy, being the first Chaser to get her hands on the Quaffle.
"Go Adair!" Victoire shouted.
The rest of his family was urging her on as well as she went flying toward the opposite goal post. She made the first score look incredibly easy.
"Do you miss it?" Charlie asked, turning to his sister beside him.
"I'm exhausted just watching it," Ginny said, rubbing her very swollen stomach.
Bulgaria let England get away with one easy score, but then the match turned vicious.
"Too bad Krum doesn't play anymore, Hermione, huh?" George said with a laugh.
Everyone burst into giggles at that.
Krum had tearfully retired after losing the World Cup to Egypt in 2002.
"Oh shut the bloody hell up," Ron spat at his brother.
"You got lucky, Ron. Hermione could've chosen to be Quidditch royalty like Charlie over there," George added.
Charlie just shook his head, but it was true. Since they had fully reconciled over New Year's, Charlie had been photographed constantly, sometimes when he was by himself, by the press. He had finished his school holiday travelling with Adair for the rest of her matches and so the Quidditch reporters had gotten quite a lot of him and were trying to scrounge up information on Adair's boyfriend.
"That's enough, George," Mrs. Weasly said firmly. She, of course, did not care for all of the publicity Charlie was getting.
They settled down and turned their attention back to the match. As it went on, the Bulgarian players showed some real hostility.
Later on, as Adair went speeding down the pitch once more, a Bulgarian Chaser caught up to her and tried to block her, but, intentionally or not, his elbow collided with her mouth.
Adair's head snapped back, but she held onto the Quaffle until Coach Williams could call a timeout.
She didn't fly down, she just sat on her broom and worked her mouth. After a long moment, she spit out a glob of blood. On the screen in the suite, they all saw a tooth fly out with it.
"Oh shit," Charlie muttered.
Adair wiped the sleeve of her Quidditch robe across her mouth which just smeared the blood across her face, but she didn't seem to care.
Play resumed.
"Kill him, Adair!" Victoire screamed. All of her cousins joined in as well.
"Lovely," Mrs. Weasley said.
Adair played with a vengeance after that and the Bulgarian Keeper couldn't keep up.
"Logan Jeffries may have caught the Snitch today, ladies and gentlemen, but Adair Wood took England all the way to victory!" the commentator boomed when the match was over.
"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed and Charlie had to smile at his dad.
Half an hour later, Adair came into the suite. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I tried to cut the press stuff as short as I could." She was in a simple black sweater, jeans, and black riding boots. She knew that Mrs. Weasly didn't approve of the way she was often photographed for stylized shoots and so she had tried to be as modest as possible.
"You didn't have to do that for us," Ginny said, trying to hug her friend in her condition.
"Trust me, I wanted to." Adair looked around at everyone gathered.
"Let me see your tooth!" Victoire said, elbowing her way to Adair. The cousins followed suit.
Adair laughed and pulled back her lip with her finger to show the tooth right behind her upper canine that had been knocked out. The children made noises of awe. "I took something after the match. It'll be back to normal by tomorrow."
"Wicked!" Victoire exclaimed.
"Let's not glamorize the violence," Mrs. Weasley said from behind the children.
Adair met her gaze, but didn't respond. Instead she looked at everyone else. "I have a room booked for all of us at a restaurant nearby if you'd like to join me."
"That sounds wonderful, my dear," Mr. Weasley said.
Before Charlie could get to Adair, his father was escorting her out of the suite and out of the pitch. He brought up the rear, letting Audrey and Percy go ahead of him, their daughters in their arms.
"This makes me nervous," Bill said, falling into stride beside Charlie as Victoire clambered onto her father's back. Fleur had stayed at Shell Cottage with Louis and the baby, Dominique.
"Tell me about it," Charlie agreed. "Thanks for earlier. With Victoire."
"You remember how awful it was for Fleur in the beginning," Bill said.
Charlie nodded. His entire family had been ruthless in their dislike of Fleur, thinking her rude and condescending. It turned out that she was just French. She had proven herself to the Weasleys after Bill was attacked by Fenrir Greyback and her devotion to him continued.
Charlie wasn't sure why the same couldn't be said about what Adair had done for Charlie after his incident with the dragon.
"Adair is very tough. Obviously. She had a tooth knocked out, but it's more than that."
"I know. I just don't understand," Charlie said. "After everything she did for me."
"Mum wishes it could've been her to take care of you," Bill said quietly. "She's just taking that out on Adair."
Charlie took a deep breath as they entered the restaurant.
"Ms. Wood," the host said warmly. "Welcome back."
The man led their entire group to a private dining room. Waters were set out in front of everyone and baskets of bread.
Mr. Weasley was sitting at one head of the huge table and Adair had saved a seat for Charlie at the other.
"That should be yours," he whispered.
Adair shook her head and kissed him gently. The kids all groaned in disgust.
Victoire took the free seat on Adair's other side. Unfortunately, Mrs. Weasley was practically right across the table from them.
"You feel okay?" Charlie asked, breaking into Victoire's rapid fire chattering about the match.
"A slight headache. I'll live," Adair responded.
Charlie gripped her hand on the table as the waiter set a Firewhiskey in front of her.
"I'll have one of those!" Victoire said.
Adair burst out laughing, as did those that heard the exchange, but Mrs. Weasley's face went stony.
"That is only for adults. And only certain adults at that," she said, taking a sip of her water.
"Mum," Charlie said quickly.
"Well that's how I feel about it," Mrs. Weasley said.
"We're all entitled to our opinions," Adair said with a tight smile.
Adair focused hard on Victoire for the rest of the meal, not wanting to look at Charlie's mother.
When everyone was through, Adair beckoned the waiter over. "Have the bill sent to Bogrod at Gringotts. He'll see to it quickly," she said quietly.
"Oh you don't have to do that," Ginny said quickly, catty corner from her friend.
Adair shook her head. "I want to. My suite has never been so full. It really meant a lot to me that you all came," she said genuinely.
"I was surprised that your own parents weren't there," Mrs. Weasley said coldly.
Adair bunched her napkin up and set it on the table with as much control as she could muster. "Actually, nothing I ever really do is good enough for my parents, especially my mother, Mrs. Weasley. That being the case, they don't come to many matches." Adair stood and gave a tight smile. "Excuse me."
She couldn't take it. She couldn't take another second of it. She tried so hard to stay out of the woman's way, but she made it impossible. She tried to make it seem like she wasn't upset as she made her way to the lavatory.
"A word," Charlie said to his mother, jaw clenched. The rest of the family watched in silence as they left the room.
"What is it about her that you hate so much?" Charlie asked. "She has been nothing but kind to our family. She didn't bat an eye when she showed up and there was a flat full of kids. She invited us all here and took us out. She was being honest when she said how happy she was that everyone came today."
"Oh, I don't hate her. Don't be ridiculous, Charles."
"I'm not. I can't be around this anymore."
"Well that's one thing we can agree on. I think you could do much better."
"You misunderstand," Charlie said evenly. "I won't continue to bring Adair around if you refuse to treat her like a human being."
Mrs. Weasley went to open her mouth to protest, but Charlie cut her off.
"I understand that you have your qualms about her job and the publicity that goes with it. And I know it was hard for you while I was in the hospital, but I know Adair and she wasn't trying to slight or disrespect you when she did what she did. I'm not sure why you're not grateful to her. She doesn't expect you to grovel at her feet or anything. But a simple "thank you" would go a long way for her and I. She didn't hesitate to save my life. And truth be told, I didn't deserve it."
Mrs. Weasley said nothing.
"And don't ever bring up her parents again. I don't believe for a second that you're in the dark entirely about what that's like for her." He knew he had made off-hand comments about Mr. and Mrs. Wood and surely Ginny would have too after all of their years of playing together. "Harry doesn't have anyone and you immediately take him in and care for him, but with Adair? That was entirely uncalled for and petty. I'm going back in there and I'm going to tell everyone that Adair has a terrible headache and I'm going to take her home."
He took his mother's arm and guided her back into the private room.
"Adair really isn't feeling well after that blow today," he said, not specifying if had been the physical collision on the pitch or the run-in with Mrs. Weasley. "Stay as long as you like. We'll see you all soon."
Ginny went to rise, but Charlie subtly waved her off.
Charlie nearly knocked into Adair when he left the room, but he caught her by the arms and steadied them both.
"We're leaving," he said.
"It's not necessary," Adair said quickly. "I shouldn't have let her get to me. I'm fine."
"We're leaving," he said again, his tone brokering no room for an argument.
There you go! I hope you enjoyed that! I really enjoyed writing both parts of this one! Per usual, I welcome all feedback, constructive criticism, and headcanons you have for the characters in this fic!
Happy reading,
Avonmora