Chapter 20 – Charlie's Cabin
"Fucking Weasleys." Cedric grumbled as he searched the whole castle for the twins. That morning, they already had left the breakfast table, if they had even showed up. During lunch he didn't see either of them or Lee. It was still break so he couldn't stop them during class. He looked everywhere but didn't find them. It was only during dinner that he spotted the two red heads walk in. Cedric saw George scan the Hufflepuff table for a certain girl and when he couldn't spot her, his shoulders slumped, and he dropped down next to his twin. His eyes kept scanning the table and glanced to the doors from time to time. So, when dinner was finally over, Cedric and George hopped up on the same time and walked towards each other.
"Where is Guinevere?"
"Gone. She asked me to give you this." Cedric said as he handed over the note. He watched as he read the note twice and when he finally looked back up, he said. "She used the floo at your house." Cedric couldn't help the grin that appeared, and it only became larger when George looked at him with large wide eyes. "The floo at the burrow is attached to the one in Charlie's cabin, so she floo'd over there this morning and used your floo to go to Romania."
"She - she met my mum?"
"Probably." He shrugged with a grin. "It will be fine, mate." He clapped his back. "Maybe you could write her and try to pry out what happened." He chuckled as he left the great hall.
I stepped out of an unfamiliar fireplace that was situated in a living room. The room gave me a real homey feeling, I stepped out of the fireplace looking around. "Hello?" I called out in the silent house. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and the next moment a woman with red hair appeared in the doorway.
"You must me Gwen. Professor Sprout contacted me, and Arthur told me all about you of course, together with the twins and Charlie. What you did for those two kids." Mrs Weasley suddenly pulled me into a hug. Not what I expected to be honest, but I patted her back a little awkwardly.
"Nice to meet you too, Mrs Weasley. I heard a lot about you."
"You did?" She asked surprised as she pulled back, her hands still on my shoulders.
"Uhm, yeah. I've been hanging out with the twins this year."
"They are not roping you into anything dangerous, are they?"
"No, no." I smiled at the witch. "They are perfectly harmless." We looked at each other for a minute before we both started laughing.
"Come on, let me give you a tour. You still have an hour before the floo closes."
Mrs Weasley showed her around on the lower floor and their large garden. When we stood in the hallway, she pointed at the pictures of her kids that were all hanging on the wall. I chuckled when I saw pictures of the twins in the yard covered in paint, running away from Mrs Weasley butt naked.
"One minute they were painting neatly on the canvas." She started. "I turn around for one second!" She pointed with her index finger in the air. "Don't ever turn your back on the twins." I laughed at that. "And they had covered each other with paint. I took them upstairs to clean them up, but once they were out of their clothes they ran back down and started another paint fight." Mrs Weasley smiled as she shook her head. "I took me a week to get all the paint off."
"You should get an award for handling those two."
"I should, shouldn't I?" She smiled and I heard the clock rang behind me. "You better get going before the floo closes."
"Right. Thanks for the tour, Mrs Weasley." I smiled as I grabbed my bag from the kitchen table.
"My pleasure dear, and you're always welcome to visit in the summer." She offered. "Oh, I made some cookies and cupcakes for you guys."
"You didn't have to." I said as I accepted the box.
"Oh, hush you. I love baking." She said as she walked me to the floo. I stepped in and smiled at the older witch. "Be safe, dear. Charlie's cabin!" And once again, I disappeared in green flames.
I stepped out of the familiar fireplace of Charlie and Bash's cabin. I was looking at my feet as I stepped out, so I didn't see Charlie already waiting for me. He picked me up and twirled me around.
"Charlie, you're squishing the cupcakes." I laughed.
"Cupcakes?" His voice happy as he put me down and grinned at me.
"Yes." I smiled at him. "Your mum made them." I handed over the box. "Where is Bash?" I asked nervously looking around.
"He's asleep in the bedroom, but we can go see him. I know you must be worried." I nodded my head at Charlie, and he placed the box on the table and took my hand as we walked to the bedroom. The door was still open, and my eyes immediately fell on Bash. He was lying in the bed, the covers pulled up just enough to cover his legs but the fire was roaring in the fireplace so he wouldn't get cold. My breath hitched as I saw al the bandages around his torso, he even had a large bandage on one side of his face. I couldn't stop the tears that were forming in my eyes and Charlie instantly pulled me against his chest.
"He's going to be okay, love." He whispered in my hair.
"Are you sure?" I mumbled in his shirt. "He doesn't look okay."
"Come here." He pulled me out of the room and walked me back to the living room. We took a seat at the couch, and I curled up next to him. "I'm not going to lie to you, I never do. It was touch and go for a moment, but he's okay now, I promise. We're now healing his last deep cuts and he's as good as new."
"What happened?" I asked, my eyes fixed on the fireplace.
"It happened during a rescue party. We ran into some smugglers, they tried to steal them back. And one of them send a dark curse at me. Bash -" He inhaled deep. "Bash pushed me out of the way, and he got hit. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry, Gwen. I promised I'd keep him safe."
I pushed myself up and looked him in the eyes. "It's not your fault, Charlie." I smiled at him. "We all know Bash has a saviour problem." I chuckled and he joined in.
"I resent that." Bash's voice came from behind us. Before I had a chance to turn my head, he flopped down on the couch next to me. I leaned into him without a second beat, and he wrapped my arms around me. "Glad you could make it, little one."
"Glad you're still alive, idgit." I grinned weakly at him.
"How did the ball go? Who did you go with?" He asked as one hand was firmly wrapped around me and Charlie shuffled closer to wrap his arm around his shoulders, aell three huddled close against each other. With a wave of my wand, I let a blanked fly over and lay over us, thank Helga for me turning seventeen already. I began telling them the story, the whole story even the day after. I could tell these two anything. I knew they would never judge me or my choices, they may have an opinion, but never judge. I also told them about Luke, I didn't go into vivid detail of course. I don't think Bash would appreciate that very much. After the story and the rights amount of What? Nos! And Reallys. Charlie looked at me with a grin.
"So, you and George huh?"
"Fuck off!" I laughed and pushed him away.
"You haven't even been on your first date, and you already met our mum."
"Yeah, even before I've met her, and I've been dating this goofball for two years." Bash chuckled but winced at the pain in his side.
"Are you okay?" I asked, quickly sitting upright and looked him over.
"Yeah, just need to take my pain potion, that's all."
I frowned at him not convinced, but he smiled at me and took a vial from the table next to him and took a few sips. "I wonder if he's mad at me."
"Why would he be mad?" Bash asked as he put the vial back down with a raised eyebrow.
"Because I left without telling him and we had our first date this evening."
"You wrote him a note, didn't you?" I nodded slowly to Charlie. "Then he'll understand, trust me."
"Alright." I let myself sank in the couch again, for only to bolt up straight a few seconds later. "What if he's freaking out? I already met your dad this summer and now your mum, even before our first date."
"Calm down, Gwen." The boys laughed and pushed me back.
"George won't freak out... much." Charlie grinned with a shrug. "He'll probably wonder what you two talked about though."
"Nothing much actually, she showed me around the house and told me about some stories behind the pictures on the wall." I said as I looked back to the flames. "Oh!" I jumped up and got my bag from the armchair and flopped back down between the boys. "I've got some pictures of the ball." I say with a smile as I pulled out a large bundle of photographs.
"They don't move." Charlie frowned at a picture and wiggled it in front of him.
"No." I shook my head laughing. "They are Polaroids, from a muggle camera."
"Oh, little one. You looked absolutely stunning." Bash gasped as he looked at a picture of me and Fred dancing. Charlie glanced over my head and looked at the picture in Bash's hand. "Maybe little one isn't the right name anymore." He muttered to himself.
"He's right, gorgeous. Georgie can be such an idiot." I chuckled at his proclamation. "But I thought you didn't dance with George?"
"I didn't, that's Fred." I pointed out.
"How do you know?" My brother asked.
"George's nose is a little more crooked and Fred's eyes are a little droopier."
"Huh." The boys said as they tilted their heads and looked at the picture.
"Wait." I held up my finger and flipped through the photos, I stopped when I found one of the twins. "Here, look."
After a minute they simultaneously said. "Oh, yeah."
That afternoon, while Bash took a nap, Charlie showed me around on the reserve. I have been there of course, but they had changed the lay out and expanded the reserve. I was fascinated with everything I saw and since I was legally allowed to use my wand out of Hogwarts, Charlie said I could help out a bit if I wanted. And of course, I wanted to. My fascination with creatures and travel ran through my family; my grandparents, my parents, my brother, even some of my uncles and aunties. I was planning to go traveling around the world to work with all sorts of creatures. To learn more about them, and their habitats; to learn to protect them and educate other wizards and witches across the world. Because most creatures or beast still had a bad reputation without needing to.
"This is the one we rescued when we got attacked." Charlie pointed at a large enclosure filled with trees. "She had just laid two eggs, so she was very protective. Still is, and once the babies are out, she'll become even more protective."
"She's a mum after all." I smiled as I saw the sleeping black dragon, her tail protectively around her eggs. "Thank you for getting me here."
"It was all Bash's idea." He said putting his arm around my shoulders. "We talked about it before it happened, but we thought you wouldn't want to come because of the ball."
"I would've come the same night, if you asked me." I squeezed his waist with the arm that was wrapped around it. "Charlie... can I come help out here this summer?"
"What about your mum and dad, and Cedric?"
"I'll always spend the last two weeks at Cedric's and my parents well, even though I'll be at home, they are mostly away for work anyway. I would really like to learn more."
"We should talk this over with Bash." I looked a little disappointed at the ground. "But if he's okay with it, you're more than welcome to stay this summer."
"Aaah!" I squealed and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Charlie. "
"Alright, alright." He laughed. "Don't get too excited, we need to convince Bash first. And after his incident, I think it will be a little more difficult than you first thought."