Yours truly ; Charlie Weasley

Sixty-five

Charlie was sitting on a chair by the crib.

He was leaned on the edge of it with his arms, watching the boys as he slept.

Then there was me.

I was leaning against the doorframe, watching him and watching him fall in love with our twins.

Every fifth minute I'd randomly start crying simply because I was so happy and relieved that he was home.

There was obviously stuff I still needed to know, but right now my first priority was that he was okay, he was home and we could be a family.

The family we so longed to be.

"They look like you."

Charlie raised his head at my voice and when his eyes landed on me, he smiled.

"Do they?"

I hummed and stepped inside, closing the door behind me before I approached the crib.

"You don't see it?" I asked. "They're true copies of you."

Charlie stood up, watching me as he moved to stand behind me, but when he then wrapped his arms around my stomach, pressing himself up against my body, I felt my heart skip a beat.

He rested his chin on my shoulder and I lifted a hand, moving it behind his neck to run my fingers into his hair.

"They're perfect." He whispered against my neck. "I'm sorry I weren't there."

I turned my head to look at him.

"Why weren't you?" I asked. "What happened?"

Charlie let his hands drop and his right hand found mine before he led me to the bed. We sat down and I turned my body towards him, folding my legs on the bed.

"You're probably going to be cross with me when I tell you." He said. "I hope you'll try and understand it, but if you do get mad, it's with good reason."

I frowned.

"He didn't hold you captive, did he?"

"Not the whole time... no."

I moved my hands out of his and I saw the way he looked at me for a moment before looking down.

"At first he did. When your dad and I lured him out... your dad turned his back for a moment and then Edison grabbed me and apparated us both to some field in Romania."

I looked at his face as he spoke.

"He wanted to go back and make you miscarry." He told me. "So I had to lure him as far as way from you as possible... even if it meant I'd get myself killed trying."

I teared up at the thought of Charlie having to run and hide because he felt like he had to protect me and the boys.

"He chased me for five months." Charlie looked at me. "A family in Romania took me in but when he tracked me down, he killed every one of..."

He closed his eyes and as he broke down crying, I hurried to wrap my arms around him, holding him tight.

"I'm so sorry Emmy." He sobbed against my shirt. "I wasn't here. I should've been here."

It hurt to see him like this. All I could do was comfort him.

I may have been through hell with not knowing where he was, and giving birth without him by my side, but he had been on the run, trying to not get killed.

"It's okay." I whispered, brushing my fingers through his hair. "You're okay now."

His hair was so long and so thick and running my fingers through his curls felt like pure comfort. I was so happy that he was back. Not only so he could be a fiancé to me, but also so he could be a father to our boys.

"After he killed them—" Charlie took a deep breath but we stayed in this position, me holding him, his head resting against my chest. "...I was on the run again until he caught up with me last week. He stabbed me, because he wanted me to suffer. Told me that he was simply showing me what he wanted to do to you to kill our twins."

I teared up again.

Hearing that, certainly wasn't pleasant, but he wanted to explain himself and I also needed an explanation.

"That's when I managed to get the knife from him. I slit his throat. He's dead now. I promise that he is. I checked multiple times before I apparated home." He explained in a soft voice. "I thought I was going to die."

I pressed a kiss to his forehead and I couldn't help but smile when I saw that he was looking at the crib even though he was crying.

"How old are they?" He asked before he looked up at me.

"Only a month." I told him. "I went into labour on January twenty-eight and two days later, they were born. Their birthday is January thirtieth."

Charlie sat up, rubbing his eyes before he moved closer to me. He reached for my hand and then simply held it in his lap.

"What else has happened while I was gone?" I asked. "Mum said a few things but I have the feeling I don't know everything."

"Well, Bill and Fleur had their daughter."

"Yeah." He breathed. "Victoire, right?"

I nodded.

"Then there're some weddings planned." I said while he placed with the engagement ring on my finger. "Ron and Hermione are getting married this year in May. That's in two months. Then George is marrying Angelina in July."

Charlie watched my face as I spoke, but as I finished, his eyes flicked back to the crib while Marino moved in his sleep.

"I know you wanted to be there." I said. "And I can't imagine what it was like having to run from him. I'm so sorry."

He chuckled softly.

"What're you sorry about? It's not on you."

I shrugged.

"He was my grandfather."

"And he harassed you as well." He said. "I was more worried about you. I know you had both your family and mine... you had the cats too. I just— I hated the thought of you possibly suffering."

I bit down on my lip and looked at the floor for a moment before looking at him again.

I brought a hand to his jaw and he automatically turned his head, looking at me while I stroke his skin with my thumb.

"You thought I was dead." He stated, frowning out of frustration. "I remember when I thought you were going to die and just that was too much. I can't even start to imagine what it was like to think I was actually gone."

Instead of replying, I softly pressed my lips to his. While he placed a hand on my waist, I ran mine to the nape of his neck, moving myself closer while I felt him kiss me back.

We both applied equal pressure to the kiss, enjoying being able to be intimate with each other again.

It was still so surreal that he was home, but we had to take it slow. Not with our relationship, but getting used to each other's company again.

He had been gone since my birthday. Since August. He had been gone for about six months in total, but now he was back and I was thrilled. I was mostly just relieved that he was actually alive and that Edison was gone.

That it was all over now.

-

Dunno when the next chapter will be out. I want the last chapters to be longer so it may take a few days.

- Julie