(A/N: we're just gonna pretend that Neville is Charlie... lol)
CHAPTER EIGHT:
Third Person Narrative:
Charlie had not expected Hermione's anger to abate overnight, and was therefore unsurprised that she communicated mainly by dirty looks and pointed silences the next morning. She was mad at each of them; Ron for leaving in the first place, Harry for forgiving Ron with gracious ease, and Charlie for risking his life and leaving her alone in the wilderness.
Ron responded by maintaining an unnaturally somber demeanour in her presence as an outward sign of continuing remorse. During those few moments he spent alone with Charlie and Harry, however — collecting water and searching the undergrowth for mushrooms — Ron became shamelessly cheery.
"Someone helped us," he kept saying. "Someone sent that doe. Someone's on our side. One Horcrux down, can you believe it?"
Bolstered by the destruction of the locket, they set to debating the possible locations of the other Horcruxes, and even though they had discussed the matter so often before, Charlie felt optimistic, certain that more breakthroughs would succeed the first. Hermione's sulkiness could not mar his buoyant spirits. The sudden upswing in their fortunes, the appearance of the mysterious doe, the recovery of Gryffindor's sword, Ron's return, and above all, the assurances he and Hermione had made regarding their feelings for one another, made Charlie so happy that it was quite difficult to maintain a straight face.
Late in the afternoon, the four of them continued their ongoing exchange of news. Charlie, Hermione, and Harry had finally managed to tell Ron the whole story of their various wanderings, right up to the full story of what had happened at Godric's Hollow; Ron was now filling them in on everything he had discovered about the wider Wizarding world during his weeks away.
"...and then there's the Taboo," he said, after explaining the many desperate attempts of Muggle-borns to evade the Ministry.
"The what?" asked Harry curiously, as Charlie and Hermione shared a look of bewilderment.
"You-Know-Who's real name — it's been jinxed."
"But I haven't got a problem calling him Vol—"
"NO!" roared Ron abruptly, and the other three jumped at the sudden disturbance. Hermione, her nose buried in a book, had looked up and sent a scowl in Ron's direction.
"Sorry," he went on, his cheeks guiltily red, "but the name's been jinxed! That's how they track people! Using his name breaks protective enchantments, it causes some kind of magical disturbance — it's how they found us in Tottenham Court Road!"
Charlie kinked a curious brow, "Because we used his name?"
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"Exactly! You've got to give them credit, it makes sense. It was only people who were serious about standing up to him, like Dumbledore, who ever dared use it. Now, they've put a Taboo on it, so anyone who says it is trackable — quick-and-easy way to find Order members! They nearly got Kingsley —"
