𝘀𝗸𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸, charlie weasley

˗ˋ 28

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
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-: seventh year :-

── IN WHICH CHARLIE DOTES

. . .

Charlie had sat with her for longer than she deemed necessary, only leaving her side once after her reprimand from McGonagall to gather a change of clothes, some homework and something to entertain him as Kaida slipped between sleep and waking - no matter what magical potion Madam Pomfrey had whisked up from her own personal cauldron it couldn't keep her in a sleep entirely.

It seemed, although Kaida refused to inform Madam Pomfrey of this update, something in the pain potion and the potion that was supposed to allow her uninterrupted sleep acted against each other and briefly, at points throughout the night, she was destined to wake up at random intervals, the combination running through her veins acting alternatively.

She didn't quite know what time it was when she woke up for the second time. The first had seen her witnessing Madam Pomfrey insisting that Charlie left to sleep in his own bed, but woozy and somewhat under the influence of the herbs from the potions it had ended with Charlie's wishes being granted as, when the second time came around and Kaida found herself a little more concious, her eyes landed on the sight of her best friend asleep in a chair beside her bed. 

His head lolled to the side slightly, rested on his enclosed fist. On the bedside table  beside him sat his entertainment for the night; their Care of Magical Creatures homework and a book on Quidditch tactics around the world. Madam Pomfrey, despite her upsets, had located him a woolly blanket and pillow to allow him a little more comfort but seemingly, it wasn't so easy for them to remain in place.

And Kaida, now wide awake as she listened to the silence of the castle whilst propped up on a copious amounts of her own pillows that gave her an apt view of the rest of the Hospital Wing and it's far too tall windows, found that the pillow that Charlie was supposed to use to stop him developing an unnecessary crick in his neck sitting on the floor between them.

She didn't want to wake him, nor did she want to admit to him that Madam Pomfrey was right in saying he shouldn't stay with her (because really, what good would it do whilst she was asleep?) and so, adjusting the blankets over her still no-doubt bruised body she began to lean down to pick it up, straining to try and and reach it.

And she very almost fell face-first as she heard her name in the silence of the Hospital Wing.

"Woah - hey there." Charlie leant forward in his seat, blanket slipping from his lap as he reached for her. His hands seized her shoulders and lifted her back into bed, resting her down on the mattress. "Come on, Kai, what made you think that this was a good idea?" He grinned.

"I'm not a cripple, Weasley." She muttered, folding her arms across her stomach and ignored the pain that came in the ribs. 

"I know you aren't, Kai." Charlie replied. "Come on, budge up." She abided, carefully moving to the side to allow him to lay on the bed next to him. He reached to the stack of books and handed her the one on Quidditch tactics. "I made note of what Flint broke in there."  

She rifled through the pages as he turned on the lamp at her bedside, the half-light of the moon shining through the windows proving to not be enough, coming to a stop at one of the pages - not the one Charlie had folded at the corner to mark with notes about what fouls Flint had committed exactly and what punishment he could face for it. But instead where the recognisable leaflet had been folded and placed inside.

Her eyebrows rose as she unfolded it, Charlie's gaze drifting across to try and gauge her reaction. He looked away and awaited her comment, finding that it didn't seem so bad. 

"I was thinking, Charlie." Kaida examined the page, already very much aware of his intentions and giving him very much what he wanted. "We should do more research into this dragon sanctuary." And she wasn't even lying, she truly was interested in the dragon sanctuary because, and they had been quick to find out, that they really weren't interested in anything else. It had been discussed over a number of days and it just... made sense. 

Which was exactly what Charlie had been hoping to hear. "You do?" He asked, somewhat tentatively and only half aware that they had been sharing the same thoughts, as they so often did since becoming close in their first year.

"Yeah." Kaida confirmed, her eyes returning to the lines of text written across the page. "I was thinking we should write to this address and see if we can go. What's the point in waiting any longer?"

Charlie stared at her for a moment, seconds passing as his heartbeat echoed in his ears. There was something so... eye-opening about seeing Kaida like this. He didn't even quite know why; it wasn't as though the two of them weren't as spontaneous and impromptu as the two of them often were. And, once their hearts became set on something it wasn't often that they could be deterred, as seen in Kaida currently having to fall asleep in one of the beds in the Hospital Wing. 

"You're serious?" He had to double check, the sight of seeing his best friend nodding in all her bruised, bandaged and bed-headed glory more beautiful than anyone else he had ever seen. "Then in that case, figure out when we should leave, because you know my mum is going to go crazy."

"Please, after Bill as well? Leaving without even taking our NEWTs and making it to the end of the year. She might just spontaneously combust." Kaida laughed, head tilting back. "I wonder if we could convince Hooch to shift the schedule forward a couple weeks."

"Maybe even month." Charlie looked lost in thought. "We win the Quidditch Cup and then we leave for Romania, skipping exams all together."

"Winning the house cup and moving to a dragon sanctuary?" Kaida hummed, head nestled in her best friend's shoulder. "Sounds like a plan."

Now, all they had to do was make the necessary arrangements.

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