Here Right Now | Charlie Weasley

Chapter 23 : Christmas Eve

CHARLIE held up his hand when he saw his mother opening her mouth to speak.

"Look mum, I get that she is a Slytherin. I get that, but this don't bother me and we have a really good friendship, even though it was born out of weird circumstances. She's an amazing person, with the best laugh and she's interested in the same things as I am, and she's better than me in Quidditch. You don't understand how much things she's gone through. It's mental. Just don't judge her, okay?" He finished his rant with a sigh and folded his arms defensively.

His mother was smiling at him, shaking her head in amusement.

"Charlie, you should know I don't care about what houses anyone is in.  I just wanted to know why you couldn't have owled your mother? You know, to tell her that you have a girlfriend?" Mrs. Weasley said, disapproval and amusement in her words.

"Sorry mum, she's not my girlfriend. We're just friends." His pink ears betrayed his embarrassment, as he shook his head.

"Of course you are love. Goodnight sweetheart." His mother's brisk dismissal made him realize that no-one believed that the two were just friends and nothing more.

--

The week before Christmas was always busy in the Weasley household. Relatives would come to visit, streaming in during the day and stumbling out during the nights. Ginny and Charlotte started getting closer as Ginny decided that Charlotte wasn't as bad as the Slytherin's her brothers spoke about. Charlotte enjoyed the company of another female. 

Mrs. Weasley had taken it upon herself to include Charlotte in as many family activities as possible, something that Charlotte could never give enough thanks for. After her first night at the Burrow, she thought the older woman didn't like her, but this was struck out of her mind when Mrs. Weasley had greeted her the next morning with a cup of tea and a big, motherly hug.

The kids continuously played Quidditch, even though the cold stopped their games short. Charlotte was on the same team as the twins and Bill, while Mr. Weasley, Charlie, Ron and Percy were on a team. The twins were great beaters and she couldn't understand why they weren't on the Gryffindor team.  

This changed when Charlie told her that they hadn't gone to try-outs. 

When they weren't playing Quidditch, Charlotte and Ginny would be busy in the room talking about her favorite quidditch team the Hollyhead Harpies and how she has secretly been practicing on her brothers brooms. 

Charlie and Charlotte hardly had any alone time, and it was only on Christmas Eve when the two were finally left alone. The rest of the family had gone to bed, even though the two youngest were hyper and excited for the next day. The two were sitting in front of the fireplace, on a soft, big blanket. Charlotte was sitting crossed legged, angling towards Charlie and his legs were spread out towards the fire. She had a contented smile on her face, as she read through the letters from her friends, Hunter and Leah.

"Did they go away for Christmas?" Charlie asked, his eyes on her.

"Hunter went to France, his family is from there. Leah went home, to Kent." Charlotte said, distracted by the letters.

"Oh okay." He nodded and closed his eyes, the exhaustion of the day seeping into his bones.

They fell back into a companionable silence as the warmth from the fire cast a cozy glow around the two. Charlotte finished reading her letters, put them down and watched as Charlie enjoyed the warmth.

Things had been changing between the two, something that neither could put their fingers on. It was a good change but neither were quite comfortable enough to talk about it yet.

"I can't believe how many times your brothers have been trying to charm the mistletoe above us." Charlotte laughed, shaking her head.

Charlie laughed. 

"I know, its quiet comical actually. It always seems to backfire on them. I think mum charmed them to only go over her and dad."

They both laughed, but Charlotte was trying to gauge his reaction to the idea of kissing her. There was no visible reaction and she felt a little disappointed at that. They fell back into silence, Charlotte becoming more and more aware of a tension between the two. She was aware of the feeling but she could tell he wasn't. She sighed and he glanced at her, his face inquisitive.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

She nodded with a smile, her brown eyes warm.

"I'm good."

Again, the silence fell but Charlotte couldn't take it anymore, her mind was racing and she wanted to know what was going on between them. She had never been so insecure and flustered over a boy before and she didn't know how to approach this.

"Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you invite me to come, honestly?" She asked tentatively.

He looked at her, his eyes warm. He bit his lip, making her glance at them. She swallowed as she couldn't tear her eyes away from them. Luckily, his eyes were now shut tight in concentration because Charlie was struggling with the right words.

"I know with everything going with your parents, I didn't want you to feel unwanted and alone. It's obvious that you wanted to see them, regardless of your past with them and after the letter, you were disappointed. Even though you weren't. Ah, I don't know. I wanted you to feel wanted because I know my family will make you feel that way."

"So just your family, who just met me?" She pushed, chuckling a little.

He went red as he looked towards the fire. After a few minutes, she thought he wouldn't answer her. However, he looked at her, capturing her with his cobalt eyes. He swallowed and faced his body towards her, his eyes burning into hers.

"I wanted you here too." His admission made her stomach jump as she blinked in astonishment.

Charlie could tell that she was struggling to answer him, a feeling of disappointment running through him. It took a lot out of him to be so honest with her and to show her this side of him. He rarely paid any interest in a girl, especially since he had quidditch and magical creatures to think about. She was the first one, the only girl to catch his attention and he just admitted to her how he felt, although not in the right words.

He gave up as the time dragged along and she kept staring at him in astonishment. He sighed and stood up, giving her a friendly smile. He didn't want it to be awkward between the two, so he knew that he was just going to have to go back to unspoken feelings or whatever it is what they were doing.

"I'm going to bed. Goodnight Charlotte." He left her, as she froze up, staring after him.

He shook his head, chastising himself for doing something so stupid. He really hoped she would forget this by tomorrow, even though he knew it would be impossible for him. Just before he entered his room, he looked back down into the faint glow of the living room, his heart heavy with rejection and sadness.