Twisted (Charlie Weasley)

Chapter Thirteen

Terror surrounded us. Burning, breaking, fear. In only a moment I felt trapped... like I was back in the lonely manor I had grown up in... my knuckles were white from gripping my fists closed... Charlie was nowhere in sight. 

"A proper lady should depend on her husband... and it should not matter if there is love, you are to bear children into the pure bloodline..." My mother's voice ran through my head, the same frightening tone it had always been. 

My father's voice followed closely behind hers, "You are Indigo Lestrange, daughter to two pureblood parents, a good strong family. You will be successful, and you will serve the dark lord when you reach your seventeenth birthday." 

"See this mark? This is a mark of power Indigo. A mark that will get us places in life, and you two will have one on your left arm one day." My mother said, "A new future for you and your children, one with no mudbloods or filthy muggles in it."

I felt the world spinning around me. A harsh smell of burning filled the air surrounding me and all that could be heard was the chanting of death eaters and the screams of those attempting to flee from a reality we all thought was long gone. 

All around me people were being trampled to the ground... a person bumped roughly into me, and it took me a moment to realize that the had transferred a letter in a filthy envelope into my hands. I choked on tears as I saw the words written on the front, though it was not the words that upset me so. It was the handwriting, writing I had not seen since I was eight years old. 

I fell to my knees and felt tears rolling down my face, "Charlie..." I whimpered, almost everyone had escaped now... but that did not change the green glow that was no shining down on me. For the first time since the fall of Voldemort, the dark mark took over the sky... its menacing shape outweighing all the joy there had been only a few short hours ago. 

"Indigo!" I heard a voice call... Charlie's, I jumped up and began dashing away. My heart pounding the entire way. It felt like it was about to beat out of my chest, in some ways it hurt in a longing way, but in other ways it felt better and better the closer I got to him, and as I jumped up and he pulled me into his arms. I gave him a big kiss which he eagerly returned. 

I pulled away from him and felt tears running down my face, he lifted a thumb up and brushed one away. "Are you okay Indy?" He said softly, "Are you okay? Were you hurt?"

I shook my head at him, "I'm okay... just scared... I... my parents..." I stammered, "Let's go home." I whispered, "Take me home..."

He nodded and picked me up into his strong arms and I buried my head into the crook of his neck. He walked over to the top of the hill we apparated to when we arrived there earlier that day. I moved my head back and looked up into his blue eyes, they were looking down at me with a pure look of worry. It was in times like these that I realized that he didn't really understand what I had gone through as a child... and I never wanted him to. 

With a spinning motion, I found myself in front of my cabin in Romania. Charlie walked forward and opened up the door and lead the way into the cabin, once we got inside he placed me down on the couch. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it... but if you ever do, I am here for you."

I gave him a nod and reached up and placed a big kiss on his lips, "I love you so much, Charlie... and I never want you to be able to understand what I went through when I was younger... and, I hope you can understand that, and if I ever feel like talking about it, you will be the first person I go to."

He nodded and placed another kiss on top of my lips, "I will always be there, whenever you want to talk about it... whether it be now or in fifty years." He told me, "I love you."

No matter how many times Charlie said he loved me, it didn't matter. The same fluttering in my stomach appeared, like a million butterflies were swarming around in my stomach. It was a feeling that I had only experienced once before him when the Tonks offered to take me in and let me change my name. 

I feel asleep on the couch that night, Charlie's arms wrapped tightly around me in a protecting manner. The only way I would be able to sleep for months after that was in his arms... and I didn't know what scared me more, the fact that the world was changing so quickly... or the fact that I needed Charlie more than I ever had needed anyone ever before.