"You were in Slytherin? You're kidding!"
"What a Gryffindor-like thing to say, Charles"
Far from every Slytherin is a dark wizard or witch.
Some of them use their cunning to get cookies.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
IT WAS A RATHER GRUMPY LOOKING CHARLIE WHO ENTERED THE REES' HOUSE IN THE MORNING. Amelia had convinced him to share breakfast with them but not having had coffee at home before arriving he almost regretted it. He had overslept and the jar he kept his coffee grounds was empty. He could only hope that the Rees' would have some coffee for him when he arrived. Not for his sake, but for the poor people inside who would have to face him in this state.
He could hear the chatter from the kitchen.
"There you are!" Amelia said in a very happy voice. Way too happy for Charlie's ears before coffee. He didn't pay any attention to the newcomers yet, only looking for the coffee he could now clearly smell.
"Coffee", he mumbled.
"You are unbelievably rude, Charles Weasley, we have guests." Charlie locked eyes with the woman when she called him Charles. He was full on glaring at her. Why did she sound like his mother right now?
"Co-ffee", Charlie repeated, over-pronouncing the word so that she would understand the importance of the substance. Dan seemed to understand as he pushed a cup of steaming hot coffee into the redhead's hands.
"Bless you", Charlie said and looked at the man like he was a god walking amongst humans. "May you have plenty of children and prosper in all your endeavors".
Dan just shook his head and rolled his eyes at his friend before returning to the stove where he was cooking up some sausages and eggs. Dan rarely spoke if he didn't have to. He was more of a man of action rather than words, and an excellent cook as well. Amelia was rather useless when it came to cooking and Dan would joke that the reason for their house, one day, catching fire was not going to be at the breath of a dragon, but from Amelia trying to cook something.
"You're addicted", Amelia said and shook her head as well, but in disapproval.
"I know, and I don't care", Charlie replied and smiled happily at his cup of coffee. He didn't care that he burned the tip of his tongue when he drank a little of the black substance.
"Well, if you can turn your attention to our guests now", Amelia tapped her foot a few times with her arms crossed over her chest, looking impatient. "I apologize for his rudeness", the woman turned her attention to the kitchen table where four people, Charlie had never met before, sat. They all looked rather amused by the scene that had played out in front of them.
He sat himself down at one of the empty chairs, introducing himself to the younger men and women. He learned their names by repeating them to himself as they introduced themselves.
"Jessica Arlynn", the last girl who was seated to his right said. Charlie had to admit that she was rather beautiful but he quickly tried to abandon those thoughts. It was hard for the man to do that though. She was his type by just looking at her appearance alone. That smile was so beautiful on her. "Jessica", he repeated as he had done with the other names before. It rolled nicely off his tongue.
Her brown, curly, hair bounced around her face as she nodded a little. Still with that smile on her face. "But Jess is fine", she added.
She is much too young for you, Charlie, get a grip! He scolded himself and turned his head away from her and focused on the plate that was placed in front of him. He gave Dan his thanks for the food and started to dig in, listening to Amelia tell the group about the dragons they currently had in the sanctuary that they would visit later that day to try and get to know them.
"Don't get close to Mira, she will burn your face off if you do", Charlie added as Amelia started to talk about the Horntails, with his mouth full of eggs. His friend gave him a slap to the back of his head, making him almost choke on the food he was trying to consume. Charlie glared at her once more.
"Very professional, both of you", Dan said as he sat down between the two thirty-five-year-olds who acted like five. Amelia turned a little bit red at her husband's words but then shrugged a little. Charlie didn't seem bothered by Dan's comment at all. "Thank you", he said instead, and he was glad that he did because he could hear Jess let out a chuckle.
He didn't know exactly what she was laughing at, if she was laughing at him, Dan, Amelia or the situation in general, but one thing that he knew was that he didn't mind being laughed at by the young woman. He would make her laugh again if he could. The others had also started to laugh, but Charlie only seemed to be hearing Jess and see how her blue eyes lit up.
What a great start.
Charlie was already crushing on one of the new girls and he had not really held a proper conversation with her yet. Then there was the age difference. From his understanding, the ages of the group would be between eighteen and twenty-four. If she was twenty-four it wouldn't be so bad, would it? He wouldn't mind. But then she was soon to be his co-worker. She was already, technically. It had happened before that colleagues started to date. Just look at Amelia and Dan who was now married, but it would not be professional of him at all.
The thoughts were running fast inside Charlie Weasley's head at the moment. What took him out of them was the sound of her voice.
"So you're Charlie Weasley? Ginny Weasley is your sister?"
She was Irish, he heard, so she was probably a Hogwarts graduate. He nodded his head. "Ginny Potter," he corrected her, "and yes, she is", he said and smiled a little as he briefly thought about Ginny and his nephew's and nieces. "You know her?" He asked with genuine curiosity. Most people just knew her to be the wife of Harry Potter - the saviour of the wizarding world, but before marrying him, she had quite the quidditch career.
"Not personally, but I am a fan of the Harpies and she was a great quidditch player during school as well", Jess explained and took a bite of some eggs. "Rikin and I started at Hogwarts when she was in her last year".
"Oh, by Merlin's beard, I'm getting old", Charlie sighed in defeat as he realized that Jess was still in her early twenties.
"Yeah, you look a bit grey", Amelia said, laughing on the other side of Dan, effectively hiding from Charlie behind her husband's frame. The only thing that kept him from not making any sort of retort was Jessica's laughter.
