Twisted (Charlie Weasley)

Chapter Forty-Eight

The evening came quickly on May first. Artie was off at my aunt's house, spending time with my family, which is something he was never able to do while we were in Romania for months at a time. Him being able to spend time with my aunt made me nearly as happy as getting a night childfree, with no responsibilities or anyone that I needed to keep an eye on twenty-four seven. A free night where I could just sit down with Fleur and drink a glass of Elderflower Wine while gossiping about all sorts of things that the Bill and Charlie wouldn't have wanted to listen to.

"So you really think that there is something happening between Ron and Hermione?" Fleur asked with a laugh, "Did I ever tell you the time Ron asked me to the Yule Ball... the poor boy..."

I raised my hand stopping her from talking, "Come on Fleur, he's a nice boy... when he tries."

"I never said he wasn't, but the two are just so different..."

I snorted, "Well we aren't that much like our significant others, are we?" She laughed, "Speaking of you and Bill... and babies in the near future?"

She let out a groan, "You are just as bad as Molly!" She sighed, "I am only twenty-one years old! Bill and I have lots of time to have babies."

We both giggled at her tone, "I was twenty-two when I got pregnant!" I laughed, "It isn't that young... five years out of school, a good career, and the love of my life... and now baby Artie who really isn't that much of a baby anymore."

The laughter did not last as long as the two of us would have liked, our wine glasses sat barely touched when the door to the Shell Cottage swung open and there stood an out of breath Remus. His face was drenched with sweat and his wand was gripped tightly in his hand, which instinctively made both Fleur and I reach for ours as well.

"They're at Hogwarts... The Order is calling in everyone, it looks like a battle is going to happen. The Death Eaters are about to invade the castle. They need us."

Fleur and I stood up in unison, "Indigo, you're aunt and cousins are waiting for you..."

I physically scoffed, "As if I am letting all of you go fight while I sit at home. I'm hoping someone has informed Charlie?"

"Bill would have." Fleur said softly with a grin on her face, "Shall we?"

We quickly joined hands and apparated with Remus directly into the Hog's Head Inn. The first face that came into view being that of Aberforth Dumbledore whose appearance was so similar to his brother that for a moment it shook me completely thinking I was seeing a ghost. There was a clear difference between the two men that immediately became clear as soon as I focused more on the man in front of me and not the memory of the headmaster who had changed my lives in so many ways. Aberforth was much grumpier, his blue eyes did not seem to hold the same sparkle as his brother did but more of a bitter light. His face overall seemed older, which made sense due to the world he had been forced to live in all these years. From Grindelwald, to Voldemort, to Voldemort once again he had always lived in a world full of war... and the stories that had come out after the death of Albus Dumbledore made it clear that this man had not had an easy life. It had been full of sorrow.

The next thing that hit me was not the fact that I was charging into battle without the love of my life or son necessarily knowing what all was happening, but was that I would be going to Hogwarts. Despite the fact that I had been back a number of times since I had graduated seven years ago, it still felt strange that I hadn't made the journey home on the Hogwarts express. The ghosts danced across Remus's face made me think for a moment that he was feeling the exact same thing. He gave me a weak smile as he fumbled with the grip of his wand. I knew Remus had his own history with the castle that must have hurt to remember, his best friends, betrayal, the girl he had thought he was in love with... and then loneliness. Fleur too had a complicated history with the school. She had been there twice before, once to compete in a deadly tournament in which a peer that she came to know died, and the other in hopes of reaching her fiance still alive. A place I had once seen as full of happiness had a spell of darkness washed over it... and that pained me more than anything else. Yet another generation slept in their beds at this very moment, their own memories of the school being tarnished more and more with each passing second.