Twisted (Charlie Weasley)

Chapter Forty-Three

The mood of England changed drastically after that night. Long after the world had gone to sleep on a night that had changed everything, I remained awake awaiting the return or news on what had happened to the father of my child. He made it back alive, battered, but alive. We didn't stay in the country an hour longer after he returned, with the ministry having been taken we both knew that England was no longer a place safe for our family and for once our families seemed to agree that being around dragons was far better for us. 

Our nearly two-year-old son seemed happy to go home, despite his young age he seemed to understand just as well as the adults that something in the air had changed. There was more chill in the air, more fear, and more secrets kept. 

We silently packed up our belongings while my uncle did the same. Life as a muggle-born now meant a possible life sentence, though we had all seen this coming for quite some time. He would be going into hiding, somewhere none of us could know. My aunt would play the role of a woman whose husband had suddenly left her or something of the sort. The less contention she had to him, despite their years of marriage and daughter, would be more beneficial for her. 

"You should go back to your sisters." My uncle had tried to reason with her, "Go back and claim that you care about blood status, that you left me, that you want to be tourjours pur again." 

These words were no comfort to my aunt, and she made that quite clear in her response. 

"Edward Tonks," She said in a harsh whisper, "I have loved you since I was sixteen years old since we were just kids. I knew even then that you were the one for me, Ted, that there would be no one else who could love me the way that you do, or love you the way that I love you. Time and time again since then, in this beautiful life we have built together you have proved to me how wrong my family was, if you could even call what we were a family, and how smart I was to have made the decision that I did. The fact that you even would suggest some a crazy idea proves to me how perfect you are. It brings me back to the days when we first met when you would try to distance yourself but I wouldn't let you hide. There hasn't been a day since when I regretted leaving them when I have regretted anything that our life together has given me. In the days that we had no money, we were rich in love, and that was something I never once felt while with them.

"There is not any possible way that I could go back to them, truth or lie because there is no way that I could even bring myself to say that I regret a moment of the life that you have given me. And Ted, you have given me so many things, you have given me our beautiful daughter, the reason why our wonderful niece came to us, your love, all of these things add up to a life that I never would have gotten otherwise. I am with you Ted, always. Whether in person, in soul, in mind... I am with you Ted, and I am with the people who support you, whether that be the Order or whatever organization recognizes that you are just as strong of a wizard no matter your blood status. For those in our world who see what a wonderful man you truly are."

The argument did not end there, but Charlie and I were not there to see it through. All we knew is that Ted would be leaving soon and that no one in the family was very pleased about it. The worst part was that he still would not be safe with us despite us being out of the country because you never knew who was watching and who you could trust. 

I had hoped that returning to Romania would mean feeling safer, happier, but I was wrong. The feeling of unease had followed us back home, and I realized that this was because those we cared about were still in England, they still remained in the hotspot of the war, and worst of all, it was no longer safe to even communicate through a letter. Owls were being intercepted so frequently that it was easier to not even try because any code that you had to use became to difficult to understand at times... and often the injured birds wouldn't be able to make it far after their attacks.