It looked like the end of Ron and Hermione's friendship. Each was so angry with the other that both, Charlie or Harry couldn't see how they'd ever make up.
Ron was enraged that Hermione had never taken Crookshanks's attempts to eat Scabbers seriously, said he hadn't bothered to keep a close enough watch on him, and was still trying to pretend that Crookshanks was innocent by suggesting that Ron look for Scabbers under all the boys' beds. Hermione, meanwhile, maintained fiercely that Ron had no proof that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, that the ginger hairs might have been there since Christmas, and that Ron had been prejudiced against her cat ever since Crookshanks had landed on his head in the Leaky Cauldron.
Hogwarts was changing by the day, everywhere they went they saw signs of tighter security; Professor Flitwick could be seen teaching the front doors to recognize a large picture of Sirius Black; Filch was suddenly bustling up and down the corridors, boarding up everything from tiny cracks in the walls to mouse holes. Sir Cadogan had been fired. His portrait had been taken back to its lonely landing on the seventh floor, and the Fat Lady was back. She had been expertly restored, but was still extremely nervous, and had agreed to return to her job only on condition that she was given extra protection. A bunch of security trolls had been hired to guard her. They paced the corridor in a menacing group, talking in grunts and comparing the size of their clubs.
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As for Harry and Charlie, they managed to avoid their friends bickering for a while, as they were pretty focused on the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. They ended up winning, of course, now that Harry had the best broom in the world to catch to Snitch. But, Charlie took notice that Harry didn't celebrate their win quite like he was expected to. Instead, he was enamoured by the Ravenclaw Seeker, Cho Chang. She was shorter than Harry by about a head, but still, the boy couldn't help noticing, as nervous as he was, that she was extremely pretty.
Charlie couldn't help but laugh at his friend's new, undeniable crush, but reality hit him like a ton of bricks when he realized that Harry was going down the same path that Charlie had gone down with Hermione. Harry, similar to Charlie, was under the impression that there could be something more between him and the girl he fancied, when in reality the girl just saw him as a friend...
The only times Charlie and Hermione would talk would be in group scenarios where Ron, Harry, or even Neville or Ginny were present, but even then, it was minimal. Unlike before he got rejected, Charlie hadn't reached out to her individually anymore, out of fear of provoking feelings that quite obviously, weren't reciprocated.
He had to move on.
He had to.
If he didn't, he was going to spend every minute of every day for the rest of year wondering how he had been so wrong. The mere thought of it destroyed him. He hadn't even realized the extent as to which his feelings had developed until the moment where she rejected him - when it suddenly felt like his entire world fell apart.
