Yours truly ; Charlie Weasley

Sixty-four

"As excited as I can be." I breathed and looked down at Caspian while I cuddled him in my arms. "I've gotta admit... I'm a bit anxious."

"Anxious to see Charlie?" He asked. "Is that why you didn't want to visit him?"

I shrugged, letting out a sigh.

"I thought he was dead." I explained. "Then he showed up and I—"

I pressed my lips together.

"You're not sure it's him?"

"Listen... I don't mean to ruin you and Molly's happiness about him being back. I'm just skeptical is all..."

"With good reason." Arthur nodded. "You've been through so much already. You were let down by a family member so of course you'd be skeptical. Molly and I are positive that that is our son, but it's okay if you need convincing."

Arthur and I just sat there and talked until the green fire from the fireplace caught our attention.

Charlie stepped through first and as soon as I saw him, I looked down at Crispian. I could feel his eyes on me, but he didn't say anything.

"Let me take the twins." Molly's voice filled the room. "Arthur, why don't we let the two talk?"

Molly took Caspian and all four disappeared upstairs. I stayed in my seat at the table, picking up the cup to take a sip.

"Ember?" Charlie's voice made me tear up and I started shaking more than I already was. "Emmy, darling..."

I brought a hand up to wipe my cheeks clean from the first tears.

"Why won't you look at me?"

I took a deep breath before I did exactly that. I looked at him.

He looked good.

His curls were long, sitting around his face — a mess.

His blue eyes stared right at me.

He was wearing a plain grey t-shirt that hugged his torso perfectly, his muscles being visible through the fabric. Then he was wearing a pair of matching grey sweatpants, and his shoes were those he always wore.

"What was the first thing you ever said to me?" I asked, causing his expression to fall into a frown.

"Why're you asking me that?"

I shrugged, fighting the tears in my eyes.

"I don't know if you're you." I said. My voice was suddenly really weak, close to breaking. "I need to know if it's you."

"Babe, it's me." He tried to convince me. He took a step towards me but immediately stopped when he saw the way I winced.

"What's the first thing you ever said to me?" I asked again. "I know that Charlie would know. He's not big on dates but he knows things like that."

As I looked back down at the tea on the table, I heard his voice.

"They are kinda expensive."

I paused for a moment, then lifted my head to look at him, our eyes meeting.

"I couldn't afford a bag for my things." He continued. "You offered me one of yours because you had plenty. I remember being so embarrassed that I dropped all of my things in front of such a pretty girl but you didn't care. You were happy to help and you didn't judge when I told you I couldn't afford something as simple as a bag."

Oh god...

That's Charlie.

I slowly stood up, pushing the chair back. I was shaking as I approached him. I paused in front of him, simply looking at him.

His face was covered in scratches.

He didn't hug me. He waited to see what I wanted to do, but when I wrapped my arms around his neck to hug him, he immediately hugged me back, burying his face in the crook of my neck.

That's when I completely broke into tears. He held me while I cried — while I was shaking.

"I thought you were dead." I cried into his shoulder as he ran a hand up and down my back, scratching me through my shirt.

He always knew I loved back scratches.

This is definitely Charlie.

"I'm not." He whispered. "I'm right here, angel."

-

In the next chapter, Charlie will be explaining everything that happened while he was gone

Be prepared 'cause I'm hoping to get it out either tonight or tomorrow.

Also, we're about 5 (maybe a bit more) chapters from the end.