When Peace got Screwed Over (Edited)

Summer Blues

The rest of the summer flew by rather quickly. Between trying to get in everyone's good graces and making as much problems in the everyone-is-our enemy until proven otherwise plans that Harriet had going on, it was only a matter of time before the next school year hailed and another load was added to the pile.

Charlie was no help, but his stories about the dragons on the reserve were a more than welcome distraction. Draco was asking his parents anything he could abut Dolores Umbridge, planning to get into the toad-like creatures good graces to keep the others out of trouble. Harriet did her best to stay out of it. This was his mission and she wasn't going to hover... much. She wasn't going to hover much.

Amina had just about managed to gain her parents approval without unforgivables and dark magic. Elizabeth was still in the test phase. It was difficult to fit in with the death eaters without specific hexes. At least someone was already in the room where everything was happening.

Harriet occasionally heard Sirius muttering under his breath about someone needing to stay in Azkaban or keeping his family safe. It was certainly concerning. Remus was unusually anxious as well. Harriet had never seen the two of them so ruffled. It made her decide it was best not to bother them with her problems as well. They could do without the extra stress.

Instead of talking about her problems, she folded them away into the clothes she stacked into her trunk. She scribbled them into the notes on charms and spells she found useful and stirred them into her tea. 

The general plan for her was to take her O.W.L exams around Christmas time this year and thus speed up the track to her N.E.W.T exams. Then, she was going to take care of the mess she was in once and for all.

„You okay?" Charlie asked, watching her shove a t-shirt into her trunk with more strength than necessary.

„Yeah," Harriet said, keeping her voice light, „Why?"

„No reason," He said. One glance at him would have told you that there was reason. His brown eyes darkened with concern and a frown on his face, he watched her rush around the room gathering this and that to shove into her trunk. „Fancy a round of chess?"

Harriet shot him a smile that would have been convincing if he hadn't known her all that well. „Maybe later?"

„Sure!" He gave her a tight smile and left the room. Draco hadn't been exaggerating when he said she was acting wierd and seemed to be stressing consistently. Charlie just wished he knew how to help. 

Bill would be so much better at this. He was always the one taking care of all the younger siblings. Bill had been the one to help Percy study, to make sure Fred and George didn't get hurt pulling one of their pranks. It was Bill who had been able to pull Ron out of whatever jealous phase he had been in and it had been Bill who had braided Ginny's hair and put colourful band aids on her knees after she had fallen over from charging around the yard.

And Charlie? Charlie had stood by and only messed up. He couldn't help Percy study because he had been too lazy to read the material at the time. He didn't bother stopping Fred and George's pranks, too interested in what they had cooked up to give it any more thought. He had told Ron to ‚just deal with it' and he had never braided Ginny's hair right. He never had the right band aids either. Charlie had left for Romania at the first opportunity. Right after Hogwarts he packed his bags and pissed off to another country for dragons. Bill had stayed another few years before filing for his job in Egypt because their family needed the money. Bill had always been the one to stay.

Charlie sometimes wondered if Bill was angry with him for not staying. His brother hid his anger well. It wasn't the kind of anger that just boiled over either. No, Bill could control his temper to the most minuscule parts of it. Cool and collected, never angry. That described his older brother perfectly.

Unlike Charlie.

Charlie, who was messing up again. Someone obviously needed his help in some way, but he couldn't figure out in what way.

Charlie wanted to go back to Romania. At least he couldn't mess up there. Dragons were simple. People weren't. He wasn't any good at people.

He was even worse at people he cared about.

Unfortunately, he had promised he would stay until the end of summer.

Charlie shook those thoughts out of his head. He needed to get a grip. He needed to be there for someone right now.

He - He felt woefully inadequate.

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Insight into a different character's head. I think I'll  be trying to make those happen more often.

Next chapter will be up as soon as possible.

XOXO Drachma