Charley Effie Black

Chapter 43 - Always And Forever

Oliver looked over at Charley as she sat on her bed, staring blankly at the wall. "Are you okay, Char?" He knew the answer. He just wanted her to open up to him. He just wanted her to get it off her chest.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

He studied her for a moment and decided to not push her. He turned back to her suitcase and continued packing for her.

There was a scratch at the door. "I got it." Oliver stood up and walked over to the door, opening it slowly. A black dog ran in and turned into Sirius as Oliver shut the door. Sirius looked around silently for a moment. "What's up?" Oliver asked as he sat beside Charley.

"Voldemort's back," Sirius told them. "He killed Diggory."

Charley looked over at Sirius. "What?" she asked.

"I was talking with Harry and he told me that he's back.Voldemort's back..." Charley felt like he was trying to convince himself it wasn't true.

"We're going to beat him. We have Dumbledore on our side, right?" Oliver pointed out.

Sirius looked over at Oliver almost sympathetically. "I lost nearly everyone last time," he quietly said. "Who's to say I won't lose everyone again?"

Charley stood up and brought Sirius into a hug. "You won't lose me," she quietly said. "I'm done with school. I can help fight the-"

"No," Sirius sternly said as she pulled away. "You are staying out of this war, okay? I should've let your mum be less involved too, but there's no way that I'm letting you be apart of it. You're too young."

"But I want to help," Charley said.

"I know you do. But I don't want you to go through what I did." Sirius at Oliver. "This includes you. You're not joining the Order."

"The Order?" Charley questioned as Oliver pursed his lips. "Like... Of the Phoenix?"

Sirius nodded slowly, but didn't take his gaze away from Oliver. "Oliver, promise me you won't join. It puts you in danger."

Oliver shrugged, "I'm not going to sit around and-"

"It puts Charley in danger. That's why Daisy's not here with us right now, Oliver. You will not join the Order of the Phoenix," Sirius more forcefully said.

Oliver glanced over at Charley and then back at Sirius. "Okay."

"Are you going to join?" Charley asked.

"I have no choice. I have to do what Dumbledore says."

"What about Charley?" Oliver asked.

Sirius bit his bottom lip, "I won't let them get to her."

Charley looked back at Oliver who was staring back at her. "Voldemort's back..." she softly said, mostly to herself.

"And you're going to be safe. You're going to be away from Harry and away from me, so that-" Sirius started to explain.

"What?" Charley asked. "I don't want to stay away from you. That's stupid."

Sirius sighed, "Charley-"

"No. You're not going to push me away. I'm going to be with you."

Sirius sighed in defeat and pulled Charley into another hug. "I don't want to lose."

"You won't," Charley told him.

"Oh s***!" Oliver exclaimed. He started running around the room and tossing things into Charley's trunk. "Charley, we gotta go."

"Go? Go where?" Charley asked as Oliver ran into the bathroom and threw things into a bag.

"I have practice today!" Oliver lied as he came out and stuffed the bag into Charley's trunk.

"Uh... Okay..."

Charley walked over and grabbed her trunk. She glanced around the room and grabbed the ring off of her wardrobe. She tossed it into her trunk before facing Oliver and nodding. "Okay. I'm ready."

"Wait, Char, before you go," Sirius started as he stepped over to her and pulled her into a hug. "I love you, Boo. Always and forever."

Charley hugged him one last time and gently kissed his cheek. "I love you too, Dad."

"Bye, Sirius," Oliver quickly mumbled before taking Charley's hand and pulling her away.

.

Oliver walked out of his room, buttoning up his white shirt as he looked over at Charley who watched him curiously. "Want to come to practice?"

"Uh..."

"Great! Come on!" Oliver grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the couch. He looked at her and held both of her hands in his. "Ready?" he asked as she stared at him in bewilderment. He didn't wait for her to respond before he apparated them away.

Charley stumbled into Oliver and held her hand against her head as she tried to regain her balance. "What are you, crazy? You could've splinched us!" she scolded as he pulled her away to a ticket stand.

"Wood suite please," Oliver said.

"I'm getting a suite to watch you practice?" Charley asked.

Oliver looked over at her with a smile and took her hand in his to lead her to the suite.

"Do you have to get ready for practice now?" Charley asked, looking over at Oliver who stared at her dumbfounded. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Charley, look around."

Charley's jaw dropped.

"May be the last normal game we go to if Voldemort is back," Oliver explained.

"YOU GOT ME TICKETS TO AN APPLEBY ARROWS GAME?!" Charley shouted as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "I LOVE YOU, OLLY!"

Oliver laughed at her and let her get her excitement out. Soon after, the players ascended into the air and started doing laps around the pitch. Charley grabbed Oliver's hand and squeezed it in excitement.

"Thank you, Olly," she told him much more calmly than before.

"Of course. You deserve it after everything," he replied. "You've had an exhausting year."

Charley laughed and nodded again. "Will we still do this when we're grandma and grandpa Olly and Charley?"

"Will we go to quidditch games?" Oliver clarified. Charley nodded. "Duh. Quidditch is our thing, Char."

Charley grinned widely at him and looked out at the pitch as the game started. "Is your family not coming?"

"No. I didn't invite them," Oliver told Charley which made her smile at him.

It was their thing.