Burn // Charlie Weasley

5. The Unknown

As Gabi waited for her freshly poured cup of coffee to cool down before drinking it, she sat on the edge of the cushioned bench and laced up her boots. The only thing that came to mind when Charlie instructed her to wear boots was that they were most likely going for some sort of hike.

She glanced at the clock next to her bed. It was nearly seven.

Gabi wasn't sure if she was supposed to meet Charlie at the office or at his cabin. He gave her next to no instructions on how this morning would go, leaving Gabi wandering around the confined space and looking out the window every few seconds.

There was still steam rising from her coffee, but she figured it would be fine to drink. Regardless of what they were doing today, Gabi knew she wouldn't last if she didn't have at least a bit of caffeine in her system.

The sun had just started to rise, which made for a lovely view as Gabi stood there drinking her coffee. The rustling of the branches on the trees told her that it was windy outside, but it didn't seem to be unbearable. She reached for her jacket that had been tossed over the couch and right as she put her coffee down to slide her arms through her sleeves, there was a knock on her door.

Gabi crossed the floor to answer it, but either Charlie had heard the footsteps coming to greet him or he was just impatient because he took it upon himself to open the door and step inside.

"What's that smell?" Was the first thing he asked, his head turning towards the small kitchen. Gabi was annoyed that not only did he just let himself into her cabin, but that he wasn't even polite enough to say good morning.

"Coffee," she answered, pulling her hair out of her jacket and tying it back into a ponytail. Like usual, Charlie's red hair was pulled into a bun on the back of his head. "Would you like some?"

"I don't drink that stuff," he shook his head as Gabi went to retrieve the cup she was drinking from. On her way back she noticed that Charlie was in fact dressed for a hike. He had on a dark gray shirt with the sleeves pushed back to his elbows and an even darker backpack on his shoulders. His boots looked to be falling apart, but they did the job and he probably wasn't in any sort of rush to get a new pair.

"So we're hiking?" Gabi asked him after taking another sip of coffee.

Charlie leaned against the kitchen counter as he waited for her to finish, his arms crossed over his chest. Her eyes went to the rings on his hands again. Maybe it was a subconscious thing, but she noticed that he twiddled the band of the dragon ring with his thumb as he spoke.

She also noticed a design of what looked to be a tail of a dragon wrapping around the wrist of his left arm. Gabi didn't want to stare, but she was curious about the piece of ink. If she was being honest with herself, she didn't think Charlie was the type of person to get tattoos.

"You said you wanted to see Oxhaven," he shrugged, pulling her gaze off of his arm. "The best way to see the village is from up high."

"Like where I landed when I took a portkey here?" She asked, thinking back to the cactus that brought her to the middle of nowhere and forced her to hike her way to the village.

"You took a portkey here?" Charlie asked and met her eyes, more concerned with her method of transportation. "Is that really how they sent you over?"

"How else would I have gotten here?"

"Cross-country apparition," he suggested. "It's how all of the trainers travel."

"Well I'm not a trainer yet, am I?" She tilted her head, a slightly bitter smile on her face as she dropped her now empty coffee cup in the sink next to him. Charlie turned his head and watched as she started to clean the single item instead of letting it sit.