On This Wild Night

I. Charlie

Charlie perched on the arm of a sofa, tapping one foot on the ground impatiently. As the door opened, he stood up, but he was disappointed to see that the person entering the room wasn't a person at all, but a strawberry-blonde cat, whose fur was grey around the face. Charlie sighed.

"What is taking so long?" he asked, his question directed to himself as much as the cat. He looked at his watch, shook his head, and walked into the hallway to call up the stairs, "Artemis! We are going to be late!"

"What's the time?" a woman's voice called back to him.

"It's half past ten!"

"That's fine! It doesn't start until eleven and it only takes a second to Apparate."

Charlie made his way up the stairs. At the top, he leant against the wall opposite the bathroom, from which he could hear the sound of Artemis rummaging through a bag.

"Artie, I don't want to rush you, but I was meant to be there over ten minutes ago," he said. "I'm an usher, remember?"

"I know, I know," Artemis' voice said on the other side of the door. "Stop nagging me, you sound like your mother."

It was hard to argue with that, but time was getting on. Charlie glanced at his watch once more.

"Alright, are you nearly done, or should I just go on without—"

He didn't finish his sentence. The bathroom door swung open to reveal a bare-footed woman with hazel eyes and dark hair that had been pulled back from her face into an artfully messy bun. His eyes swept her five foot tall frame, taking in the way the wine-coloured fabric of her dress skimmed her hips, and clung to her chest. The dress was low-cut, leaving Artemis' shoulders and collarbone exposed.

"I'm done," she said, holding her arms out from her sides to demonstrate.

"Hm," was the only response Charlie was able to give.

"Charlie?"

"Hm?"

"My eyes are up here, you know."

At Artemis' words, Charlie quickly looked up at her face. She shook her head at him, before pulling her wand out of the clutch bag she held — until that moment, he hadn't even noticed that she was holding a bag — and summoned a pair of very high-heeled shoes from the attic.

"Sorry. I like your dress," he told her.

"Sure, that's what it was," she muttered, slipping the shoes onto her feet.

"Have you got the card and present?"

Artemis peered into the clutch bag, before summoning those and putting them in there, too.

"I have now," she said brightly. "Charlie."

"What?"

"Will you stop looking at them?"

"Sorry, I just... Well, I physically can't." He half-laughed, and tilted his head to one side. "Have they always been that big?"

"No, I'm just wearing a bra."

"Do you not normally wear a bra?"

"I do," Artemis nodded, "but this is a proper bra. Does this to them."

She put her hands in front of her chest, pushed them towards each other, then lifted them up slightly. Charlie nodded sagely.

"I see. Very impressive."

Artemis frowned at him before looking downwards.

"Is it too much?" she asked. "Is it maybe just a bit too booby?"

"Maybe," Charlie said, standing up straight and stepping towards her, his face mock-solemn. "You know, I think I might need a closer look in order to tell."

"Funny." Artemis pulled a face, but she walked towards him anyway. Charlie placed his hands on her elbows and looked down at her, trying to keep his face straight.

"No," he said, after a few moments. "I'd say it's just booby enough. Exactly the right amount of booby."

"You would say that."

Artemis didn't look convinced, and Charlie lifted her elbows so that her arms were on his shoulders. He dropped his hands to hold onto her waist and looked her in the eye.

"Seriously, though. You look beautiful. Really beautiful."

The expression of amused annoyance disappeared from Artemis' face, and a small smile began to play on her lips.

"So do you," she told him, and he kissed her on the forehead.

He would have stopped there, but Artemis' hands had made their way into his hair, and before he could stop her — although, he was hardly going to stop her — she had brought his face to hers. The feeling of her lips on his ruined his resolve, and as they kissed his hands moved from her waist to her lower back, down to her bum and back up to just below her shoulder blades, where the fabric of the dress met her skin and he could feel the fastenings between his fingertips...

"Charlie," Artemis whispered against his lips. He hummed back to her. "Shouldn't you be ushing at the moment?"

In an instant, Charlie removed his fingers from Artemis' dress.

"Shit. Yes, yes I am," he said. "Yeah, we really don't have time for this right now."

Artemis laughed. She licked her thumb and used it to wipe her lipstick from his lips.

"Shame. Maybe later," she said, and raised her eyebrows.

"Definitely later."

"I'll hold you to that. Who's Apparating?"

"You can," replied Charlie. "It's your fault that we're running late, after all."

Artemis sighed, but she held out her arm anyway. Charlie linked his own with it, intertwining his fingers with hers. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, before taking one final look down the front of her dress. He felt Artemis nudge him with her elbow.

"Eyes up, Weasley."

Charlie snapped his head up, and the two of them disappeared with a loud crack.