Burn Baby Burn | Charlie Weasley

Chapter 26 - Heating up

--> Charlie's POV <--

Fear like I'd never experienced before coursed through my veins as Lizzie's prone body fell to the ground. I caught her before she landed and lifted her into my arms, the warm blood gushing from her thigh soaked into my sleeve. I ran back to the main part of the sanctuary, Lizzie's weight lighter than plenty of boxes and tiny dragons I'd carried before. Too light. By the time I made it to the medic's tent, Lizzie's face was completely white, as if all the blood had been drained from it.

"She was hit in the back of the thigh with the barbs of a Norwegian Ridgeback's tail." The words stumbled out of me in a panic as I placed her body on one of the hospital beds. She was instantly surrounded by doctors and nurses, wands out with potions flying from all directions.

"We've got it from here Mr Weasley. Thank you for bringing her to us but you need to leave now." I nodded numbly and stumbled out of the tent. I observed nothing on the walk back to my own quarters. Everything I saw simply swam straight through my brain without it taking any time to make sense of anything. That was probably why I didn't notice Liam in my room until I made it to the bathroom.

I'd already stripped off my shirt and started wiping off the blood with a damp cloth before he reached me. Liam stilled my hand in his, wordlessly took the cloth and began cleaning my arms. His eyes met mine, not with pity as I was expecting, but a grim understanding. "It wasn't your fault. You did what you could, you got her back safely and she's going to be absolutely fine."

A tear slipped from my eye and I couldn't make myself meet Liam's gaze as I responded to him. "Ridgeback tails are coated in lethal venom. She may die yet." He stayed quiet this time. We both knew how dangerous this wound could prove to Lizzie so there was no use in denying the obvious. Once my arms were free of the wretched blood that had coated them, Liam left to fetch me a new shirt. I burnt the old one.

A couple of hours later, hours which I'd spent staring blankly at a wall, the medics called me in to visit Lizzie's bedside. "Your girlfriend certainly has a special relationship with that dragon. She managed to retract her venom injectors before they did any damage. Ms Abernathy will be just fine." I was too hung up on my relief to pay any attention to the 'girlfriend' comment as I sat down by Lizzie's bed, head in my hands. "She'll be awake in a few hours and then she's free to go home."

I thanked the doctor and linked my hand through Lizzie's. I couldn't help but notice the size difference. She was so small and fragile; she'd almost died tonight and it took that to make me realise what I felt for her. If anything happened to Lizzie, I'd be crushed, my heart in particular. Merlin's beard, I was falling for Elizabeth Black.

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--> Lizzie's POV <--

I woke with a pounding in my head worse than when I drank practically half a bottle of firewhisky at the quidditch world cup. But the more pressing matter was that my hand was enveloped in a much larger one. Charlie's hand to be precise. I looked to my left to see Charlie asleep on the chair next to my bed, his hair flopping casually over one of his eyes. The scene was very reminiscent of when I experienced the cruciatus curse two years ago.

"Charlie." I whispered, my throat dry. His eyes shot open and looked into mine with such relief I would have collapsed had I not already been lying down.

"Lizzie. I was so worried." There were red marks under his blue eyes. Had he been crying? I reached my hand out to cup his cheek.

"I'm fine I promise." My thumb brushed against his cheekbones and his eyes fluttered shut.

"The doctor said you could leave as soon as you woke up." With that, Charlie opened his eyes, got up from his seat and began walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I called incredulously after him, standing up myself. My head span for a few seconds and my knees wobbled but I managed to stay upright. I followed Charlie out of the tent and into the chilled night. How long had I been out? "Why are you walking away from me?" I demanded and Charlie stopped in his tracks. He turned around, his gaze a mixture of anger and conflict.

"I think it would be best if we avoided each other for a while." Each word was bitten out like it caused him physical pain to speak them.

"What are you talking about?" I shook my head in confusion, eyes filling up with tears. How could I wake up with this man's hand in mine one second and then have him tell me he doesn't want to see me anymore the next?

"You just lost someone you care about you're not ready for-" he cut himself off as if he couldn't finish the thought.

"Not ready for what?" This time I was angry. He had no right to tell me what I was or wasn't ready for.

"I love you, Lizzie. But you're still in love with him and I could never replace him and-" My lips were on his before he could finish the sentence. I'd known it for a while now, that I would never truly move on from Cedric's passing but that I was ready, ready to feel those things with someone else again. Kissing Charlie was unlike anything else. There was an intense desperation to his movements that I'm certain was mirrored in mine.

Charlie gripped my hip with one of his hands and placed the other on the back of my head, holding me impossibly close to him. I moved my hands from his broad shoulders to wrap in his silky auburn hair. Our kiss turned more slow, more passionate as he teased my lips open with his tongue. We stood there for who knows how long before a wolf-whistle sounded behind us.

I turned to see Liam with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Finally." He said as he turned to go back inside. I looked back at Charlie with a smile I couldn't seem to wipe from my face. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear then leaned in and spoke in a whisper.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that." He gave me another sweet, but short kiss, then grabbed my hand and walked me back to my tent. When we arrived, I excused myself to change into my pyjamas. I took a glance at the new scar on the back of my thigh and smiled: more proof I was a survivor.

I came back into my room to see Charlie standing by the door. "Goodnight." He said softly. I pictured it then, how my night would go. Another nightmare like the one last night, blood-curdling screams, waking up covered in sweat. I didn't want to be alone tonight.

"Wait." I grabbed Charlie's hand and pulled him away from the door. "Stay." Charlie looked at me, then at the bed, then at me again. There was a dangerously suggestive glint in his eyes. "Not like that." I stammered, a red hot blush rising to my cheeks. "I just don't want to be alone tonight." Charlie's gaze softened at the edges and he let me drag him towards the bed. He sat carefully on the edge of the bed and began undoing his boots. Then followed his shirt... then his trousers. I kept my gaze pointedly at the ceiling as he joined me under the covers.

Breathing suddenly became difficult as I thought about the fact that Charlie Weasley was in my bed. WITH ME IN IT. My entire body shivered at the implications of that fact. "Are you cold?" Charlie asked me, obviously having felt my reaction to his presence.

"Yes." I lied but my voice was shaky enough that I was sure Charlie could see right through it. But all he did was tug my body towards his so my back pressed against his chest.

"Is that better?" Charlie whispered so close to my ear that his gravelly voice sent goosebumps over my entire body once again. He chuckled.

"Obviously not. Maybe this will help." He dragged his fingertips over my bare arm and brushed his lips against my neck. I shivered again. "Hmm, obviously we'll have to heat things up a bit more. He moved the hand from my arm and placed it on my uninjured thigh. Actually, let me be more specific, on the inside of my thigh. His lips went from gently brushing to actually kissing my neck. He hit the sensitive spot right under my ear and I let out a soft gasp. He chuckled lowly again as his thumb rubbed gently up and down on my thigh, dangerously close to the apex. That time, a small moan slipped out. I slapped a hand over his mouth and Charlie removed both his hand and lips from my skin with another dark chuckle. I whimpered slightly at the loss of his touch, but Charlie simply rolled over and turned off the lamp.

I realised then that Charlie had been doing that to distract me. He knew why I was scared to go to sleep again tonight so he had given me something else to think about. And it worked. "Thank you." I whispered and leaned over to give Charlie a soft kiss on the cheek. I felt him smile against my lips before I rolled over. I slept soundly that night.