Secrets Can Kill {Charlie Weasley}

seven - of good times

Okay, I'm going to start this chapter off by giving my sincerest apologies. I'm so sorry for just not updating and being lazy. I shouldn't have done it but to make it up to you guys, I'm going to update every single week on Thursday. 

once again, I don't know who made the graphic but whoever it was: thank you very much :)

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this update :)

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It was hard to think of what I even did when I used to live by myself with all the boys coming in and out of the house every hour, stopping for a cup of tea and most of them starting up a discussion with me on basically everything. 

I didn't know anyone else here except Charlie, some were from other countries and some looked much older than Charlie and I so I knew for definite that none of them went to Hogwarts at the same time of us. 

Charlie got along well with everyone he worked with, he was the funniest one of them all. He was probably better to have along with you on the job than most because he kept all the boys entertained even when it was a long day or the dragon accidentally burnt off your eyebrows. He always had some sort of joke to cheer you up if you were feeling a bit low. 

I have to say, he was great to have around the house because after a day spent cleaning up after all these messy idiots, it was great to have something to laugh about and someone to reminiscence with. 

Before I even knew it, snow was falling on the ground and the dragons were being moved to a warmer place until it got a little warmer again. All the dragon trainers were going back to their families or friends and I couldn't help but feeling quite lonely even though they still had another two days before they had to go. 

I sit down in the armchair glumly as I watch Charlie pack one of his bags. He was just throwing all of his clothes into it, not bothering to fold anything up. I felt like warning him that it was going to get wrinkled but for some reason I felt the least he deserved was a scolding from Mrs. Weasley about his wrinkly clothes. 

"Why do you look so down? Be happy, it's almost Christmas!" Charlie exclaimed with a wide grin on his face. I rolled my eyes, sighing.

"I don't even know what date it is. I haven't celebrated Christmas in years, it's hard to suddenly get all excited about it again when I'm so used to just missing it," I told him, tracing patterns on the arm of the armchair. Charlie looked up at me in surprise, as if only noticing I had been in here for years with no real way of telling the day or what the date was. 

"You haven't celebrated Christmas since you left? That's bloody madness! You can't just miss Christmas! That's a sin, a sin I tell you!" Charlie started exclaiming a bunch of stupid things, acting as though not celebrating Christmas was the worst thing someone could do. All I did was shrug to him, not really being sure what to do about it. 

"I just haven't, it didn't really bother me to be honest," I told him, shrugging once again and setting my eyes back on to the patterns I was tracing on the chair. 

"You have to come back with me, we can have a proper Christmas at my house! You don't have to go back to your parents' house if you don't want to, I'll make sure no one in my family says anything about you being there. No one will have to know and we can have Christmas dinner together and I'll even take you to buy me a present," Charlie said, throwing me a wink. I wanted to laugh but instead I just shook my head furiously, trying to explain how much of a terrible idea this was. 

"No, Charlie, no offence but nothings just kept a secret. Something will go back to my parents and I really don't want that. They would be heartbroken if they knew that I had been around, that I was even alive and that I didn't come near them. I can't do that to them," I muttered, looking down as I started feeling guilty. The last thing I wanted was to have to avoid my parents knowing I was alive, it just felt more real than trying to hide from everyone in a whole other country. At least here, almost no one thought I was alive. 

No one did think I was alive and it would have stayed that way if Charlie hadn't just happened to find me in the cottage where I couldn't hide myself. This was the one place I didn't hide in. It was almost kind of relaxing to not be in the same country as my parents and all my old friends because I knew there was no chance any of them would find me and be ashamed of me. 

Well, again, that was until Charlie came along and basically ruined my entire plan. 

"Tell them if you feel bad about it, Talia. There's no point in continuing to hide it from them if you feel guilty for not being there and they miss you. Just explain to them everything that happened and they'll probably be welcomed back with opened arms. And you can stay in England if you really want after that, you don't have to come back here and pick up after us messy boys," Charlie said, pouting at me as he tried to convince me to come back with him. 

"Charlie, it's really sweet that you want me to be able to fix everything with my parents and you want me to spend Christmas with you but I think about this all the time and every time I do think about it, I have the same outcome. My parents aren't going to be happy with what I did, they'll just be ashamed of me, ashamed that I'm their daughter and that my friends that I made after Hogwarts are probably all in Azkaban around now," I told him, looking down at the floor. Charlie looked like he wanted to continue persuading me but he soon gave in, sighing and nodding his head. 

"Alright but just remember the offer still stands, that is, if you're thinking about changing your mind before Christmas," he mumbles as I nod. I leave the room, entering my own and laying down on the bed. It's quite late at night and I've stayed up for a long time just to talk to Charlie. 

Tomorrow was their last day before they were going back for three weeks. The last dragon was being sent off tomorrow an after it was, they could finally leave. Two of the boys had already left and gone back to their family since not all of them were needed for one dragon but I was glad Charlie offered to stay the extra few days. 

As I get under the covers, turning off my light and closing my eyes, I slowly begin to think about Charlie's offer. It's almost kind of tempting to take it. I've been around here for so long, to go back would be absolutely amazing but I'm pretty sure my parents wouldn't have a good reaction about it. 

I don't like all this thinking. It's giving me a headache. 

But I'm tempted. I want to say yes to Charlie's offer but I know in my head that I shouldn't go, that something will go wrong immediately and before I know it, I'll be sent off to Azkaban with all my old 'friends' that would probably hate to see me around now. 

I was a betrayer, I had done things that death eaters weren't supposed to do. But I wasn't supposed to be a death eater. That wasn't what I was supposed to do with my life. I just went down the wrong path, did a few things that I honestly shouldn't have and now I regret it, I regret it all. 

But there are certain things in life I have learnt you can't take back. That's one of the reasons I don't want to go back to England. It just won't be the same because I can't take back what I did there. It's all happened, I can't just wish it away. 

But I can fess up and hope my parents don't tell on me. I don't think my parents are that bad. But I learnt a long time ago that many risks aren't worth taking. 

I open my eyes again, looking to the white ceiling as I try to focus my thoughts. 

I try to think of what I should do, whether the risk will really be worth it or not. 

And then I think about Charlie, about his laugh, all his jokes, how happy he is all the time and how I want nothing more than to be around him all the time. But I can't be if I'm locked up in this little cottage all the time. 

That's when I make my final decision. 

I'll go back, I'll have Christmas with the Weasley's and then I'll go home and confess everything to my parents. And not the lies I told Charlie, the full truth. Including the fact that I killed Fred Weasley.