True Love is Blind (A Charlie Weasley Love Story)

Chapter 13

Charlie dry-swallowed a few times, trying to regain his voice, blinking as if to shake himself from the stupor that he was in. “Kat...we said ‘later’ and as you know, I have a room in town for the weekend. If you still feel like doing this later, then we can. I won’t pressure you into anything and if you change your mind, I won’t hold it against you,” he said sincerely, grabbing hold of my hand.

“I appreciate the fact that you’re trying to be supportive and understanding, but as I said, I’m ready. I want this. I’ve waited for this, hoped this would happen for years. You don’t have to worry about me going back on what I’ve said. I mean it,” I smiled at him reassuringly.

He drew in a sharp breath, “Alright. I just can’t help but feel like you’re doing this to please me. I know you’re not, but I still worry. Maybe you can convince me otherwise later,” he smirked, a sexy edge to his voice.

“Maybe,” I agreed, nudging his leg with my foot. I left my foot where it was, keeping the contact with his limb. I trailed my foot up and down slowly, brushing it ever-so-lightly against him. I grinned when I felt him shudder against me. It drove me absolutely crazy knowing that I could elicit such a response from him even in a public place.

Never had I dreamed that I would be here, sitting in Hogsmeade with Charlie as a couple, awaiting our first night together. When I was younger I had always imagined what it would be like to date Charlie. I had had these crazy fantasies about Charlie and I getting together, dating, him proposing to me, me walking down the aisle, him standing at the alter grinning, our honeymoon, him anxiously awaiting the birth of our first child, and so many other events. And now here I was on the way to doing all those things, well...possibly on the way to doing all those things.

“Stop teasing, Kat. That’s not fair,” he whined. I laughed, hearing him whine like that. He was usually so completely and utter masculine that hearing him do something that was more akin to the actions of a teenage girl gave me the urge to fall into hysterics.

“What are you laughing at now?”

“You’ve never whined. You sounded like a girl,” I managed to say between bursts of laughter.

“Take that back,” he gasped, feigning a hurt ego, “I do not resemble a girl in any way, shape, or form.”

“Whatever you say, love,” I teased lightly, still laughing and smiling gently.

“Kat, it’s not funny,” he whined again, which sent me into another fit of laughter. I knew that people were probably looking at me strangely because of how I was acting, but at the moment, I could not possibly care any less. I was thoroughly enjoying being here with Charlie and the other people did not matter. As long as I was with him, I felt free to just be myself without reservation.

“Oh, come on, did you hear yourself?” I queried.

“Okay, well I guess it was kind of funny,” he admitted, a bit bashfully.

I grabbed his hand, leaning forward and puckering my lips slightly, smiling when I felt his brush softly against mine. Against his lips, I whispered, “I thought it was kind of cute. And yes, I did say ‘cute’ but I’m allowed to say that; I’m special.”

“Yes, you are special,” he said kindly, squeezing my hand which was entwined in his.

Our conversation and intimate moment was interrupted by the waitress who came by to check on us, “Can I get you anything else?” she said rather suggestively, clearly directed towards Charlie.

“Nope, I have all I need right here. Just the bill, please,” he said, never taking his hand from mine.

When she came back with the bill, I made a point to try and pay for at least part of it, “How much is it?” I asked, moving to take out my wallet from my purse.

“No, you don’t. I’m paying for this,” Charlie insisted.

I tried to protest, “But I want to pay.”

“This is your day, Kat. Let me pay. I’m treating you to this. You deserve it. You can pay some other time,” he said. Despite my frustration at his insistence on paying, I could not help but to smile. I always found myself grinning, a feeling of glee that was almost indescribable gripping my heart. I was so excited to hear him talking about our future, even if it was the near future. I could not care if he was talking about something a few hours in the future, or years in the future; all that mattered to me know was knowing that he believed that there would be a future for us.

“Fine, but I’m holding you to that,” I said pointedly.

It was his turn to laugh now, “I’m sure you are.”

I playfully stuck my tongue out at him, not caring how stupid I may have looked just then.

“Very mature,”

“I know, but that’s just why you love me so much. I’m ever-so mature,” I simpered.

“One of the many reasons why I love you so much,” he corrected. My heart fluttered at his words. I blushed lightly, a bit embarrassed at how I was reacting like a little girl in love. Then again, thinking about it, I realized that my relationship with Charlie was so much more than just a schoolgirl crush. He was my best friend, my lover, my other half, and the only person I could picture myself spending the rest of my life with.

“Whatever you say,” I felt suddenly self-conscious. I found myself slipping back into my old self; the one that did not believe she was pretty or smart or funny. I had always seen Charlie as so much better than me, and I still found it hard to believe that somehow he had chosen me.

“Kat, you have nothing to be self-conscious about,” he assured me, as if he had read my mind. I loved that about him; how he always seemed to know what was bothering me. He was probably the only person who could make me feel better about myself.

“Okay, okay,” I acquiesced. I did not want to have this argument now, especially since the day was going so well. I was afraid to do anything that could possibly increase tensions or make us not want to spend the rest of the day...and night together.

He helped me up, handing me my bag which he had taken from the back of my chair, taking my hand in his and leading me to the door. I smiled slightly as I felt the cool fall wind engulf me. I could smell the light, fresh scent of pine in the air, masked by the heavier smells of butterbeer and warm apple cider.

“Kat,” Charlie started, “I have a few things I need to take care of before tonight. I’ll come find you in two hours. Is that alright?”

“That’s perfect,” I said happily. Though, I had to admit, I was curious about what he needed to “take care of.” He was not here on business affairs so that could not be what he was talking about. I supposed that I would just have to wait to find out. I knew it would be pointless to try and get an answer from him. He could be just as stubborn as me. We would not get anywhere.

He gave me a quick kiss before walking off. I was about to go for a walk around the town when I heard someone call my name.

“Professor Westing!” Hermione called.

“Hermione?” I questioned.

“I tried to find you earlier but I had no idea where you were. What have you been up to?”

“I think you know exactly where I’ve been,” I accused, but made sure to have a note of teasing in my tone so that she would not think that I was upset with her.

“Ahh so he’s found you, then,” she sounded happy. “I’m glad. I was wondering why you looked so happy.”

“Yes. Oh, would you be willing to let me know when two hours have passed?” I asked, trying to be casual, not wanting to have to tell her my plans for the night.

“Sure, but why do you need to know?” Damn; apparently I did not ask subtly enough.

Attempting more subtly this time, I said, “Charlie and I are meeting up again. He said he had to ‘take care of a few things’ before then.”

“Kat...oh my goodness! You and Charlie...you’re going to...tonight? For the first time?” she sounded oddly happy. I could not help the blush that crept onto my face as she saw right through my attempts at masking what we were really going to do.

“Uhm...well...” I trailed off awkwardly.

“Merlin! You are! I can’t believe it!”

“She’s what?” a pair of voices chorused. I groaned inwardly. There were too entirely too many people around and I did not, by any means, want Fred and George to know of my plans for tonight.

“Nothing,” Hermione said. I wanted to hug her just then, saving me from the mortification that would have come from them finding out.

“Just because we don’t care much about school, that doesn’t mean that we’re stupid,” Fred stated. “Come on, now. It’s not fair to leave us out of the loop.”

“Charlie and I are meeting up again later,” I said, praying that they would not read too far into it, but of course, they did.

“Meeting up, eh? I bet they’re doing a whole lot more than just meeting up,” George chimed in, a humorous quality to his words, but I was still embarrassed nonetheless.

“Are you staying over his room? Or are you sneaking him into your room? Ohhhh...that would be kinky, have you been a bad Professor, Katrina?” Fred continued.

I smacked him for that last comment, which was totally unnecessary and completely inappropriate. “That is none. of. your. business,” I growled. “Sod off.”

“Ohhh she’s getting testy, George,” Fred continued.

“I swear if you don’t stop, I’ll give you detention for inappropriate behavior,” Normally, I would never pull the authority-card on them, but this was an exception.

“You wouldn’t do that,” Fred insisted.

“Really? Just try me,” I said rather menacingly.

“Fred, come off it. Let her alone; you’ve harassed her enough,” George mollified him. I could have hugged him just then. Though Fred and George were incredibly similar, George was always a bit more subtle when it came tot his sort of thing, not that I had ever discussed intercourse with either of them, because that would have been awkward. But I was glad that George was there to stop him; had he not been there, I may have done something that I would later regret, like actually giving him a detention. I knew that he would have forgiven me eventually, but I still would have felt awful for doing something like that to my friend.

“Thanks, George,” I whispered softly enough so that only he would hear. in response, he just put his arm around my shoulders, squeezing lightly.

“Erm...sorry, Kat. I s’ppose I went a bit too far with that, got a bit carried away,” Fred apologized awkwardly. I heard the faint scritch-scritch of him scratching the back of his neck, a motion that he only did when he was embarrassed or feeling uncomfortable.

“S’okay. I know you didn’t mean it like that,” I tried to make my voice sound light, not wanting to let on just how frustrated and upset I still was. I had forgiven him after his apology, but that did not change the fact that I was still extremely embarrassed, my cheeks still blushing a bright tomato-color. Being the shy person that I was, I was not at all comfortable discussing my sex life, especially not with my boyfriend’s brothers. Maybe, and that was a serious maybe I would let Hermione know about it, if she asked, considering the fact that we were both girls and therefore, it would be substantially less awkward.

“I am sorry, though,” Fred replied.

“I know. I’m just not very comfortable discussing...that...with not just you, but with anyone,” I blushed red again. Thankfully it was cool and windy enough that my blush could have been easily due to the chilly air or the breeze so it did not look very out-of-place.

“We understand,” Hermione cut in before the others could say anything.

We spent the next few hours discussing how the meeting had gone. Apparently there had been a decent turnout, but, unfortunately, many of them had come to interrogate Harry about what he had seen last year at the graveyard. I felt so sorry for him; he did not deserve to be made into a pariah just because people were ignorant and in denial of the truth. I had hoped that the meeting would not lead to his being questioned incessantly about the horrible experiences he had had.

Nonetheless, I had a feeling that Harry had handled everything as best he could. According to Hermione, they had a fair amount of members in the club, but some had been skeptical about my job as an instructor. I could not really blame them though. I had not been at the meeting to explain my intentions, and they had not really gotten much of a chance to get to know me, especially if they did not take Care of Magical Creatures. I was very young for a professor, and combined with my blindness, that could be questionable to students looking to really learn defense against the dark arts.

Just as I was about to ask what time it was, I felt a warm pair of arms wrap around my waist from behind. “Hello, love,” Charlie’s deep voice whispered in my ear.

“Charlie!” I exclaimed, jumping a little, “You scared me half to death! I wasn’t expecting that!”

He chuckled in response, “Sorry.”

“That’s alright. Have you gotten everything you needed?” I asked, wondering if he was here to come get me.

“Yes. I’ve gotten everything,” I could hear a husky quality in his voice. He coughed slightly, trying to disguise it, but not before the twins noticed.

“Well, we should be going. Have fun, you two. Try not to stay up all night,” Fred joked.

“Fred,” Charlie warned, a threatening edge to his voice, “that was out of line.”

“Right...well we’ll be going then,” George said, dragging a protesting Fred behind him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Katrina. It was good to see you, Charlie,” Hermione said, politely excusing herself.

“Bye, Hermione,” Charlie sounded distracted.

As soon as her footsteps retreated, Charlie practically dragged me with him to the hotel where he was staying. We were going so fast that the only reason I knew we had entered the building was the rush of warm air that greeted me, the distinct smell of a fire filling the air. He mumbled a quick greeting to the innkeeper before leading me up the stairs, more slowly now, making sure that I did not trip over anything.

“Kat...I want to make absolutely sure before we go into the room...are you certain that you want to do this? I know you said so earlier, but this is real now and I don’t want to pressure--”

I cut him off by standing on my tip-toes and pressing my lips to his. Breaking away, I muttered, “You talk too damn much.”

He grinned against my lips, throwing open the door and closing it quickly behind us. I was immediately greeted by the sweet, vanilla scent of candles, and I could feel the gentle heat of a fire in the hearth. Mixed in was the light, delicate aroma of rose pedals, which, I gathered, were strewn around the room.

“Charlie...this is so romantic,” I gasped.

“This is a big step for us; I wanted it to be special for you,” he said gently, “just hold on a bit. I want to cast a few spells...make sure no one can hear us or...interrupt us.”

I stood in the middle of the room awkwardly, not quite sure what I was supposed to do. Was I supposed to undress? Was I supposed to wait for him in bed? Clothed? Unclothed? What should I...?

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the feelings of warm, calloused hands around me, soon followed by the distinct feeling Charlie’s body behind me.

We were both silent as he kissed down my neck softly, trailing his light lips down throat and onto the tops of my shoulders, sending shivers coarsing down my spine. He pulled off my coat, massaging my shoulders as he did so. Breathing quickly, his breath warm against my face he pulled my tank-top off my body. He was still standing behind me and I leaned my head back, resting my face in the crook of his neck.

I turned around in his arms, facing him. He gasped, fully taking in the sight of my body. “You’re beautiful, Kat. Absolutely perfectly beautiful.”