Last chapter for today. Going to bed in a moment.
Night!
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"Wake up, darling." Charlie's voice whispered in my ear as he ran his hands up my bare back to my shoulders. The sheets were only covering the bottom part of my body and I was lying on my front. "Em, wakey wakey."
"Go away." I groaned into my pillow. "I'm trying to sleep."
He hummed as his hands gently squeezed my shoulders, massaging into my skin. My eyes rolled back into my skull and I whimpered at the feeling.
"I got you something." He whispered, planting a kiss below my ear. "Turn over, angel."
I hit him in the stomach. Not hard, but enough for him to groan softly. He smacked but butt, causing me to shriek before I rolled over on my back.
"You're so annoying." I told him and ran a hand over my head. I opened my eyes and looked at Charlie. He had a light purple flower behind his ear and I watched as he grabbed it, then placed it behind my ear.
"I found it on my morning run." He told me with a soft smile. "It's a gladiolus. Your birth flower."
"Oh—" I smiled softly, pulling myself up to sit against the headboard. I pulled the flower out from behind my ear and looked at it while Charlie sat down on the edge of the bed. "It's beautiful. This is my birth flower?"
"Yep." He nodded. He placed a hand against the mattress on the other side of my body and leaned forwards, nudging his nose against my jaw before kissing it.
He ripped the sheets from my body and moved onto the bed to lie between my legs. I giggled when I saw his cheeky smile. He grabbed the flower from my hand and placed it on the nightstand, then brought his hand up to brush my hair out of my face.
"What's your birth flower?" I asked, wrapping my legs around his hips as he lowered his face to kiss the side of my right boobs.
"I have two." He breathed, wiggling downwards so that his face aligned with my stomach. "Narcissus—"
He planted a kiss above my belly button and I automatically inhaled sharply. He hadn't shaved for a couple of days so the stubbles were tickling the skin of my stomach.
"— and poinsettia."
"Ember!" Calypso called, snapping me out of my daily dose of daydreaming. I pushed the glasses further up the bridge of my nose and looked at my sister who stood in the doorway to my office. "Welcome back. Where'd you leave to?"
I chuckled and shook my head as I gathered the many papers on my desk into one pile, then shoved them into a drawer of my desk.
"Hi, I'm sorry." I breathed. "What's up?"
"There's a Weasley at the door for you." She said, my eyes immediately widening. "Oh, no I'm sorry! I probably shouldn't have said it like that. Not Charlie, sorry."
I looked down, shrugging.
"Didn't think he was the one you meant." I muttered which was obviously a lie. I still had this hope hidden away inside of me that one day he'd come back and have some explanation that I would be able to forgive.
"It's George."
Again, I looked up, my eyes wide but this time my lips parted as well. I stood up abruptly, my hands staying on the table.
"George's here?"
"Yeah." She nodded. "He says he needs to see you."
A heavy breath escaped my lips as I looked towards the calendar on my wall.
May 2nd.
Fuck. It was a year since Fred died. I couldn't even start to imagine what George was going though.
"Tell him I'll be out in a minute." I said and Calypso nodded at me before she closed the door. I took a deep breath, shaking my hands while I made my way over to the mirror on the wall.
I looked like shit. I needed to do something about that. George was grieving his twin brother. He wouldn't feel much better if I looked like shit, so I had to at least look like I had my shit together and didn't secretly daydream about his older brother all the time.
I took off my glasses and packed them away before letting my red hair out of the bun. I brushed through it with my fingers until it didn't look as messed up anymore.
I made sure to have my wand on me as I left my office. I closed the door behind me and walked down the small hallway to the opening that led out to the shop out front.
George was talking to Valencia over by a bookshelf half full of books. My sister was restocking it, smiling to try and cheer George up.
"George." I greeted with a smile. He looked towards me and repaid the smile, though his eyes showed nothing but pain. "Hi, how are you?"
I opened my arms and he met me in a hug.
"Could be better." He shrugged when he pulled back again. "You? Have you heard anything from Charlie?"
I slowly folded my arms over my chest and let out a shaky break as I shook my head.
"I'm sure he just need some time for himself." George assured me. "But when he decides to return, I know Bill has promised to kick his ass."
A small chuckle rolled off my tongue as I ran a hand through my hair.
"I know you probably have stuff to do today." George sighed. "But I was wondering if I could take you up on that picnic offer?"
After Fred died, I offered George to plan a picnic to get his mind off everything that was going on in his life. He was trying to run a shop all alone while grieving his brother.
"Of course." I smiled. "I don't have any clients today so I've got the time. Come. I think I have some things upstairs."
I didn't even think. I led George to the back of the shop and up the stairs. It wasn't until I had the key in the door that I realized I hadn't been back since Charlie left.
"Something wrong?" George asked, looking at me with worry. I looked at him and forced a smile as I pushed open the door and led the way inside.
"I haven't been up here for what—" I took a deep breath. "Wait, when did Charlie leave again?"
"December."
"And that's— five months ago." I spoke, nodding slowly. "I haven't been up here in five months."
I took a look around, then looked at George before I threw my keys on the kitchen table.
"It's definitely dusty up here."
The door slowly slid closed behind us and I shortly glanced at it before walking to the cupboard.
"There's the picnic basket." I said, grabbing it from the floor. My eyes then landed in the boxes of schoolbooks. Mine's were the bottom boxes while Charlie's were on top and I automatically put down the basket again to pick up the Gryffindor tie in the box. I quickly let go of it and put the lid on the box, then grabbed the basket and left the cupboard. "Hey, I wanted to apologize, I wasn't there for your birthday last month."
Fred and George had always been like my brothers. I don't know if I have mentioned it but they really are. I know they've always looked up to me as the older sister they never had. They were six when I first met them and I had always treated them like they were family.
"Don't worry about it." George shrugged, leaning on the table in the kitchen. "I didn't want to do much out of it so we didn't. Plus, the most of us cried during almost the whole day. It wasn't fun. It's never going to be."
I bit onto my lip, feeling the tears sting behind my eyes.
Don't cry. Don't you dare cry.
"Will you be there for Christmas this year?" George asked me. "I'm not sure Charlie won't so the coast is clear."
I chuckled, pinching the bridge of my nose before I ran a hand through my hair. I looked at George, smiling weakly.
"I don't know."
"Because I know mum's going to invite your family like Christmas four years ago." He told me. "It'll be fun."
"You think that's a good idea?" I laughed. "A house full of two big families?"
George shrugged but a smile spread on his face at the idea of sixteen+ people under one roof. It was difficult enough four years ago but somehow we managed to make it work.
"I'll go get us a blanket to sit on." I told him. "Where would you like to go?"
"I don't know." I heard him breath heavily while I made my way towards me and Charlie's bedroom, though I paused at the door. "How about somewhere near the beach by the shell cottage?"
I took a step away from the door. I couldn't bring myself to go in there. Being in the loft was hard enough but actually entering the room where we slept for years— that was just too much.
"That sounds cool." I breathed and looked at George. "Would you— there's a blanket on the ottoman at the end of the bed. Could you please go get it?"