When Charlie woke up, she was no longer in the Department Of Mysteries. She shot up, lifting herself up into a sitting position. She was in St. Mungos. In front of her was Fred, George and Arthur. "What happened? Is everyone okay? Where's Harry and Sirius? Why am I in St. Mungos?" Charlie spoke quickly, staring at the three in worry.
Fred and George giggled as Arthur laughed. "Slow down, Girl. You're alright. The rest are too. No casualties."
Charlie let out a breath of relief. "Oh... Why am I here?"
Fred held Charlie's hand as Arthur spoke. "Well, Bellatrix hit you with a pretty bad stunning spell. You didn't even wake after being crucioed... You're okay though. There was a lot of glass buried in your back."
Charlie nodded, squeezing Fred's hand at the word 'crucio' Scratching her head, she asked "How long have I been out."
Fred answered this time. "About a month." His voice was croaky and tired. That was when Charlie took a good look at the three men sitting in her room. They all looked tired and worried. Fred's face was hollow and adorned by intense eye bags.
"What time is it?" Charlie asked.
"About 4 am," Arthur answered.
Charlie frowned, staring at the three. "You three, go home. Get to bed. I'll tell the nurse to make you leave if you don't do it willingly. You all need to rest."
Once Charlie had finally convinced them to leave, she began to cry. She had missed a whole month of her life. She had missed her graduation, her N.E.W.Ts, the twins store opening. All of it. What was she to do with this information?
At Least everyone was alive. She was grateful for that.
When Charlie was finally cleared to go home, she was ecstatic, a bit worried as well. She had been getting crucio aftershocks at random times. Her muscles would contort and it would feel as though she was getting tortured all over again. Sometimes it was just her arm or leg or even a finger but other times, it was her whole body.
She returned to 13 Grimmauld Place with a huge smile, excited to see Sirius again. He hadn't been able to visit her for obvious reasons.
When she arrived through the fireplace, Sirius tackled her into a hug as soon as she stepped through the door. Charlie laughed with joy as she hugged Sirius back. "Thank you, Charlie. I owe you my life." He whispered into her ear. Charlie smiled softly, hugging Sirius even tighter.
After Charlie had settled in, it became apparent to her that she had graduated. She was an actual adult now.
This fact brought her no comfort. What the hell was she to do?
She had a lot of money, she could open a shop but she was hesitant. Would it pan out? What if her mother or another death eater came in?
What if she had crucio aftershocks in the shop?
Nobody knew of her aftershocks. She refused to talk to anyone about it.
That night at dinner, she wasn't feeling very hungry.
Charlie laid in her bed, staring up at her ceiling when Fred came in. "Hey! I'm going back to my flat- are you okay?"
Charlie laughed, "No."
Fred sat beside her, "What's wrong, love?"
"I feel like a failure. I spent all my years at Hogwarts preparing to go out into the real world and now I have not a clue what to do. I don't want to work for the ministry, I also don't want to sit and do nothing. I'm scared."
"Hey now, it's okay... you got out of the hospital like what... three hours ago? You'll be alright. I'd start with getting your own flat. Georgie and I can help with that if you'd like. Research some different jobs, I'm sure you'll figure it out Char." Fred held Charlie's hand, an understanding smile on his face.
Charlie nodded, "Okay, you can get going now... maybe i'll come around tomorrow and you can give me a tour of your shop and the flat?" The girl smiled at Fred, she could feel aftershocks coming as she led Fred out of her room. As soon as her door shut she winced, "Silencio." She muttered at the door before hitting the floor and screaming out in pain as she clutched her arm.
Charlie stayed true to her word, the next day she went out and looked for flats before going to see Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. She was wearing a large leather jacket, a pinstripe skirt and a cropped collared top. It was nice not having to wear a uniform every day.
Charlie found a flat she loved. It had a wonderful balcony, a kitchen, living room, office and large bedroom. She wouldn't have been able to afford it if it wasn't for her family's fortune. She still had her part of it in her vault. Closed off from everyone. She thanked Evan for that internally.
Apparently, Evan had come to visit her when she was out, he was very busy. He had gone to Romania with Charlie, apparently dragons were his 'calling'.
Charlie walked into Weasleys Wizard Wheezes with a huge smile on her face. "Hey!" She smiled at Fred, George and Theo. Fred smiled widely at her, "You two alright down here? I want to show Charlie the flat." The two boys nodded, greeting Charlie warmly.
"Alright, This is the kitchen, the living room, this is George and Theos room-"
"Hold up, what?" Charlie laughed, Fred gave her a confused look before it dawned upon him. "Oh Merlin! You don't know!" He laughed.
"I don't know what?"
"George and Theo have been dating since like, sixth year."
"WHAT!" Charlie smiled,
"Yeah! I know right?? George told me after we left."
"That's amazing! I'll have to beat them both up for not telling me, though." Charlie and Fred giggled at the idea of Charlie fighting the both of them.
"And this is my room." Fred finished his tour.
Charlie smiled. "I love your flat! Wanna see mine after?" She grinned mischievously.
"YOU ALREADY GOT ONE!? WHEN?!" Fred shouted in surprise and excitement.
"This morning, before I came, actually." Charlie puffed her chest out and crossed her arms, a proud smile on her face.
"Wow, we're really growing up, Rosier."
"That we are, Weasley."
Fred was in awe of Charlie's apartment. Apparently, it was fancier than she had thought. Fred had agreed to go shopping with her, to some muggle flea markets and such tomorrow. For tonight, she was going to stay at Siriuses. A perk to her apartment was, her balcony was in perfect view of Fred and Georges. They could say hi to each other from their balconies.
George had promised to come see the flat when it was all ready when Charlie had come back to get the full tour of Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. The shop amazed her. She was so proud of Fred and George and she made sure they knew that.
Her night at 13 Grimmauld Place was quite emotional. Sirius was sad to see her go but, oh so proud of her. She promised Harry, Ron and Hermione they could stay in her spare room whenever they needed to and promised to visit as much as she could.
It made her sad to leave but she was happy to get a bit more independence and a lot more privacy.
The next morning, Charlie got ready as quickly as she could. Fred had agreed to go out for breakfast beforehand. Today, Charlie wore a pair of low waisted baggy jeans along with a cropped lace top. It was layered with a cropped maroon sweater.
She was beyond excited to go shopping for her new flat.
Before meeting Fred, she stopped in at Gringotts, exchanging ten thousand galleons to pounds. She thought she may have exchanged a bit too much... oh well.
They had a small breakfast at a cute little cafe called 'The Lovebird.' Charlie wasn't one for romantic restaurants or cafes but they had the best coffee. Atleast, that's what she told herself.
Their first stop was a small muggle flea market. Charlie got a beautiful woven rug from there, it had a wavy pattern. It was blue, green and white.
They then went to some small thrift shops where Charlie found a gorgeous blue couch. It was velvet and the perfect colour. An L shape.
After that, they went to Ikea where Charlie got most of her furniture. They had meatballs and laughed at all the muggles looking at them strangely.
By the end of the day, Charlie had concluded that she definitely brought too much muggle money.
On their way to the flat, Charlie stopped at a wizarding greenhouse. She had bought at least fifty plants. The Rosier Manor never had plants.
Fred and Charlie stayed up all night, drinking white wine and setting her apartment up. By the time it was done, it was beautiful.
The living room had a wonderful brick fireplace, across from it was the velvet blue L couch. Many decorative pillows sat atop it. The room was lit by an array of warm lamps. The rug was underneath a unique sage green coffee table. The colours matched the rug perfectly. On either side of the fireplace, large bookshelves were placed, holding most of Charlie's books.
On the walls, Fairy lights were hanging, giving the room a magical aura. Many plants were littered around the room.
The kitchen was even better. Most of her kitchenware was the same shade of blue and green as in the living room, vines covered the kitchen and many flowers were in there as well.
In the spare room, Charlie had a sage green fold out bed along with a simple desk. Plants (Obviously) as well.
Charlie's bedroom was absolutely perfect. There were large blue curtains against one wall, (the whole wall was glass, along with the door out to the balcony.), the wall adjacent to her bed was a full bookshelf, holding even more books. Her bed had a sage green comforter and a ridiculous amount of decorative pillows. Fairy lights adorned the ceiling, just as they did in the living room and vines covered her room as well. There was a plant in the corner near her closet and both closet doors were painted blue as the wall was a light, light green.
Charlie couldn't be more happy with her apartment. By the time the two were finished they were both quite drunk and very happy.
"Thank you so much, Freddie! I could kiss you right now!" Charlie gushed, smiling up at the boy.
He grabbed her hips pulling her in. "Thank you, for letting me help." he smirked at her flustered expression. "Say, I have a question." Fred looked into her blue eyes.
"What is it?' Charlie swallowed, "Freddie?"
He leaned down, squeezing her hips. "Did you ever manage to get over me?" He breathed into her ear.
Goosebumps went down Charlie's spine as she swallowed, her mouth was suddenly very dry. "I- Uhm, I-" She was cut off by Fred connecting their lips. Charlie pushed into the kiss, adding more passion as Fred lifted her onto the kitchen counter.
Charlie's hands travelled up Fred's shirt, feeling his defined abs as he kissed her. His hands were on her thighs, as they travelled higher up, Charlie broke the kiss. Her big blue eyes looked into Fred's hazel ones. "Freddie, I- well, I'm not quite ready for that..." She bit her thumb.
Fred smiled at her, kissing her forehead, then both her cheeks and finally, her mouth. "That's alright, love. Are you alright? Did I make you uncomfortable?" He looked at her.
Charlie smiled, shaking her head. "Not at all." She pulled him in for one last kiss before they both settled into her bed.
Charlie fell asleep in Fred's arms. She had never felt so safe.