Au Revoir - Chapter One
CHARLOTTE JULIET ANDREWS WAS NEVER A MORNING PERSON. During the summer, she would wake up when the moon rises. She stays up all night, reading and studying to keep her entertained.
Sure, Charlotte had her friends – the only problem is that she lives about forty-seven miles away from them and her only source of communication was through letters that were delivered by her tiny owl friend, Aquila.
Her father was away for some Auror business in America for Merlin knows what – and from what her father told her; her mother had died long ago from giving birth to her. She was used to being alone already. Even though her father was always away – they were still close and always find time for them to bond with each other in their own little odd ways.
Days ago, Charlotte received a letter from Molly Weasley – the mother of one of her best mates, Ron Weasley – inviting her to watch the Quidditch World Cup with them this Monday and offered for her to stay with them for the remainder of the summer.
And of course, Charlotte wholeheartedly accepted the kind offer – with the approval of her father of course.
And just a day ago, Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron came to pick her up through Floo network.
She was now at the Burrow – awake at the ungodly hour of three in the morning, all sweaty in her nightgown with tears running down her cheeks and bed hair with the concerned gazes of the whole Weasley clan piercing her.
She doesn't understand what was happening to her.
All Charlotte knew is that it has something to do with the odd dreams she's been getting after the day she woke up in St. Mungo's.
Molly Weasley was comforting the hysterically crying girl, whispering comforting things to her ear while brushing her fingers through her honey blonde locks. Ginny Weasley was rubbing her hand on her shoulder comfortingly. The other Weasley's just watched silently – no one dared to say a word.
"I'm sorry for waking you all up."
Charlotte felt ashamed. . . embarrassed even.
Here she was, crying over some nightmare that was stuck to her mind.
The nightmare felt so, so real.
She felt the touch of the faun still lingering in her forearm. The screams of terror echoed into her brain. She felt the dust of the rubble in her throat.
There was no denying that it was real.
All of it was real.
Ginny gave her a soft smile and gave her a warm hug, "It's alright."
Charlotte gave her a weak smile, wrapping her arms around the younger's torso. She shut her eyes off and saw flashes of the Dryads begging for their lives to be spared, only to be slashed in the chest by a metal blade that held the blood of a thousand innocent creatures who did nothing to deserve it.
Soon enough the Weasley's returned to their respective rooms. Ginny retreated to her bed and quickly fell asleep.
Charlotte was awake, her thoughts were keeping her from closing her eyes and were eating her alive.
These dreams – these were real.
Those blasted Bludgers from school hit her in the head, taking away her memories. It took about a month for most of them to come back – thanks to her friends and family.
Charlotte became a completely different person – everyone could see how much the accident changed the girl they knew.
To the eyes of those who knew her by her name – she was still the same girl. But to those who knew her personally – they know that something has changed . . . She just wasn't the same.
The once confident and outspoken girl, who had the wisdom – no adult could ever imagine a child having, the girl who used to gleam with elegance and grace. The girl who always had her chin up with pieces of her hair tied elegantly behind her head, giving everyone a perfect view of the natural beauty she possessed – was now the girl who's always lost in her thoughts, who yearned for nothing more than to grasp that single piece of information that has been missing since the return of most of her memories.
Whatever it was – Charlotte knew that it played an important part in her life.
A very important part.
. . .
"Charlie!"
She stirred, feeling the heaviness of her tired body as she shifted to a more comfortable position.
"Charlie! Wake up!"
Charlotte stirred once again, feeling awfully tired–for it was the first time in months since she had a decent sleep.
"Fred, let the poor girl sleep! It's probably the first time she's gotten a decent sleep in a while."
Mrs. Weasley?
Her mind was still groggy with sleepiness. She slowly fluttered her eyes open, rubbing them to relieve the weight of tiredness off of them.
Soon enough, her eyes started to focus – there were the twins, Fred and George, with Ron, her best mate, and Mrs. Weasley by the door, scolding her three sons for waking up the blonde.
"What time is it?" She asked groggily, sitting up from the bed.
"Five o'clock. Now come on, we're going to pick up Harry!" said Ron, making Charlotte's eyes widen in realization.
"I can't believe you didn't wake me up earlier!"
Charlotte quickly scrambled to her feet, finger-combing her hair as she walked to her trunk to get fresh clothes.
She quickly got out a plain white shirt, a denim skirt, a denim jacket, and a black velvet-like beret hat that she chose the night before and slammed her trunk shut.
She turned, and the three Weasley boys stood there, waiting for her to do something.
Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "well?"
"Well, what?" asked Ron ludicrously.
Charlotte rolled her eyes and pushed the three boys out of Ginny's room with her free arm.
"Idiots," muttered Charlotte, rolling her eyes as she slammed the door shut.
"The bloody hell is her problem?" asked Ron from outside.
Charlotte quickly dressed in her clothes, tucking in the white shirt in her skirt, and slipped on her denim jacket to keep her warm.
She strides over the side of the trunk, where her black boots were seated, and quickly puts on some white socks, slipping on the boots.
She snatched her wand from Ginny's bedside table and tucked it in her boots.
She rushed down the stairs, to the living room where the fireplace was.
Fred, George, Ron, and Mr. Weasley were all huddled in the living room in front of the fireplace, waiting for her. "Sorry for being late," She apologized, "I lost track of time." She says while scurrying next to Fred.
"Not to worry dear, you were just in time." Mr. Weasley reassured her, getting a handful of floo powder from the pot.
"Now I'll go first, Charlie, George, Fred and Ron, you go after. Remember to speak the words very, very clearly." They nodded, watching him say Harry's address before throwing the powder in the fireplace. The green flames engulfed him, she watched as Mr. Weasley disappeared before getting a handful of floo powder from Fred.
Charlotte stepped inside the fireplace, looking at the 3 Weasley boys.
"See you on the other side!" She grinned, "Number 4 Privet Drive!" She says making sure the words rolled out of her tongue were correctly pronounced. She threw the powder in the fireplace, green flames engulfing her as the Weasley's living room vanished from her sight.
The room spun around her, she closed her eyes, trying not to get nauseous. Her face was plastered into the wall and everything was dark.
"Ouch! Charlie, no – go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake – tell George not to – "
Suddenly, Charlotte was squished into the wall, her head hitting the wall "OUCH! GEORGE!" She winced in pain.
"Oops." He muttered.
Mr. Weasley spoke, "George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron –"
"Ow!"
"Hi, Fred!"
"Maybe Harry can hear us, Mr. Weasley – maybe he can get us out – "Charlotte reached out to bang her fist on the boards, "Harry? Harry, can you hear us?" She called.
"Charlotte? Can you hear me?" She stopped hammering the board, she distantly heard someone say 'Shh!'
"Mr. Weasley, it's Harry... the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there." Harry says from outside. "Damn!" Mr. Weasley muttered, "What on Earth did they block the fireplace for?" he asks.
"They've got an electric fire." Harry's voice explained.
"Really?" said Mr. Weasley's voice excitedly. "Eclectric, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that... Let's think... Ouch, Ron!" Charlotte's face was now mushed into George's tall frame, it was so cramped inside, it was getting hard to breathe.
"What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?" Ron asks, confused about why they were all together cramped in a small room.
"Oh no, Ron," said Fred, very sarcastically. "No, this exactly where we wanted to end up."
"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here," said Charlotte, muffled into George's body.
"Children, children..." Mr. Weasley says vaguely. "I'm trying to think of what to do..."
Charlotte spoke up, "Bombarda or Bombarda Maxima might do the trick, Mr. Weasley."
"Brilliant Charlie!" Mr. Weasley praised, "Now Harry, stand back."
"Wait a moment!" Someone bellowed from outside. "What exactly are you going to – "
BANG!
The electric fire flew open and shot across the room, revealing Mr. Weasley, Charlotte, Fred, George, and Ron in a cloud of rubble and loose chippings. Mrs. Dursley shrieked, falling backward over to the coffee table; Mr. Dursley catching her before she fell, gaping at them, with nothing to say, to the Weasley's, all who had bright red hair, except for Charlotte who had honey blonde hair that looked golden under the light of the room.
"That's better," Mr. Weasley panted, brushing off the dust from his robes.
Charlotte caught the eye of one of her best friends, Harry Potter. She grinned at him before throwing herself at his frame, "Harry!" she says excitedly, running to hug the life out of Harry Potter– the boy who lived.
"I thought you were still at St. Mungo's?" He asks, still holding her in his arms, not wanting to let go.
Charlotte pulled away from their hug before answering him, "Yeah, but they let me out early since I was completely healed," she paused, giving a glance at the Dursley's who were gaping at her interaction with Harry before finishing her story.
"Bit of a miracle, really. The mediwizards thought it would take me seven months to regain my all memories, but in three months tops I was completely healed!"
Harry gaped at her, "Three months tops?" amazed at how she managed to be completely healed in just three months.
"Those three months were horrible! They had to test me by asking me stupid questions like 'what's your favorite subject' or like 'who is the Minister of Magic'... it was all so stupid!" She huffed, remembering her days at St. Mungo's where she would argue with the nurses.
"Derrick and Bole better be ready when I come back to Hogwarts, I swear to God that I'm going hex them into obliv-"
"That sounds like the Charlie we know!" said Fred, grinning widely.
The Weasley's and Harry chuckled while Charlotte huffed in annoyance, crossing her arms, a ghost of a smile evident in the curve of her red lips.
They stopped chuckling when they noticed Dursley's baffled expressions as they watched them talked.
"Er – yes – sorry about that," said Mr. Weasley, looking at the blasted fireplace. "It's all my fault. It just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't get to the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see – just an afternoon, you know, to get Harry. Muggle fireplaces aren't supposed to be connected, strictly speaking – but I've got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me. I can put it right at the jiffy, though, don't worry. I'll light a fire to send Charlie and the boys back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I could Disapparate."
Charlotte watched as the Dursley's watched them, still thunderstruck. Mrs. Dursley staggered upright and hid behind her husband.
"Hello, Harry!" said Mr. Weasley brightly. "Got your trunk ready?"
"It's upstairs," said Harry, grinning back at Mr. Weasley.
"We'll get it," said Fred at once, winking at Harry, he and George left the room. Charlotte pulled out her tongue at Harry making him chuckled, before catching up to the Weasley twins just in case they do something that would get them in trouble.
"What are you two planning?" She asks, her eyes turning to slits as she followed the twins to the inside of Harry's room.
It was plain and void of the color she was used to seeing in the Burrow.
It was actually kind of sad.
"Relax, Lottie-kin's we're just having a look around the house," Fred answered, with a glint of mischief in his eyes.
"Yeah, and it's a very lovely house," George says, grinning like a mad-man.
Charlotte glared at them, "don't ever call me 'Lottie-kin's' again." Fred and George chuckled at the blonde, before answering in unison, "Okay, Lottie-kin's."
She watched as they took Harry's trunk. To be helpful, she took Hedwig's empty cage, before going down to the living room.
She silently observed the Weasley twins –what are they planning?
She watched as they looked around the room before spotting Harry's cousin, Dudley Dursley, who she heard so much about. Fred and George's face broke out into identical evil grins.
"Ah right," said Mr. Weasley. "Better get cracking then."
He rolled the sleeves of his robes and took out his wand. Charlotte saw the Dursley's drawback against the wall as one. "Incendio!" said Mr. Weasley, pointing his wand at the hole in the wall behind him.
Flames rose at once in the fireplace, crackling. Mr. Weasley took a pinch of floo powder, throwing it inside the flames, which turned as green as Harry's eyes and roared higher than ever.
Mr. Weasley turned to the twins, "Off you go then, Fred," said Mr. Weasley. "Coming, "answered Fred from beside Charlotte.
"Oh no – hang on – "
Charlotte's eyes went as wide as a House Elf's eyes as she watched Fred's bag of sweets spill out of Fred's pocket.
Oh no.
She watched as Fred scrambled around, cramming them back into his pocket, then gave the Dursley's a cheery wave, catching Charlotte's death glare before stepping forward and walked into the fire saying 'The Burrow!', disappearing in the emerald green flames.
"Right then, George," said Mr. Weasley, "you and the trunk."
She watched as Harry helped George carry the trunk into the flames, and watched as George disappears into the flames like his twin brother.
"Ron, you next," said Mr. Weasley.
"See you," said Ron brightly to the Dursley's. He grinned at Harry and Charlotte, then stepped into the fire shouting 'The Burrow!' clearly, disappearing into the flames like his brothers.
Now only Harry, Charlotte, and Mr. Weasley were left.
Charlotte gave the Dursley's a smile, before winking at Harry.
"See you on the flip side, Potter."
She took a deep breath and said in a loud voice "The Burrow!" then threw the Floo powder into the flames, not before hearing Mrs. Dursley's powerful scream and seeing Dudley's purple foot-long tongue.