Au Revoir - Chapter Two
CHARLOTTE WAS FURIOUS. As soon as she arrived at the Burrow, she hopped off the fireplace, not bothering to wipe off the soot on her face, and stomped over to the Weasley twins in fury.
"FREDRIC WEASLEY WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU GIVE DUDLEY? I SWEAR I OUGHT TO H-"
She stopped, noticing two tall figures watching the scene unfold, with amused grins on their faces.
Her face broke into a grin, "Well, well – if it isn't the name stealer," She says smugly, watching as Charlie Weasley stood up to greet the blonde.
"I was born first, Charlotte," he chuckled, opening his arms for the blonde.
Charlotte first met Charles Weasley when she and her father went to Egypt for a vacation, and they coincidentally met the Weasleys.
Both Charlotte and Charlie bonded over different types of magical creatures, which fascinated her a lot.
Needless to say - the two were pretty close.
Bill Weasley got to his feet and gave her a big smile, "Well if isn't the famous, Charlotte Andrews," hugging the small girl, which she returned.
"I dunno about famous, but I'm pretty well known in the Weasley clan," she says giving him a grin.
He chuckled, ruffling her hair playfully, earning a playful pout from the blonde.
Soon enough, Harry arrived and Fred helped him to his feet.
"Did he eat it?" said Fred excitedly.
Charlotte looked back at Fred, marching up to him and Harry. Fred gulped, watching as she walked over to them, her eyes blazing with fire.
"Fredward Weasley," she says, giving him a sweet smile, that was obviously fake.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU GIVE HARRY'S COUSIN?" She yelled, her eyes turned into a glare so sharp that Harry thought she could cut their heads off.
"You know, my name isn't Fredric or Fredward right?" Fred says, giving a nervous laugh as he glanced nervously at George, who mirrored his expression.
Before she could come up with a witty reply, she heard a faint popping noise and Mr. Weasley appeared at George's shoulder looking like he was going to murder someone.
"That wasn't funny Fred!" he shouted. "What on Earth did you give that Muggle boy?"
"I didn't give him anything," said Fred, with his infamous evil grin stitched to his face. "I just dropped it... It was his fault he went and ate it, I never told him to."
Charlotte snorted, knowing that he purposely dropped it.
Come on, it's Fred Weasley we're talking about.
"You dropped it on purpose!" roared Mr. Weasley. "You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet – "
"How big did his tongue get?" George asked eagerly, making Charlotte's eyes roll so far that it might have reached the back of her head.
"Enough for your arses to get in trouble that's for sure," muttered Charlotte under her breath, crossing her arms.
"It was four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!"
Everyone laughed– well, all except Charlotte of course who was fuming in annoyance.
It was a low move – yes, he might have been horrible to Harry and deserved it, but they shouldn't have used magic as payback.
They had the advantage, and it was idiotic of them to do so – Mr. Weasley could've gotten in trouble with his job in the Ministry because of them.
Charlotte could've helped them both. She knew how to get under people's skins – even a lot of people wondered why she was a Gryffindor when she was as cunning and ambitious as a Slytherin.
If it weren't for her stubborn nature and daring nerve being far greater than her Slytherin-like traits, she would've been put in the house of snakes and she wouldn't have met amazing people like Harry or Hermione.
"It isn't funny!" Mr. Weasley shouted. "That sort of behavior seriously undermines wizard-Muggle relations! I spent half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons-"
"We didn't give it to him because he was a Muggle!" said Fred, cutting off his father's long rant.
"No, we gave it to him because he's a great bullying git," George added. "Isn't he, Harry?"
"Yes, he is, Mr. Weasley," said Harry earnestly.
"That's not the point!" raged Mr. Weasley. "You wait until I tell your mother-"
Mrs. Weasley appeared in the kitchen, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Oh hello, Harry, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, spotting him beside Charlotte, smiling. Her eyes snapped back to Mr. Weasley, "Tell me what, Arthur?"
Mr. Weasley hesitated. Charlotte could tell, and she was sure Harry could see it too, that Mr. Weasley never really intended to tell Mrs. Weasley about the incident.
Everyone was silent. They all watched as Mr. Weasley eyed his wife nervously.
Two girls appeared in the kitchen doorway behind Mrs. Weasley. One, with familiar bushy hair and large front teeth, was one of her best mates, Hermione Granger. The other girl was small and red-haired like the rest of the Weasley's was her roommate and almost sister, Ginny Weasley.
"Hermione!" Charlotte shrieked, quickly running over to her bushy-haired friend. She latched herself around Hermione's petite body with a big smile etched on her face.
"Whoa there!" Both of them almost toppled over if it wasn't for Hermione regaining balance.
She hasn't seen Hermione since Bole and Derrick whacked both bludgers at her, which resulted to hitting her head hard enough for her to lose her memories, from what she was told.
"I missed you so much!" Charlotte says, her voice muffled from Hermione's bushy hair.
"I can't believe you're here! I thought you were still at St. Mungo's?" She says ecstatically.
"Well, I was but I got out early. I'm sorry for not writing you during summer– the nurses kept pestering me about my memories because I quote; 'you regained your memory a little too soon and that it was impossible for one to do so'... And my left arm was still healing." said Charlotte quickly.
"Did you know that my bones were crushed into tiny pieces during that match? I swear to Merlin, once I get back to Hogwarts I'm going to smash their testic-"
"Geez, Charlie – remind me again not to get into your bad side," muttered Ron, cutting her off.
"Duly noted," she says, with a proud smirk on her face.
"Tell me what, Arthur?" said Mrs. Weasley in a dangerously low tone.
"It's nothing, Molly," mumbled Mr. Weasley, "Fred and George just – but I've had words with them – even Charlie also gave them words before I ca-"
"What have they done this time?" said Mrs. Weasley, cutting off her husband.
"If it's got anything to do with Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes – "
"Why don't you show Harry where he's sleeping, Ron?" asked Hermione from beside Charlotte.
Oh, thank Merlin!
Charlotte did not want to witness the wrath of Mrs. Weasley.
"He knows where he's sleeping," said Ron, "in my bedroom, he slept there last-"
Charlotte rolled her eyes for what seemed like, the hundredth time she did it in a day.
"We can all go," she says, shooting Ron a look.
"Oh," said Ron, cottoning on.
"Right."
"Yeah, we'll come too," said George.
"You stay where you are!" Mrs. Weasley snarled.
Charlotte, Hermione, and Ginny set off along the narrow hallway and up the zigzagged stairs to the upper stories of the Burrow.
"What are Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?" asked Harry from behind. Ron, Charlie, and Ginny laughed although Hermione and Harry didn't.
"Mum found this stack of order forms in Fred and George's room," said Ron quietly. "Great long price-lists for stuff they've invented. Joke stuff, you know. Fake wands and trick sweets, loads of stuff. It was brilliant, I never knew they were inventing all that..." he trailed on.
"We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages, but we never thought they were actually making things," said Ginny.
"We thought they just liked the noise."
"Only, most of the stuff – well, all of it, really – was a bit dangerous," said Ron, "and, you know, we're planning to sell them at Hogwarts to make some money, and Mum went mad at them. Told them they weren't allowed to make any more of it and burned all the order forms... She's furious at them anyway. They didn't get as many O.W.L.s as she expected."
From that statement, Charlie made a mental note to study for her O.W.L.s after the World Cup.
"And then there was this big row," Ginny said, "because Mum wants them to go into the Ministry of Magic like Dad, and they told her all they want to do is open a joke shop."
The door on the second landing opened, Percy Weasley's face poked out of the door masking an annoyed expression.
"Hi, Percy," said Harry from beside her.
"Oh hello, Harry," said Percy. "I was wondering who was making all this noise. I'm trying to work here, you know I've got a report to finish for the office – and it's rather difficult to concentrate when people keep thundering up and down the stairs."
"We're not thundering," said Ron, feeling done with Percy's attitude.
"We're just walking. Sorry if we've disturbed the top-secret workings of the Ministry of Magic."
Charlotte snorted, which resulted in Hermione nudging her in the ribs.
She playfully glared at Hermione, sticking her tongue out at her.
"What are you working on?" asked Harry.
"A report for the Department of International Magical Cooperation," said Percy smugly.
"We're trying to standardize cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin – leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a year – "
"That'll change the world, that report will," said Ron. "Front of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks."
Charlotte laughed as she watched Percy turn slightly pink.
Out of all the Weasley's, the only one she never got along with was Percy Weasley.
Charlotte thought he was too big-headed and smug– though, she did admire his ambition and hard-working nature.
"You might sneer, Ron," said Percy heatedly, "but unless some sort of international law is imposed we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow-bottomed products that seriously endanger – "
"Yeah, yeah, alright," said Ron, walking up the stairs again. Percy slammed his bedroom door shut. Charlotte, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny followed Ron three more flights of stairs, as they heard shouts from Mrs. Weasley echoing up to them.
Charlotte sighed, shaking her head in disapproval.
"I told those two idiots not to do anything, but they had to do the complete opposite!" she says, feeling peeved.
They reached the top of the house where Ron slept, watching as Pigwidgeon hopped in his cage twittering madly.
"Shut up, Pig," said Ron walking between Fred and George's beds.
"Fred and George are in here with us because Bill and Charlie –"
Harry gave Charlotte a quizzical look, amused. She sent Ron a glare for not explaining properly.
Ron saw the look Harry gave her, "the other Charlie – anyways, Bill and my brother Charlie are staying in their rooms," he explained.
"Percy gets to keep his room all to himself because he's got to work," Ron grumbled.
"Er – why are you calling that owl Pig?" asked Harry, looking conflicted.
"Because he's being stupid," said Ginny, making Charlotte laugh while Ron sent them a glare.
"Its proper name is Pigwidgeon." Said Charlotte, walking towards the small owl's cage.
"Yeah, and that's not a stupid name at all," Ron sarcastically replied.
"Ginny named him, she reckons it's sweet. And I tried to change it, but it was too late, he won't answer to anything else. So now he's Pig. I've got to keep him up here because he annoys Errol, Aquila, and Hermes. He annoys me too, comes to that." Ron explained to Harry.
"He does not annoy Aquila, she actually likes Pigwidgeon's company!" says Charlotte, defending Ron's owl. She has a soft spot for Pigwidgeon, she finds him very adorable!
She watched as Pigwidgeon happily zoomed around his cage, hooting. She cooed him, making 'aww' sounds.
"He's so cute!" She cooed, smiling at the minute owl.
"I don't see why she finds him cute, there's nothing cute about that dumb bird," Ron muttered to Harry while looking at the blonde as she played with Pig.
"Where's Crookshanks?" She heard Harry ask Hermione.
"Out in the Garden, I expect," She said, "He likes chasing gnomes. He's never seen any before."
Charlotte stopped playing with Pig, and walked over to one of the beds, plopping her body lying down comfortably.
"Percy's enjoying work, then?" asked Harry, sitting down beside her, looking at Ron's posters of the Chudley Canons on the ceiling.
"Enjoying it?" Charlotte started, in an amused tone. "He's obsessed with it!"
"I don't reckon he'd come home if Dad didn't make him. Just don't get him into the subject of his boss. According to Mr. Crouch... as I was saying to Mr. Crouch... Mr. Crouch is of the opinion... Mr. Crouch was telling me... They'll be announcing their engagement any day now."Ron said, making Charlotte laugh hysterically.
"So, how are you, Charlie?" asked Hermione, "Are your memories all back?"
Charlotte's grin dropped, silence filling the air as her mind wandered.
"Well, most of my memories are back," she started, taking a deep breath looking at her friends.
"But there's something missing," she sighed, looking at Ron's poster of the Chudley Cannons, zooming in and out of the picture.
"What do you mean 'something missing'?" Harry asked, being careful.
"I remember most of it - it all feels so foreign... I feel like I'm forgetting something... and I feel like it's something is very important... I don't know! " groaned Charlotte, leaning on Harry's shoulder. "It's so bloody frustrating!"
"She's been getting nightmares every night too!" added Ginny.
"Nightmares?" asked Hermione, snapping her eyes towards Charlotte, who absentmindedly played with the tips of her hair. "What kind of nightmares?"
"I dunno," said Charlotte. "It's an odd dream though – it's about the same place with the same people over and over again... it's like I'm reliving them..."
The trio all shared a look with each other, which didn't get unnoticed by Charlotte.
"I know – you all probably think I'm mad... believe me, I think so too," she said, sighing.
"No we don't," said Harry reassuringly.
The five of them stayed silent, and they stayed that way for a good few minutes before Hermione cleared her throat, "Have you had a good summer, Harry?" she asks, desperately trying to change the subject, "Did you get our food parcels and everything?"
"Yeah, thanks a lot," said Harry. "They saved my life, those cakes."
"I hope you enjoyed the lemon squares– I baked them myself from my grandpop's recipe," said Charlotte, bring her head up to look at Harry.
"I did – finished them all in a day! Couldn't get enough of them,"
"Would you like some more?" Charlotte began, "I'm happy to make some for you lot,"
"Since when did you bake?" asked Ron.
Charlotte rolled her eyes, "since I was ten, Ronald,"
"I was just asking, geez" muttered Ron.
Ron cleared his throat and turned to Harry, "So have you heard from - ?" he began, making both Hermione and Charlotte shoot him a warning look.
Personally, Charlotte hadn't met the infamous, Sirius Black as her friends did. Harry and Hermione told her how they used Hermione's Time-Turner to save Sirius and Buckbeak and how the three of them were deeply involved in helping Sirius escape from the Ministry of Magic.
Charlotte wished she were there with them –now that sounded fun.
She was as concerned as Ron and Hermione, but it was a bad idea to talk about him in front of Ginny. Nobody knew except for the four of them and Professor Dumbledore.
"I think they've stopped arguing," said Hermione, covering the awkward moment, because Ginny was looking at them curiously.
"Shall we go down and help your Mum with dinner?" Charlotte offered, sitting up from the bed looking at them.
"Yeah, all right," said Ron. The five of them left Ron's room, walking downstairs finding Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen obviously in a bad mood.
"We're eating out in the garden," she said when they came into the kitchen. "There's just not room for twelve people here. Could you take the plates outside, girls?" The girls nodded, scurrying to get the plates to set them on the table.
"Bill and Charlie are setting up the tables. Knives and forks, please, you two," she says to Ron and Harry before they left the kitchen.
Charlotte, Hermione, and Ginny carried the plates in their arms, walking into the garden where Bill and Charlie were 'supposedly' setting the tables for them to eat on.
Charlotte rolled her eyes at the older Weasley boys, a smile present in her face as she watched as them as they attempt to knock the others out of the air.
Fred and George were cheering loudly by their sides, Ginny was laughing. Hermione looked like she was anxious but amused, an odd combination that only Hermione Granger could pull off.
They watched as Bill's table caught Charlie's, with a bang which knocked off one of the legs. A clatter heard from Percy's room, which caused them to look up to see Percy's head peaking out of this window.
"Will you keep it down?" He yelled, infuriated with all the noise that's been going on around the house.
"What's got his knickers in a twist?" Charlotte muttered under her breath, making Ginny, who was next to her, snort at the older girl.
"Sorry, Perce," said Bill, with a cheeky grin on his face. "How're the cauldron bottoms coming on?"
"Very badly," said Percy peevishly before slamming the window shut. Chuckling, Bill and Charlie directed the tables safely on the grass, flicking his wand to reattach the table leg and conjuring tablecloths from inside the house.
Charlotte sighed, "I bloody love magic."