CHAPTER THREE:
Third Person P.O.V.:
The final few days before September 1st seem to go by in the blink of an eye. Hermione and the Weasley's had ended up staying at the Leaky Cauldron until the beginning of the term. Mrs. Weasley found it to be convenient if everyone went to the Hogwarts Express together, that way she could do her motherly act of making sure they all got on the train safely.
Charlie's nightmares hadn't stopped. In fact, they were getting worse. He hadn't had a proper sleep in weeks; ever since he got to the Leaky Cauldron. He kept telling himself that things would be better once he got back to Hogwarts, but he couldn't help but doubt himself; he didn't know that for sure.
He just kept replaying the same things over and over again in his head;
There are consequences.
I have expectations.
Where are your manners?
You pathetic, little boy!
You'll meet the same damned fate as your mother.
Saint Hawthorne, the Mudblood's friend.
Do you understand me?
Such a disappointment —
Suddenly, Charlie was pulled awake in a panic as he felt someone grab his arm. He instantly opened his eyes with a gasp and was faced with Tom, the innkeeper, with his usual toothless grin and a cup of tea. Although a little weirded out, the brown eyed boy thanked the innkeeper and politely urged him out of his room. When Tom was gone, Charlie put his head in his hands for a moment. God, out of all days for Tom to do that, it had to be today.
The brown eyed boy hopped out of his bed, took a quick shower and had just finished pulling a sweatshirt over his head when Ron and Harry had barged their way into the room. Harry was looking oddly amused while Ron was clearly irritated.
"The sooner we get on the train, the better," Ron grunted. "Percy is being an absolute nightmare! He thinks he's all that with that stupid Head Boy badge."
Charlie let out a chuckle, "What else were you expecting?"
Ron scoffed, "I dunno! Maybe him not mentioning it every five seconds!"
Harry laughed at his friend's clear distressed state. As he settled down, Harry looked towards the door of Charlie's room before speaking in a whisper, "Charlie, I think it's a good time to tell Ron about what we know."
The brown eyed boy groaned while Ron's ears suddenly perked up. It was way too early in the morning for this, especially after his rude awakening that happened not merely fifteen minutes ago.
"What are you on about?" asked Ron.
"Later." Charlie dismissed quickly, "I don't want to talk about this whole Black debacle this early in the morning. Can it at least wait until I have food in front of me?"
Harry hesitantly nodded in agreement before turning to Ron, "Later, mate. We'll tell you later."
Ron sighed, but understood.
The three Gryffindor boys headed down to breakfast, where Mr. Weasley was reading the front page of the Daily Prophet with a furrowed brow, Fred and George were teasing Percy about Penelope Clearwater, and Mrs. Weasley was telling Hermione and Ginny about a love potion she'd made as a young girl; the three of them were rather giggly.
While Ron and Harry walked over to talk to Fred and George, Charlie walked around the table to take a seat next to Hermione. As soon as she saw him, she instantly excused herself from her previous conversation and looked to the boy instead, smiling, "Morning."
(A/N: She's literally beautiful omg.)
The brown eyed boy met her gaze with a soft smile that made her heart beat quicker, "Morning."
When he looked up at her, Hermione's face fell slightly. She took notice of the obvious bags under his eyes and frowned. Suddenly, she recalled his bruise from before. She hadn't gotten the chance to question him further about it since the Weasleys and Harry had now joined them everywhere, but she hadn't forgotten. His clearly restless state worried her even more, if that was even possible.
Charlie raised a brow at her, clearly unaware of what had caused her expression to change, "Something on my face?"
The bushy haired girl's face soften as she focused back on the boy in front of her, "N-no. It's just — D-did you sleep well?"
Charlie gulped before grabbing an apple from the tray on the table. He took a bite to buy him some time to think of a response.
After a moment, he answered, avoiding Hermione's gaze at all costs, "N-not really." — this made the bushy haired girl give him a worried look that he shrugged off quickly — "But I reckon it's just because I miss my own bed, you know? Staying here just isn't the same."
Hermione nodded, but still wasn't convinced, "Right."
The brown eyed boy put on the best fake smile he could before changing the subject, "So, what were you talking to Mrs. Weasley about before I so rudely interrupted?"
"Oh, um," Hermione blushed, embarrassed, which took over her look of concern, "Mrs. Weasley was telling us about this — uh — l-love potion she made when she was younger. It was a really funny story —"
Charlie laughed, "I bet. She teach you how to make one? Should I be expecting some lucky bloke to fall head over heels in love with you randomly?"
It was supposed to be a joke, but Hermione took an interest in the way it was said. More specifically, the words he used.
"Lucky, huh?" She teased, looking into his eyes deeply.
Charlie began to blush, "Well — I mean —"
As if he could sense his friend's awkward state, Ron had walked over and sat in front of Charlie and Hermione. God, thank you Ronald Weasley and your clear, unmatched ability of not being able to read the room.
"So," Ron said with a sigh before focusing on Hermione, "You better not let that cat of yours out on the train. Scabbers and I would like to enjoy a peaceful train ride to Hogwarts without worry of being attacked."
Charlie rolled his eyes as he saw Hermione tense, "Honestly Ron, don't be such a prat."
Ron scoffed, shifting his gaze to Charlie, "You're taking her side?! Her pathetic excuse for a cat almost killed me!"
"It was an accident, Ronald." said Hermione, annoyed.
"Yeah," Charlie agreed, "Not to mention, we've had this same argument several times over the last three days. It's time to get over it, mate."
Ron rolled his eyes, "I'll get over it when she does!"
"What are you five?" Charlie said with a laugh, "You're being ridiculous."
Hermione sighed. She was sick and tired of fighting about this and she could tell Charlie was too, "I'm sorry about Crookshanks, Ronald. I'm sure it won't happen again."
"There, you see?" Charlie looked at Hermione with a smile, "An olive branch" — he turned to the ginger — "What do you say, Ron? Let it go?"
Ron hesitated for a moment, looking between his two friends, before saying, "Fine."
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The journey to King's Cross was very uneventful compared to Charlie and Harry's trip on the Knight Bus. They all had left for the train station after breakfast.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had helped all the kids load their bags in the car. Charlie, who only had one bag since all of his stuff was already at Hogwarts, was the first one down and ready to go. With a small scrap between Fred, George and Percy about who was sitting where, the group of them set off for the station.
They reached King's Cross with twenty minutes to spare; they found themselves trolleys, unloaded their trunks onto them, and hurried to the platform.
Mr. Weasley kept close to Harry's elbow all the way into the station.
"Right then," he said, glancing around them. "Let's do this in pairs, as there are so many of us. I'll go through first with Harry."
As the two of them went through the barrier, Charlie and Hermione had paired up and followed behind them. It wasn't long before the remaining Weasleys had joined them as well. Harry and Charlie led the way to the end of the train, past packed compartments, to a carriage that looked quite empty.
Charlie helped Hermione load her bags into one of the compartments, to which the bushy haired girl was most grateful.
She used the time where Charlie was busy loading the compartment, to focus on the boy and notice things that she hadn't before. He was taller than last year, by about 4 inches or so; him and Ron were the tallest of the group. Charlie's facial features had become more chiseled; his jawline was sharper and his dimples were deeper. He had gained some significant muscle, that Hermione assumed, was a side effect of working with Hagrid all summer.
Charlie noticed her gaze and gave her a cheeky wink, causing her to go red. Her lip was now between her teeth as she looked at him. Then a sudden realization hit her, why was she thinking about him like that? Why was she acting like this?
That was her best friend!
Surely, she wasn't —
She couldn't be —
"What've you got in those, Hermione?" Charlie asked, pulling her from her thoughts, pointing at not one but three bulging bags on the floor next to her.
"Materials for my courses." said Hermione simply, causing Charlie to raise a brow. "Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, the Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies — "
"What are you doing Muggle Studies for?" said Ron, joining the conversation with Harry, rolling his eyes. "You're Muggle-born! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!"
"But it'll be fascinating to study them from the wizarding point of view," said Hermione earnestly, taking her gaze off of Charlie for the first time in awhile.
"Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?" asked Harry, while Ron and Charlie sniggered. Hermione ignored them and simply rolling her eyes before going to say goodbye to Arthur and Molly.
Charlie helped Harry load the last of the trunks onto the compartment. They stowed Hedwig and Crookshanks in the luggage rack, then went back outside to say good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
Mrs. Weasley kissed all her children, then Hermione, then Harry, and then finally, Charlie. He was embarrassed, but really quite pleased, when she gave him an extra hug.
"Do take care, won't you Charlie?" she said as she straightened up, her eyes oddly bright.
The look in her eye was something that Charlie couldn't decipher. It was almost like she was worried for him, but he had no idea why she would feel that way. He shook off the thought and gave her a soft smile.
"Of course, Mrs. Weasley," he said, which made Molly smile back at him.
Charlie turned on his heel and ran to the compartment door which Ron threw open to let him on. All of them leaned out of the window and waved at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley until the train turned a corner and blocked them from view.
As they walked down the isle, Fred, George, and Percy had wandered off on their own. Leaving Ginny, Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Charlie to find a compartment.
While looking, they passed by Dean, Seamus, and Neville, in an already packed compartment. They quickly greeted one another before setting off to find a seat once again.
"I still can't believe you blew up your aunt!" said Ron, quite happily to Harry as they walked.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "It's not funny, Ronald. Harry's lucky he wasn't expelled."
"It's not like I meant to do it! I just..." Harry said, trailing off for a moment to relive the memory, "...lost control."
"I still think it was brilliant!" exclaimed Ron, which earned a slap on the arm from the bushy haired girl.
Charlie laughed as he walked alongside Ginny, who had remained silent, but kept glancing up at Harry every now and then. Poor girl — she still had a crush on her brother's friend.
"Anyways, I think it's time we had a talk. There's something Harry and I need to tell you two; in private." Charlie muttered to Ron and Hermione, who both looked to Harry for confirmation as the train picked up speed. Harry nodded quickly, which caused Ron to step in front of his little sister.
"Go away, Ginny," he said, dismissing her from following them any longer.
"Oh, that's real nice," said Ginny huffily, and she stalked off.
Charlie, Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off down the corridor, still looking for an empty compartment, but all were full except for the one at the very end of the train.
This had only one occupant, a man sitting fast asleep next to the window. Charlie, Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked in from outside of the threshold. The Hogwarts Express was usually reserved for students and they had never seen an adult there before, except for the witch who pushed the food cart.
The stranger was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes that had been worn down in several places. He looked ill and exhausted. Though quite young, his light brown hair was flecked with gray. He had his head leaned up against the window, which was currently being attacked by rain and wind. The weather outside was horrific; had been since they got on the train.
"Who d'you reckon he is?" Ron hissed as they walked in, sat down and slid the door shut, taking the seats farthest away from the window.
"Professor R. J. Lupin," whispered Hermione instantly.
"Do you know everything?" said Ron, annoyed before turning to Harry and Charlie, "How is it that she knows everything?"
"It's on his suitcase, Ronald," Hermione retaliated, pointing at the luggage rack over the man's head, where there was a small, battered case held together with a large quantity of neatly knotted string. The name Professor R. J. Lupin was stamped across one corner in peeling letters.
"Wonder what he teaches?" said Ron, frowning at Professor Lupin's pallid profile before looking to Charlie; if anyone would know, it would be him.
However, Charlie had no idea. He only knew of the new addition of Hagrid as the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, he wasn't sure about any other new staff members. Come to think of it, there was still a position to be filled —
"Dunno," whispered Charlie, "But there's only one vacancy, isn't there? Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Of course they were looking for a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, the school had gone through two in the last two years. The job truly was jinxed; Charlie had always thought that was a myth, but apparently it was true.
"Well, I hope he's up to it," said Ron doubtfully. "He looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn't he? Anyway" — he turned to Harry and Charlie — "What were you two going to tell us?"
Harry and Charlie took turns explaining all about the warning Mr. Weasley had just given them about Sirius Black. They even told them about their conversation with Charlie's father. When they'd finished, Ron looked thunderstruck, and Hermione had her hands over her mouth.
She finally lowered them to say, "Sirius Black escaped to come after Harry? Oh, god... We'll have to be really, really careful. I mean it, the three of you" — she looked from Harry to Ron to Charlie — "shouldn't go looking for trouble — "
"We don't go looking for trouble," said Charlie, with a playful smile. "Trouble usually finds us."
This earned a scolding glance from Hermione as Ron spoke, completely unaware.
"How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him? What was my dad thinking?" he said, shakily.
They were taking the news worse than Charlie had expected, considering the fact that Sirius Black wasn't even after them. Hell, Ron and Hermione seemed to be much more frightened of Black than Harry was.
"No one knows how he got out of Azkaban," said Ron uncomfortably adding to Harry's uneasiness. "No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too, at least that's what my dad says."
"But they'll catch him, won't they?" said Hermione earnestly. "I mean, they've got everyone out looking for him...."
"Who knows?!" Ron exclaimed nervously, "He's a raving, murderous lunatic!"
Harry's face fell slightly, while Hermione hit Ron on the shoulder as a scolding technique.
Charlie simply sighed before speaking in a sarcastic tone, "Nice one Ron. Exactly what we wanted to hear."
"Oh," Ron said softly, looking at Harry, "Sorry."
Just then, the compartment began to rattle. The lanterns began to flicker on and off creepily as the train lurched and began to slow down.
Due to the sudden movement, Hermione had grabbed hold of Charlie's hand out of fear. The two of them shared an awkward glance. Even in the darkness, they could make out each others features. Hermione had glanced to their interlocked hands multiple times as a blush crept up on her face. Charlie, on the other hand, found comfort in her touch. Both of them didn't move, almost as if they were waiting to see who would pull away first.
After a moment or two, the bushy haired reluctantly pulled her hand away. Charlie frowned at the loss of contact as he watched Hermione check the watch on her wrist.
"Why are we stopping?" she asked, "We can't be there yet."
The train was getting slower and slower. As the noise of the screeching train tracks fell away, the wind and rain sounded louder than ever against the windows.
Harry, who was nearest to the door, got up to look into the corridor. All along the carriage, heads were sticking curiously out of their compartments.
The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps had come on just to instantly go out again, and they were plunged into total darkness.
"What's going on?" Ron said in a high-pitched voice, as he scrambled to look out the window.
"Ouch!" gasped Hermione. "Ron, that was my foot!"
Harry felt his way back to his seat. "D'you think we've broken down?"
"Dunno..." said Charlie, trying to see his way through the darkness. "Something is definitely wrong."
There was a squeaking sound, and Charlie saw the dim black outline of Ron, wiping a patch of frost clean on the window and peering out.
"There's something moving out there," Ron said. "I think people are coming aboard...."
There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering light filled the compartment. The four of them stopped moving. It was silent, none of them dared to say anything. Charlie could've sworn that his heart was beating so fast that it was a mystery how no one heard it.
The room grew colder as ice and frost began to form on the windows. The brown eyed boy had moved closer to Hermione to comfort her, which she gladly leaned into. Screw the awkwardness, this was some scary stuff.
It was then that the door to their compartment slid open. Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the moonlight coming in from outside, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood.
It looked around the room before focusing on Harry. Then, the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.
An intense cold swept over them all. Charlie felt his own breath catch in his chest as he watched Harry's eyes rolled up into his head.
Harry couldn't see. He was drowning in cold. There was a rushing in his ears as though of water. He was being dragged downward, the roaring growing louder.
And then, from far away, he heard screaming, terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He wanted to help whoever it was, he tried to move his arms, but couldn't...
From Charlie's perspective, he watched in fear as a thick white fog was swirling around his friend. He looked to Hermione and Ron for any ideas on how to stop it, but they were just as scared as he was.
When Harry collapsed further into his his seat, the dark-hooded figure turned towards Charlie. The boy suddenly felt all of the happiness in his body evaporate. He tried screaming out for help, but his cries were inaudible; it was all in his head. His eyes began to get heavy, he felt so helpless to the darkness closing in around him...
Suddenly, as if God had heard his prayers, the stranger from before had rose to his feet and quickly pointed his wand towards the doorway. This bright, illuminating light shot out from the top of his wand, and suddenly, the shadowed figured cowered in defeat as it slipped back out the door.
As soon as it left, the lights turned on and the train began to move again slowly. Hermione immediately turned around and grabbed Charlie's face out of worried instinct to make sure he was alright.
When she saw the kind, and clearly unpossessed, eyes of the boy staring back into hers, her worried expression softened; he was okay. She let out a little sigh of relief before tensing as she noticed the position the two had found themselves in.
Their faces were extremely close, so much so, that they could feel the hot, heavy, and deep breaths of one another on their faces. Hermione began to blush as she looked down from his eyes to his lips slightly. Charlie followed her gaze as his heart began to beat faster — what in the actual hell was going on?
Then suddenly, Ron let out a dramatic cough, which snapped Charlie's head away from Hermione's as she quickly removed her hands from his face. For a moment there, they almost forgot where they were, what had happened, and apparently, who they were to each other. Best friends weren't supposed to act like they just did — that was way too close.
Charlie looked at Ron, who had a clear eyebrow raised and an unamused expression plastered on his face.
The brown eyed boy shook it off quickly once he saw Harry laying on the seat across from him, twitching uncontrollably. When Harry finally stopped, Charlie instantly got up to check what was wrong with his friend.
Hermione and Ron shared a confused glance with Charlie before joining him in a kneel in front of Harry. Professor Lupin simply looked down on the four of them from where he was standing.
"Harry!" said Charlie, slapping his face lightly, "Mate! Are you alright?"
The boy with glasses opened his eyes slowly, taking in his surroundings, "W-what?"
Harry felt very sick; when he put up his hand to push his glasses further back, he felt cold sweat on his face.
Charlie, Ron and Hermione heaved him back into his seat.
"Are you okay?" Ron asked nervously.
"Yeah," said Harry, looking quickly toward the door.
The hooded creature was definitely gone. "What happened? Where's that — that thing? Who screamed?"
"No one screamed," said Ron, more nervously still.
"But I heard screaming — "
A loud snap made them all jump. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces.
"Here," he said to Harry, handing him a particularly large piece. "Eat it. It'll help."
Harry took the chocolate but didn't eat it right away.
"What was that thing?" he asked Lupin.
"A dementor," said Lupin, who was now giving chocolate to everyone else.
Charlie's eyes widened, "One of the dementors of Azkaban?"
Everyone stared towards Charlie. Professor Lupin simply nodded as he crumpled up the empty chocolate wrapper and put it in his pocket.
"Eat," he repeated, looking to Harry. "It'll help. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to have a little chat with the driver."
He strolled past the four kids and disappeared into the corridor.
"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" said Hermione, watching Harry anxiously.
"I don't get it.... what happened?" said Harry, wiping more sweat off his face.
Charlie tried to explain, "Well — that thing — the dementor, they've been sent from Azkaban by the Ministry; Mr. Weasley told you about them. They're looking for Sirius Black. From my perspective, it looked like it was just standing there and looking around, but you —"
"It was almost like you were having a fit or something," said Ron, who still looked scared. "You went sort of rigid, you collapsed on the seat and started twitching —"
"When you collapsed, it went after Charlie. That's when Professor Lupin got up, walked toward the dementor, and pulled out his wand," said Hermione, "He did something; this silvery thing shot out of his wand and when I looked back up, the dementor was gone."
"And did any of you—" Harry began, looking at Charlie specifically, "You know... pass out?"
Hermione shook her head quickly before looking to the brown eyed boy, who hesitantly shook his head as well. He didn't know what had happened to him, but he knew for sure that he didn't pass out. If he did, he wouldn't have had that moment with Hermione — the dementor must not have been able to finish its job with him like it did to Harry.
"No. I felt weird though," said Ron, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I'd never be cheerful again...."
Harry didn't understand. He simply just kept replaying the information over and over in his head while his three friends returned to their seats.
"But what about the screaming?" Harry asked again.
Hermione looked to Ron and Charlie, who both shrugged, before turning back to the boy with glasses, "No one was screaming, Harry."
Harry took a small bite out of the chocolate in his hand, clearly at odds with the situation.
Charlie sighed before looking out the window to avoid the confused and worried glances of his friends, "On the bright side, if the dementors are this close, Hogwarts shouldn't be that far from here."
Charlie thought to himself silently on the way; this train ride was literally indescribable and so damn strange. So much happened in such a short period of time. The dementor attack was one thing, but what the hell is with this newfound tension between him and Hermione?
What did that mean?
What did it all mean?
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Author's Note:
*this chapter was not proof read*
I thought I uploaded this yesterday, but apparently not lol.
Let's start building that awkward sexual tension between Charmione. PoA is about to be the year of tension and time travel and I am so excited ahaha. It all has to build up to GoF...
Also, gonna try and add some gifs every now and then to make the story feel a little more real...
...not to mention, he's gorgeous.
And look!
I screamed when I saw these ahahah.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed! If you did be sure to vote, comment and share! I'd really appreciate it!
Much love to you all! Thanks for everything!
xo, Selena