Chapter Text
Here you were, standing in front of the Burrow with an over-night bag slung over your shoulder. The cold wind was blowing across the yard, causing you to pull up your scarf with your right hand to cover your bare neck. It wouldn’t do for you to get sick during the festive season. Your left hand was occupied with an overflowing tote bag filled with presents for the family living in the wonky-shaped house. It was Christmas after all, and you were about to spend it with the loveliest of families, which included two of your very good friends: Fred and George Weasley.
It had been an ordinary day in October when you caught the twins bickering with their brother, Percy. As you had often been thought of as an innocent person, you had wielded your virtuous nature into a tool to end fights. You were in the same year as Percy, so you had the courage to go talk to them. With your Hufflepuff robes swishing, you went to inquire what they were arguing about. With one glance at your doe-like eyes, the brothers immediately went silent and adjusted their robes.
“Just knocking some sense into my brothers, is all, [Y/N]," said Percy, sighing when he saw you raise your brow in amusement.
“Now, now, Perce. I’m sure they’re in their senses. Right, Fred?” you said while glancing at the closest twin next to you. You saw Fred’s eyes widen from your ability to tell the twins apart, which George immediately mirrored. Quickly, their expressions turned into smirks and Fred replied with, “Absolutely!”
“Cool, cool,” you acknowledged and turned to Percy again. “I’ll see you in the court yard with Samson, right?” When he nodded, you left the dazzled boys by themselves. Easy to say, it did not take the twins long to approach you after that, as they were curious and amazed at your person. Thus, began an awesome friendship between the three of you, which led you here, two years later, outside of their house on Christmas break of your 7th year. You were about to meet the entire Weasley clan, as the three Weasleys had told you of their mum insisting on the arrival of the two eldest Weasleys – Bill the curse-breaker and Charlie the dragonologist.
With a knack for Herbology and all living things, you were more intrigued by the second eldest, yet you were eager to meet them both. “Oi, [Y/N]’s here!” you heard someone shout from above, and immediately the door opened with an exasperated woman looking at you. You stepped forward and walked towards the mother of the Weasleys. Just as you were about to introduce yourself, you felt the air get knocked out of you body by the sheer force of a hug from the robust woman.
“It’s wonderful to have you here, my dear! Welcome! The boys have told me all about you!” Mrs. Weasley blabbered on.
“Well, I hope they left room for me to say something about myself," you said, hoping the light-hearted joke would be well received.
Mrs. Weasley let out a laugh, saying “Oh, she’s a funny one! Arthur, this one’s a funny one!” Without further a-do, you were practically dragged over the threshold and into the warmth of the Weasley home. It was a cold Christmas Eve, so it was evidently a reason to have a lovely roaring fire burning in the living room. You spotted Mr. Weasley inspecting a rubber duck at the dinner table, and the two older looking Weasleys sitting by the fireplace. Their mother was already in full swing with the introductions by pulling you closer to where the two eldest were sitting. She introduced you to the eldest, Bill, by saying, “Bill, this is the dear [Y/N] who the boys have been talking about. [Y/N], this is my eldest, Bill.” You looked up at the tall ginger man with a few slashes across his quite handsome face. As he shook your hand, a sweet smile adorned his features. “Nice to meet you," he says.
“And you, Bill. I can’t believe I’m seeing the infamous Weasley curse-breaker with my very own eyes," you tell him sincerely, chuckling at the slight blush that spreads across his cheeks.
“Would you like some eggnog?," he gestures to the jug on the coffee table, trying to divert the attention away from himself.
“I just might, but maybe later, yeah?” you say, to which Bill nods.
“How lovely," Mrs. Weasley continues after following your conversation, “now then, here’s—”. Mrs. Weasley went to introduce you to her other son, when something was heard exploding in the kitchen. “Oh, Christ!”, she curses and runs off to salvage the Christmas dinner. You were left staring at her doing her magic to save the kitchen with your hand extended to the second eldest Weasley. You jump a bit when you feel a calloused hand grab yours, and your head turns to face the slightly shorter one of the two Weasley men.
“Hi, I believe my mother was about to introduce me – I’m Charlie,” he says with a sweet voice that tickles your eardrums in a pleasant way as you stare at his face. It quickly dawns on you that you had completely forgotten what he just said, so you clear your throat and ask, “Come again?” to which he repeats his name.
“Oh, yes, Charlie!” you exclaim while shaking his hand enthusiastically. “Hi, I’m [Y/N]. You’re the dragonologist, right?” You let go of his hand and stay close to him to hear him. He chuckles at your question and replies with a warm smile.
“Why yes, that’s me.” As Charlie had only arrived from Romania a few hours ago, he was not up to speed on how you had befriended the family and how someone so beautiful could have crossed paths with him on Christmas. Before he gets the chance to ask, the two of them hear a rumble from the staircase: soon enough, four redheads sprint to where you stand.
“[Y/N]! You came!” the Weasley twins shout in unison and engulf you into a massive hug. After letting go, you spot Percy behind them, twiddling his thumbs.
“Hey, Perce,” you greet him, and he shyly turns to look at you.
“Hey, [Y/N]. Merry Christmas,” he says. Just then it dawns on you – you’ve completely forgotten to wish everyone the season’s greetings.
“Ah, yes, indeed! Merry Christmas to all!" you gasp and giggle a little when you hear the twins laugh at your shocked face. Beside Percy, you spot the only girl of the family, Ginny. The girl stares at you with sparkling eyes, waiting to hug you. You step towards her and wrap your arms around her. Before the Autumn term, you wouldn’t have known her as anything other than the Weasley boys’ sister. However, she had ran into you in the hallway when you were having a panic attack after a potion’s lesson. She had sat by you, saying soothing mantras and waiting with you until the attack passed. Since then, you had been forever grateful for this kind girl and you often sneaked her salted caramel cookies from the kitchens.
“Hey, Ginny," you say into her neck, and you hear her mumble a greeting into yours. Her hair smelled like vanilla, which tickled your senses delightfully. You stay like that for a while, until you hear the twins shuffling awkwardly beside the two of you. After letting go, you go to ruffle her hair out of habit and due to being older than her. She sticks her tongue out in reply, which makes you laugh. Turning to your left, you spot Mr. Weasley waiting to introduce himself.
“Hello there, and welcome to our home," he says while shaking your hand with vigour and great enthusiasm. When you expect him to let go, he pulls you slightly closer to talk to you in a hushed voice. “I’ve heard from the boys that you have a bit of a non-magical background. If you wouldn’t mind too much, I’d like to ask you a few questions about the functions of some muggle objects.”
You chuckle, while glancing at the rubber duck tucked in the breast pocket of his blazer. “I’ll tell you all about them. Perhaps after dinner sometime?” you ask, and you smile at the excitement in his eyes.
“Oh splendid! That would be wonderful!” he exclaims, and turns away to go gather the muggle objects. Soon, the Weasley family, along with you, Harry and Hermione are seated at the dining table feasting on a wonderful Christmas dinner. Turns out Mrs. Weasley’s spludderknucket pudding had spluttered a tad too much, which had caused the slight explosion. Before dinner, you had also greeted Ron and his friends, them seeming delighted to be in your presence. The dining table was bustling with discussion with you leading the latest conversation on the differences between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.
“So, you honestly think Hufflepuff is the best house in Hogwarts?” George asks in a teasing tone, slightly chuckling at the irony of everyone, aside from you, being sorted into Gryffindor.
You smile sheepishly, trying to justify your opinion. “I don’t think any house is the best, because it is all up to a person’s interpretation. However, in my personal experience, Hufflepuff has been fantastic and even other houses have benefitted by having friends from Hufflepuff. Isn’t that right, Ginny?” you say, while laughing at the twins’ and Percy’s confused faces.
Ginny smiles proudly, and says, “Definitely. [Y/N] treats me every now and then with delicious salted caramel biscuits from the kitchens.” Both the parents and the two eldest Weasleys laugh at Percy’s shocked face at this breach of school rules, and Charlie tries not to laugh when taking a sip from his goblet.
“But that’s against the rules! No one is to enter the school kitchens!” Percy says aghast. You smirk at his reaction, saying that it’s not you who has entered the kitchens.
“Having house elves as friends has its perks,” you say, and Hermione looks at you with adoration. I’m definitely going to ask her to join SPEW, she thinks to herself. The conversation lulls for a moment, until Mr. Weasley can’t help but ask you about the function of a rubber duck.
“Well, it’s just a squeaky toy that parents like to put in the baths of their children," you explain, watching the slowly arising look of understanding on Mr. Weasley’s face.
“Ah, so it’s merely for entertainment purposes?” he clarifies.
“Yes. You should take it with you the next time you have a bath," you say, and with that the entire table erupts into laughter. Mr. Weasley laughs the most, assuring you that he definitely shall. While everyone laughs, you feel eyes on you, and you turn to see Charlie looking at you. He quickly diverts his gaze and turns to take another sip from his goblet.
After an hour’s conversation with Mr. Weasley about the wonders of a blender, pencils and telephones, you collapse onto the sofa, next to none other than Charlie and Bill. The twins had been long excused to go work on a new prototype inspired by your conversations at the dinner table. Ginny, Ron, Harry and Hermione had gone outside to make snowmen after dinner, and now they were warming themselves up upstairs.
“Dad talked your ear off then?” Charlie asks, and chuckled at your tired grin.
“Yeah, I never thought muggle things would be that interesting. Of course, I did always find magical objects fascinating, so each to their own, I think." Charlie nods in agreement, slightly in awe at your reflection and understanding towards his father’s obsession with muggles. Bill led the conversation from there, asking about you and your interests. Charlie occasionally engaged, but he was more interested in getting to know you better and listening to your honeyed voice. He found out that you were just three years younger than him, even though your thoughts and opinions were very sophisticated, and your level of intellect seemed to exceed his. Of course, he realised that he couldn’t possibly hit on his brothers’ friend, no matter how smart and attractive he thought you were. Still, he wanted to enjoy the time he could spend listening to you.
As Charlie had been so lost in his thoughts, he was only brought back into reality with your question about his job. “So, what’s it like being a dragonologist?” As Charlie starts explaining, you listen intently and ask questions in between. While the two of you engage in a full-fledged conversation, you don’t notice time pass by and that it is well past midnight. Bill had left an hour ago, and with his exit he turned off all the lights. The only light left streams dimly from the slowly dying fire and the Christmas tree next to the sofa, and you adore the way the dim lighting makes the moment slightly magical and unearthly. The glow from the fire adorns Charlie’s face, making his face a tad bit angelic. You swear you’ve never felt so connected to another person and you silently wish the moment would never end.
“Wow, you applied to the Magical Academy of Healing? What are you planning on specialising in?” Charlie asks with fire practically burning in his hazel eyes, which makes them sparkle.
“I want to help minds, be that human or animal. That’s why I’m thinking of becoming a Mind Healer. It just fits my interests while giving me the flexibility to choose my patients and such,” you explain excitedly, not realising that you have moved closer to Charlie. The Weasley notices of course, his cheeks burning a bit, but you take that for being so close to the fire.
“Now that is fascinating. Is that why you asked about dragons?” he inquires, a curiosity burning in his gaze that slightly challenges you. You look back at him with a fierce gaze and reply to his question.
“Yeah, I think it would be cool to work with dragons, because I’ve read that that they are so complex and human-like. Also, the fact that there are so many troubled dragons out there, poor things being hunted and all, makes me want to help them. Like in your sanctuary! It would be so cool to work in one like it.”
Your interest in dragons is basically it for Charlie: he is so attracted to you, and he swears that if you touched him now, he would turn into putty in your hands. He doesn’t say anything on the matter, because he wants to remain respectable in your eyes, and because he’s afraid you don’t feel the same. However, before he can stop himself, he’s already suggesting an outrageous proposition that would definitely not give his violently beating heart a break.
“Uh, if you want, I could ask the sanctuary if they take you as an intern or as a trainee. Only if you want, that is.” His voice slightly stutters, and he hopes you don’t notice it or the way his cheeks quite literally turn into tomatoes. He’s practically asking you if he could write to you AND for you to live at the sanctuary. Near him. Merlin, Charlie thinks to himself. I did not think this through. He tries to tune down his feelings, knowing how inappropriate they are, but he cannot help but love the way you grin at him.
“Yes, yes, that would be amazing!” you say while wrapping your arms around him. Before he would literally melt, Charlie feels you break away just as quick as you hugged him, and he watches you ramble on about the possibility of being an intern during the summer and continuing during the end of your studies. He patiently waits for you to finish, after which he tells you with a toothy smile that he will do it when he returns on Boxing Day.
Turning to the clock, he states that it’s already late as the hands point to quarter to one. The two of you rise at the same time and turn to quite climb up the stairs to your respective rooms. At the door of Ginny’s room, in which you were going to sleep in, Charlie turns to bid you a hushed goodnight. Maybe it’s from the magic that you felt, or the slight kick of alcohol from the eggnog that the twins spiked, that you feel the courage to plant a kiss on his cheek. Before you regret your decision, you quickly open the door and shut it behind you. Little do you know, Charlie stays there for a good while touching his left cheek and feeling his heart racing in his chest. You, in turn, find yourself wishing that you would’ve directed your kiss somewhere else, but you drown those thoughts in the fresh linen of your cot.