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Charlie Weasley did his best to steady himself when his feet hit the dewy grass in the clearing several yards away from Lupin Cottage. His stomach turned as he ran a shaking hand through his knotted and wet hair. He wasn’t sure if it was blood, sweat or both and he couldn’t bring himself to look down at his hand to find out.
He knew he was a mess and that he should have showered or at least cast a cleaning charm on himself before apparating over, but he didn’t want to keep this from her any longer. It was hard enough continuing to fight with the knowledge of what he would do later.
Charlie wanted to hex himself during the cease fire when he volunteered to be the one to come here. It had just come out, no thought. “I’ll tell her.” Three simple words. But he knew in the split second after they’d left his mouth that they would be the hardest he’d ever say.
Taking a deep breath, Charlie urged his feet to move one in front of the other, slowly carrying him closer to the front door of the cottage. Behind it, he knew, was his Hogwarts sweetheart and her son. Was her mother there as well? Would he have to tell Andromeda Tonks that another husband in the family would never be coming home? That she’d not only lost the love of her life but the love of her daughter’s as well?
The thought of it made Charlie stagger to a stop and grip his stomach, mentally begging the bile to stay down. He didn’t need to add barf on the front lawn to the list of things Dora would be dealing with tonight. This morning. Whatever time it was.
After a few long minutes of deep breathing, Charlie finished the too-short trek to the front door. He hesitated, wondering if she was awake. Would it have even been possible for her to sleep knowing her husband was fighting a battle, a war, without her? He doubted it.
A crash and muttered curse from just inside answered his question.
Charlie gave himself the luxury of one last deep breath before reaching out and knocking on the door.
It flew open barely a second later and there she was, hair a mousy brown and anxious lines around her eyes and lips. “Charlie,” she breathed, eyes roaming his face. “You look … is …” She closed her eyes and stole a breath that Charlie wished he’d reserved. “Is it over then?”
“Y-yeah,” he said, his usually strong voice weak. He cleared his throat and tried again. “yeah. Harry killed him. You-Know, uh … Voldemort.”
“Good,” she breathed, and he saw some of the lines smooth back into her young face. Merlin, they were so young. “Remus send you ahead while he helps back at Hogwarts?” When he didn’t say anything, she blinked and asked again. “Charlie, did Remus send you?”
“Uh, Dora, can we …?” He motioned towards the house, hoping for an invite in so she would be mindful of a hopefully sleeping baby. Selfish of him, he knew, but he couldn’t help it. Dora wore her heart on her sleeve and he was about to rip it out.
Charlie had to swallow down the bile again.
“Charlie, where’s Remus?” she asked him in a calm voice that terrified him more than the battlefield had. His heart jumped into his throat and he couldn’t answer her. “Charlie?” she asked again, slower but with a deeper timber, “where is he?”
“Dora …” he whispered, his voice still not coming back to him.
Her hair flashed a violent shade of red, similar to the color she used to wear to his quidditch matches he absently remembered, before turning pitch black. “Charlie, where is my husband?” He couldn’t say anything; he was frozen. “Charlie, where is my husband?” she screamed.
This sound pierced through him and he staggered back. “I - I’m so sorry.”
“No,” she denied, leaning against the doorframe. “No. Get - get out of here. This isn’t - it’s not bloody funny, Charlie.”
“Dora, let me -“
“No!” she shouted as she pulled her wand on him. He was still close enough that the tip pressed against his chin. “No. You - you stay right there.”
Charlie slowly raised his hands and gave a slight nod. “Okay,” he said softly.
“Wh-what of yours did - did I steal in sixth year? An-and what happened when your mum found out?” she stuttered out. “Answer me!” she cried out when he didn’t do so fast enough.
“My - a pair of my boxer shorts,” he answered quickly, his brain registering that she thought it was a trick, that he wasn’t really him. He found it absurd that he could feel his cheeks burning with the embarrassment of the memory. “And she hit my with my broom because we were too young to engage in such activities.”
Dora’s wand clattered to the floor a second before he saw her legs buckle from beneath her. He moved quickly, grabbing her around the waist but the dead weight of her brought them both tumbling to the ground.
Charlie was about to check to see if she had fainted when he felt her body start to shake. He felt his stomach churn again and he hated how selfish it felt. No matter how much he wished he could say he felt sick with empathy, it was really the fact that he knew he wasn’t good in situations like this. He wished it was Bill, or maybe his da -
His mind thankfully cut off the thought as he came back to the moment and his friend. “I’m sorry.”
“Who did it?” she asked through choked sobs. “Who killed him?”
“I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I wasn’t there. If you - if you think it would help, I could -“
“I want to know. I need to hate someone for this and right now -“ She choked on her words and stopped, shaking her head. “I need to hate someone.”
“A Death Eater is always a good choice,” he said quietly, helping her sit up.
“Right,” she mumbled around her tears. Charlie watched as she reached up and brushed the tears from her cheeks. “Might as well come in,” she said as she made to move to her feet. He staggered up to help stabilize her as she stood. “You look like shit.”
“Thanks,” he muttered, keeping an arm around her as he ushered her into the house and shut the door behind her. “Hagrid’s stupid giant ass spiders are strong and I landed in the Black Lake more than once.”
“Teddy’s sleeping,” she responded, “but you can have a bath if you want.”
Charlie shook his head in response. “Nah. Just gonna … sit here with you.”
She nodded twice, her hands fiddling with each other as she stared out the window. “Charlie?”
“Hmm?” he asked, looking over at her from the space he was staring at on the wall.
“You smell terrible. Have a bath. I’ll - I’ll be here when you get out.”
He reached over and covered her hands with one of his. “Promise?” he asked softly and seriously.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I’d never leave my human baby alone with you. You’d probably try to sit on him like he was a dragon egg.” Charlie barked out a surprise laugh and Dora cocked a small smile. “Go,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Charlie nodded, standing and making his way over to her. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I won’t be long.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, her fingers going back to their previous activity. “Okay.”
He took a breath and headed for the small hallway. When he got to the edge of the room, Charlie turned back and watched as Dora folded her hands and slowly bowed her head. His heart clenched and he wanted to reach for her, to tell her to cry and scream and hit him or whatever she needed, but he realized he was already doing it. She needed to take care of someone right now and with Teddy sound asleep, that someone was him.
With one last glance and a lung-filling breath, Charlie headed for the bathroom, wondering if the sun was really going to rise in a few hours and what would happen when it did.