Chapter Text
Molly and Arthur waited patiently with the other parents waiting for their children to get off the train for the holidays. Bill had some days off from work and was home with the younger children, leaving Molly and Arthur to enjoy some time to themselves. They had made a nice afternoon of it, stopping for some mulled wine and last minute Christmas shopping on their way to the train station.
The train finally rolled into the station, bells ringing. Molly was wringing her hands anxiously. She had four kids at school this year, and the house had felt so quiet without Fred and George. The fraction of the noise that could be attributed to Percy was miniscule, and Charlie was never inside. So Fred and George’s absence made a major dent. She was eager for a full house again.
Percy, Fred, and George were some of the first students off the train. It was clear that Percy was trying to herd Fred and George in the direction of their trunks, but immediately upon stepping onto the platform, they ducked away from him and ran in opposite directions. Arthur and Molly could see Percy just shake his head before retrieving his trunk and making his way over.
When Percy finally made it to his waiting parents, trunk in tow, Arthur hugged him. “Hi, Perce.”
“Hi, dad! I tried to keep Fred and George together but I lost them. And Charlie has prefect duties so he’ll be a while.”
“They can have their fun while we wait for Charlie. I’ll go grab their trunks,” Arthur said, chuckling. The twins really were impossible to wrangle.
When Arthur returned with Fred’s and George’s trunks Percy had launched into a detailed update on how his classes were going. He was well on his way to surpassing even Bill with his marks, in all likelihood.
The kid was made for schooling, and really was thriving. The only owl they’d ever received from the school regarding Percy had been several weeks prior. He and Charlie had gotten into an argument that had come to blows, requiring Professors Sprout and McGonagall to break it up. It sounded like Minerva had gotten to the bottom of that, and that they’d ended on a good note, but they would probably need to have a chat with both boys while they were home for the break.
“I think that I’ll need to do some extra work for Care of Magical Creatures over break, mum. It is the only class in which I have concerns about exams,” Percy concluded.
“Dear, exams aren’t for months. You shouldn’t stress about it over Christmas,” Molly said, knowing that her words would not dissuade Percy from stressing. “But if you really want to do some studying, perhaps Charlie could help you. He’s always done so well in that class.”
Percy bit his lip, nodding but looking unsure. “Yeah, maybe mum. I don’t want to bother him, though.”
Molly sighed. Hopefully she’d be able to help them mend their relationship over the break. Not that they had the strongest of relationships to start with. They were polar opposites in almost every way.
“I’m sure it would be no bother. You know your brother loves talking about his creatures. But I won’t force you, dear.”
Fred and George came running over at that point, looking a bit panicked. When they saw their trunks sitting next to Percy’s, they relaxed. “We thought our trunks got left behind!” George said.
“That wouldn’t have been good at all,” Fred added cryptically. Molly made a mental note to go through their trunks when they got home, in case there were things that should not be in there.
“Charlie’s not out yet? He’s taking ages,” George said dramatically, sitting on his trunk and sighing.
“Son, you haven’t even been waiting for thirty seconds,” Arthur said.
They waited for another twenty minutes or so before Charlie approached. Tonks was with him, chatting animatedly.
“Hiya, Weasley’s!” she called when they got closer. “I am here to deliver your Charlie. Found him wandering the train.”
Charlie rolled his eyes. “I had prefect duties, Tonks. I was working.”
“You were dawdling,” she replied. “Anyways, it’s lovely to see you, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.”
“Molly and Arthur, dear. No need for formalities with us,” Arthur said. “What are your plans for your holiday? Traveling anywhere?”
“Nope. Just staying home this year,” she said. “Ah, bollocks. I forgot my stuff on the train. Anyways, have a lovely Christmas!”
As Tonks walked away, she stopped to whisper something in Charlie’s ear before patting him on the head. “You’ve got this, buddy,” she called as she jogged off.
“What was that about?” Fred asked. “Why the secrecy?”
Charlie just rolled his eyes again and ignored his little brother. Arthur noticed that Charlie seemed nervous about something. He wondered what Tonks’ cryptic encouragement was regarding but knew Charlie well enough to know that whatever he was nervous about would bubble up to the surface eventually. No need to pry now.
“Alright, everyone. Let’s get home. Bill’s there with Ron and Ginny waiting for us,” Molly said, ushering everyone towards the barrier.
When they walked in the back door of the Burrow, Ginny launched herself at Charlie. Charlie was Ginny’s favorite sibling, hands down. No one questioned it, just resigned themselves to the hierarchy.
Charlie wrapped his arms around Ginny, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around. “Hiya, Gin!”
“I’m so glad you’re home, Charlie!” she said, pressing her face into his chest. “I missed you so much.”
Charlie set her down and smiled. “I missed you too, Gin.”
“Did you miss us?” Fred asked.
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Yes, I missed you,” she said, hugging the rest of her returning siblings as well.
Charlie ducked away, starting to drag his trunk towards the stairs. Bill picked up the other end of the trunk, startling Charlie. “Hey, Charlie, I have a question for you,” Bill said.
“What is it?”
“Do you remember that thing that happened last week? The reason mum sent you a cake?”
Charlie frowned, turning to look at Bill. Bill just quirked an eyebrow, waiting for the realization to hit.
“Oh!” Charlie exclaimed, grinning. He pulled out his wand and cast wingardium leviosa on the trunk, guiding it towards the stairs. He’d turned seventeen last week, and could use magic outside of school now. It was going to take some getting used to.
Bill chuckled and shook his head, following Charlie up the stairs two steps at a time.
Charlie set the trunk down by the wardrobe in the room he and Bill were sharing. He immediately flopped down on his bed. Bill walked into the room and pulled the door shut, sitting on the opposite bed.
He sat there tapping his feet idly until Charlie finally turned to look at him. “What, Bill? You’re being weird.”
“I was just wondering what your plan is.”
Charlie groaned, sitting up. “I don’t know.”
“When do you need to be there?”
“Not until the new year.”
“So you’ll be telling mum and dad on January first, I’m assuming.”
“No. McGonagall threatened to tell them herself if I don’t by Christmas. She’s got an owl ready to go out on Boxing Day.”
Bill guffawed.
“They’re gonna be so mad, Bill.”
Bill stood up and went to sit next to his brother. “They love you, Charlie. Are they going to be surprised you’re dropping out of school? Probably. School’s never really been your thing, though, so maybe less surprised than you think.”
Charlie nodded, looking like he wanted to believe Bill.
Bill paused. “Now, the fact that you’re leaving school to move to another country to work with the most dangerous creatures in the world, that’s gonna be hard for them.”
“They’re not the most dangerous creatures in the entire world, Bill. You’re not accounting for different environmental factors, and it’s honestly impossible to make that judgment.”
Bill rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah. What if I just leave now? I’m sure they’d let me start early.”
“Charlie.”
Charlie looked sheepish, leaning over to lean his head on Bill’s shoulder. “I know.”
Bill reached up to pat Charlie’s cheek. “You’ll figure it out, buddy. You always do.”
“I’m tired of figuring things out, Bill.”
Bill laughed again. “That’s all adulthood is, figuring things out. That won’t stop now that you’re technically a grown-up,” he said, shoving Charlie off of his shoulder and standing up. “Mum’s gonna come looking for us if we don’t go downstairs soon. You know how she gets around Christmas. Needs everyone to be together.”
“I’ll meet you downstairs in a bit. Just tell mum I’m tired.”
Bill nodded and left the room.
Charlie laid back heavily on his bed again, covering his face with his arms. He’d been dreading this for months.
About a month into the term, Charlie had been hiding out after care of magical creatures, avoiding potions. He knew his marks had been dismal lately. He just couldn’t bring himself to care.
He’d been feeling more and more adrift at school. Almost embittered. In the past, he’d almost looked forward to the chats with McGonagall about what he wants to do after school and what classes he needs to take in order to get there. But the conversation they’d had at the end of his fifth year was different. Charlie couldn’t remember a single thing that was discussed. He just nodded along, feeling deep inside that something was wrong.
The first few weeks of classes hadn’t even felt real. He was physically going to classes, but wasn’t really there. No one seemed to notice. His distraction or poor marks could be explained away by quidditch starting up and the responsibility of being captain.
But that day, hiding out in the Care of Magical Creatures classroom, he had a revelation. He needed to be done. He wasn’t getting closer to where he wanted to be. He was trying to push through. Trying to push through a barrier that wouldn’t budge.
But all of a sudden, he realized he could just stop pushing and walk around it. He was so tired of trying to make school happen. So tired of trying to fit into the boxes laid out in front of him. As he pondered what it would mean to leave school, hope fluttered in his chest for the first time in ages. Something other than dread settled in his stomach.
It was about the time that Charlie was having his revelation that Professor Kettleburn came wandering in, arms so full of dead ferrets that he didn’t see Charlie right away. Once he dropped the ferrets into the barrel, he spotted Charlie.
“Wasn’t expecting to see you here still, Mr. Weasley,” he said, limping over to him.
Charlie physically jumped, having been equally startled by the presence of the other.
“Sorry, just thinking.” He stood up, starting to gather his items.
“No need to rush off. By my calculations, you’re already twenty minutes late for your next class. I’ll write you a note to excuse you. What were you thinking about?”
Charlie sat back down on the ground. He wasn’t sure how to put into words what he was thinking. But, of all of his professors, Kettleburn was the most likely to be able to piece together whatever thoughts he could put to words.
“You said that they hire people at seventeen. And that NEWTS were pointless, since OWLS were enough. And I would rather be there than here. My birthday’s in December.”
Professor Kettlerburn sat on one of the nearby stumps.
“I see. I’m assuming you mean at one of the dragon reserves. Do I have that right?”
Charlie nodded.
“And I didn’t say that NEWTS were pointless. Don’t you go spreading that around,” Kettleburn said, pointing his finger at Charlie. “But, you’re not wrong. Most dragon reserves are so desperate for people that they don’t look too closely at schooling marks.”
“Do you think they’d hire me?”
“In a heartbeat. You’re a fast learner, and have instincts that can’t be trained. I’ve never had a student as apt as you.”
Charlie laughed out loud. “Sir, that’s the nicest thing a professor has ever said about me. You should say that in front of Snape.”
“Nah. I prefer to avoid extraneous interactions with Professor Snape. But, I meant what I said. You would do very well at a reserve. I’d recommend you with no qualms.”
Charlie didn’t realize he had started to cry until Professor Kettleburn conjured a tissue and handed it to him. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, son. The fact that you don’t run from your emotions is a huge part of why you get on so well with the creatures. I doubt I could find a beast to throw at you that you couldn’t befriend within the week.”
“Except that fire crab,” Charlie said hauntedly.
“Ha! I’d forgotten about that one! He had it out for you. I still don’t know what you did to offend him.”
“Yeah, he got me good.”
Kettleburn sat back down on the stump. “I feel like you have more questions than you’ve asked.”
Charlie nodded. “I want to leave Hogwarts and go study dragons.”
“There it is. I knew we’d get there. You’re not the first student to leave Hogwarts when they’ve come of age, and you won’t be the last. Are you asking for my blessing or input?”
“Both, I guess,” Charlie responded, picking at the grass in front of him.
“Well, you’ve got my blessing. And as far as input goes, I can say that I have connections at several reserves. Any of them would be lucky to have you. I know the head keeper at the reserve in Romania quite well. I could pretty easily get you an interview with her. Would you be interested in Romania?”
Charlie couldn’t breathe. He felt like the air had been sucked out of his lungs. He couldn’t even talk, just nodded emphatically. When the air finally returned, Charlie was having a hard time regulating his breaths.
Kettleburn chuckled, patting Charlie on the shoulder. “Breathe, Charlie. Nothing is set in stone yet. And you have some tasks to check off before this can happen. You have got to talk to your head of house. And your parents. You’re not going to want to wait until you turn seventeen. These things need to be set in motion before December, son.”
Charlie just nodded. His mind was absolutely spinning. He finally felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel. He started gathering his things while Kettleburn scrawled something onto a piece of spare parchment.
“Whose class are you supposed to be in right now?” he asked.
“Snape’s.”
“Ah. Well, have fun delivering this to him, then. Read it over to get your story straight. You were helping me with an injured hippogriff.”
“Thanks, professor,” Charlie said, taking the parchment and tucking it into his pocket.
“Anytime, Charlie. And set up a meeting with McGonagall. That’s step one, I think.”
Charlie nodded again, smiling and starting the trek up to the castle.